THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)
Fun Stuff => CHATTER => Topic started by: celticgeek on 11 Dec 2008, 22:07
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Well, crapnolia.
Obituary (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081212/ap_en_ce/obit_bettie_page)
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RIP.
What a life.
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aw, damn. This is sad. I heard she was in the hospital(in a folded away little section of the newspaper mind you) but for some reason I didn't think she'd go yet.
She did a lot for society in terms of sexy people, and spawned multitudes of fapping, all while staying classy.
RIP Bettie Page
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Wow.
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Is it bad to say that I didn't know she was still alive?
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Even though she hasn't done anything in.. well practically forever, this is sad.
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It's always sad when someone dies... and I'm not trying to come off as an ass or to marginalize her death, but did she really do anything of merit? I mean she helped Playboy and I could respect the argument that she empowered women (or the reverse), but all she ever did was fetish porn, right? Again, I'm not trying to be rude, and if I'm missing the point or anything I'd like to know it.
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She essentially brought fetish/bondage/etc porn to a more acceptable light.
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It's not so much what she did as what she helped others do. Page was hugely important in setting in motion the wheels of the sexual revolution. The fact that sex is no longer taboo can be attributed to her amongst others. Sometimes this isn't a great thing because there is now a lot of sexuality displayed in poor taste (see: the daily "gag slut loves dick" emails in your email inbox) but most times this is incredible because it's raised public awareness on how to have safe sex and prevent unwanted pregnancy (as well as how women can and should not let themselves be abused by men.
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Oh, that's completely understandable. RIP, Bettie Page.
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The fact that sex is no longer taboo can be attributed to her amongst others.
When did this happen? Last I checked a nipple can garner an R rating while mass slaughter can garner a PG-13. In this country, sex is very much checked and/or off limits in a lot of ridiculous ways.
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And yet it is widely available to the public, if under various conditions (which you deem unnecessary). It is also entire acceptable to discuss amongst your friends or in a public place or standing on your own personal internet soapbox.
This is far more than one could've said 70 years ago.
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I agree with Wombat. Are we more liberated than we were in the 50's? Certainly, though probably not much more liberated than we were before the Hays Code went into effect (it's easy to think of pre-1960's women as being buttoned up and proper and Victorian, but you have to remember that after WWI and the success of the Suffrage Movement women became much more open about their sexuality, especially in the roaring 20's. They might have been conservative 70 years ago, but not 80 years ago). But the public dialogue in America regarding sexuality still comes from a place of shame and apprehension. I'd argue that the extreme lewdness you see in some facets of pop culture is actually symptomatic of repression, rather than evidence of its absence.
Is it acceptable to talk about amongst friends? Yes, but it always has been, more or less. The measure of our societal attitudes toward sex has to exist in the public domain rather than the private one. We can talk about sex in public but it's usually frowned upon, if informally. More importantly, public nudity, and public displays of affection or desire, are still strongly reviled. I remember being 15 and being totally floored when I went to Paris and the newspaper kiosks were selling lad mags with bare tits on the cover. Right there out in the open, stapled to the outside walls of the kiosk, shapely, naked breasts. You would not get away with that in America. It's considered risque to just put words of a sexual nature on the cover of a magazine here.
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A former neighbor of mine went to France and she was totally shocked that they had stamps with classic nude paintings on them.
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I think we're more liberated than the 50s. Husband and wife don't normally sleep in separate twin beds in the same room anymore, it's okay for a woman to feel sexual without being considered a slut, and come on, sex shops are not nearly as taboo as they used to be. Sex isn't something to be ashamed of anymore. I doubt they had TV commercials of lingere in the 50s either. Somethings may still be hard to talk about, but not nearly what it was back then.
RIP Betty.
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it's not just a black-and-white matter of "liberated" or "not liberated". the whole thing is in degrees.
we're a lot more liberated than we were in the 50s while still also having a long way to go.
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Ditto tania.
Bear in mind KvP that in the 50s there was no such thing as marital rape. So yeah, things have improved somewhat. (Admittedly NZ is much less puritan than the US, thank god, but OTOH we seem to be getting more conservative so that's a bit depressing.)
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Not really too shocked by this, though, cos for one thing I thought she died ages ago and she was 85. Your standard, run of the mill death.
("your standard run of the mill death? wtf is wrong with him")
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But Jens, the internets are just for shocks and outrage!
Seriously, though, she was an awesome lady and it is sad to see her go.