A true artist among us has died.
Bettie Page, who has inspired generations of women to self-empowerment and caused myriad admirers to reconsider the "shameful" nature of nudity, who lit up the world around her with her honest, lovely smile, who has been an icon to all who realize that kinky, wild, unfettered sexuality isn't such a bad thing after all, passed away in a coma after suffering a heart attack nine days previous. The statement from her official Website:
"With deep personal sadness I must announce that my dear friend and client Bettie Page passed away at 6:41pm PST this evening in a Los Angles hospital. She died peacefully but had never regained consciousness after suffering a heart attack nine days ago. She captured the imagination of a generation of men and women with her free spirit and unabashed sensuality. She is the embodiment of beauty.
Statement by Mark Roesler, business agent for Bettie Page"
Statement by Mark Roesler, business agent for Bettie Page"
What more is there to say? Rest in peace.
Artist: Betty Mae Page
Type of art: Pin-up modeling
Type of art: Pin-up modeling
Media: Modeling for photography
Time period: 1900s
Country of origin: USA
Motifs: Cute little bathing suits, bright red lipstick, that winning smile, those sexy shoes, that long wavy black hair with perfectly coiffed bangs
Posts
3 comments:
Bettie Page was awesome. To think that so many years later she's still relevant and revered - it really says a lot. She will be missed.
It must've been so strange for her to be an older woman, trying to have a normal life when her image was plastered all over the place and she was a huge sexual icon. I wonder if she got pleasure from that or not: to think that your beauty and sex appeal is permanently frozen in time for generations. Quite amazing.
She will indeed be missed. And as the ladies at Coilhouse pointed out, what was significant wasn't simply that she was (and is) an icon of female strength - it's that she was an icon of female strength in heels, lingerie and an altogether femme demeanor. She's not dangerous or scary, cynical or butch - she's actually fairly traditional in her femininity. It's that she openly embraced the uncomplicated bliss of nudity and sexuality that made her so strong. So she sent a message not only that sexuality is good, but that femme women can be strong, too.
Post a Comment