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• 1 2020-12-08T17:45:28-08:00 Appealing to the Male Gaze 12 The real reason behind striving for beauty ideals plain 2020-12-09T19:50:03-08:00 Lola Montez undoubtably lived a charmed life, and it wasn't because she was an amazing dancer. She assumed the name "Lola Montez" and identity as a Spanish dancer in 1843, after her whirlwind marriage to Lieutenant Thomas James fell apart. Although Montez was known for her seductive "Spider Dance", what is less discussed, is the fact that Montez got called out for being a "faux-Spaniard", which ended her career (Dimuro, "How Lola Montez Seduced 19th Century Europe's Most Famous Men - And Even Took Down a King"). 
  
  Although Montez didn't have the authentic Spanish flair, her beauty apparently made up for it. She stole the heart of many wealthy and influential men such as Alexandre Dumas, the author of The Three Musketeers, Franz Liszt, a Hungarian composer, and most notably King Ludwig I of Bavaria. It was these men that provided her with the funds necessary to live her lavish lifestyle and permitted her the influence to frequent tabloids and gossip (Dimuro, "How Lola Montez Seduced 19th Century Europe's Most Famous Men - And Even Took Down a King"). 
  
  It appears that Montez's key to financial success rested solely on her beauty and irresistible desirability. Therefore, it makes sense why Montez paid so much attention to achieving the ideal look, and stressed that other women should do so as well. 
  
  Clearly, her most important audience was men, therefore she let men's tastes govern what she should strive to look like. Montez mentions in The Arts of Beauty that the best definition of the ideal woman she had come across was written by Andre Felibien, who was a French male historian and poet (Montez, 21). 
  
  Some say that Felibien's definition of beauty was based upon an image of Venus, the goddess of love. This hypothesis makes sense and may also explain why Montez is so fixated on beauty. It seems as though Montez often falsely ascribes being infatuated with someone with being in love with them. 
  
  
  
  In another text authored by Montez, titled "A Gallant Troubadour", which is included in her book "Anecdotes of Love", Montez further emphasizes her believe that beauty is the most valuable thing in the eyes of men, and perhaps that for men, being attracted to or enamored by someone is synonymous with being in love with them. The story reads: 

  "'Go,' said she, 'you are unworthy of any women's love. You are the falsest man in the world, to abandon a lady so lovely, so amiable. Go, since you have forsaken her, you will forsake any other'" (Montez, 206). 

  While it appears that Montez prioritizes appealing to the male gaze, making herself beautiful actually may be a feminist act, since she is using her beauty as a tool for her advantage, to gain a better lifestyle.