Bettie Page Passes Away

Bettie Page passed away today at the age of 85. If you consider yourself a feminist, you are probably in one of two camps regarding her presence and influence on the women's lib movement that came shortly after her rise to popularity. One camp says she exploited herself and women and was bad for their efforts for equality. The other camp says she was a pioneer and actually helped lay a few bricks herself in the path all women walk today towards a life of equal pay, equal respect and equal rights. I happen to be in the latter camp and am sad to hear she has gone.

She was raven-haired when it was in vogue to be blonde, she was vivacious when it was the style for women to be demure and while other ladies wore aprons in their 1950's kitchens, she was bold enough to run around naked. A lot of gals may be put off by the bondage flavor of some of her photos, but when you think about how the 1950's were, I think they are an apt reflection of the time for women. After WWII, A LOT of women were kicked out of the industries that kept America going while they built the hardware that won the war. They had been pilots, machinists, managers and factory gals; then the men came home and the ladies were shown the door, it was a great contraction of women's liberties and lively hood that created the powder keg that blew in the 1960's. Bettie Page was a revolutionary thinker in the fact that she simply didn't subscribe to the notion that women's sexuality should be suppressed.

She also happened to be a stunning specimen of the opposite of what was popular at the time. Leggy blondes in coquettish poses were the posters and photos that had wallpapered locker walls and dreams alike; then Bettie shows up with her raven locks, severe fringe, animal print and teeth baring photos and gave a new perspective to what is beautiful.

I think that Bettie knew what she was doing, while she wasn't out to make a feminist statement, she was quoted on saying the she never thought nudity was dirty or bad. She said if religious people had a problem with her photos because of nudity that they should remember their bible and know "God made Adam and Eve naked as Jaybirds." She never saw herself as a porn star, and I don't consider her photos pornography. Why? I can't explain, I just know it when I see it. She is both cute and fiercely sensual, submissive yet in control -- she is complex. I think this complexity is why Bettie has been so popular for so long; when you consider her photos have been praised, damned, loathed and admired for 50 years, you know her impression is a lasting one.

I don't consider her to be on the same level of Gloria Steinem, but I appreciate the efforts of ALL the women before me who made a choice to speak out, act up and sit in and I consider Bettie to be one of them; because of their forward thinking, when I cook in the kitchen it is my choice and not my place.

You'll be missed Bettie!