Some sad news today, legendary pin-up model Bettie Page died Thursday. Her family agreed to remove life support after she never regained consciousness from a heart attack she suffered while being hospitalized for pneumonia. She was 85.A former Playboy Playmate of the Year in 1955, Hugh Hefner said of the icon, “I think that she was a remarkable lady, an iconic figure in pop culture who influenced sexuality, taste in fashion, someone who had a tremendous impact on our society. She was a very dear person.”
I actually woke up to four of my friends texting me this news earlier this morning. Ever since the age of 13 I have been a huge Bettie Page fan, and have even dressed as her for Halloween multiple times. As cheesy as it may sound, she really did help mold me.
While it’s true she was no Mother Teresa, I do believe there was a certain innocence to her. Sexual expression is nothing to be ashamed of, and can be done in a manner that while explicit, still has some level of elegance and respectability to it.
During a 1998 interview with Playboy Magazine, Page said of her work: ”I never thought it was shameful. I felt normal. It’s just that it was much better than pounding a typewriter eight hours a day, which gets monotonous. God approves of nudity. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they were naked as jaybirds.”
Rest in Peace, Bettie. Thank you for helping me and millions of other women be comfortable with our own sexuality. You will me deeply missed, but never forgotten.
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