Who is Bettie Page? Why, she’s that gorgeous pinup icon that will be adorning the walls of both men and women’s rooms for decades to come! HotMovies is thrilled to be able to offer our customers some of the most unique sexploitation and erotica titles once thought lost to time from the Erotica Movie Channel. Their latest offering is Bettie Page – Pinup Queen, now streaming on HotMovies. Bettie Page remains a pop-culture icon even today. Hugh Hefner described her as “a combination of wholesome innocence and fetish-oriented poses that is at once retro and very modern.” Bettie also contained multitudes. She was the quintessential pinup girl who helped usher a sexual revolution before converting to Christianity later in life, and who still remains a pop-culture legend. HotMovies takes a look at ten reasons why Bettie Page’s legacy will continue to inspire and titillate!
1. She was larger than life, but still relatable.
Bettie inspired millions of young women, but later on her life she was a little mystified why her icon status continued to endure. Bettie told the NY Times in a 2006 interview,
“I want to be remembered as I was when I was young and in my golden times… I want to be remembered as the woman who changed people’s perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form.”
2. Those bangs
The nineties are over and “The Rachel” haircut has been swallowed by the hungry trash heap of obscurity where it belongs, but Bettie’s hairstyle might endure longer than The Milky Way. One of the most indelible aspects of Bettie’s iconic look were those “Bettie Bangs” that continue to shape trends in fashion and hairstyling today. There are hundreds of tutorials on the web that can teach any hairstylist how to do mimic Bettie’s look, and anyone can strut into a salon and ask for those coveted Bettie Bangs!
3. She showed the value in a woman who enjoys her own sexuality.
Bettie had no time for shame when it came to both her body and her sexuality. She embraced herself fully. Bettie loved burlesque, dancing, and being naked and a little kinky on camera. Polite society still dictates that a woman’s sexuality holds no value for generations now, but Bettie said “fuck that” and kicked open the door for millions of other girls to raise their hands and say, “I like to feel sexy, and that’s okay!”
4. She gave confidence to curvy women around the world.
Bettie had curves for days, with an enthusiasm and self-confidence that produced sparks on stage and behind the camera in every photo. Curvy girls, skinny girls, and girls in-between: Bettie implicitly told them, love your body and love yourself for who you are—an idea that’s still radical today.
5. Her burlesque skills
Burlesque must have been in Bettie’s blood, because her sister Goldie Page also performed. For the time, nobody could move like Bettie. Bettie’s star took off higher still after she appeared in Teaserama and Varietease, two burlesque revue films that really showcased her moves and natural talent. Bettie considered her dancing and photoshoots a performance, as she always thought of herself as rather wholesome and shy in her real-life persona—something one would never guess watching her swing those hips onstage!
6. She was a pioneer for Playboy
Bettie was Miss January 1955 for Playboy and was one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for the groundbreaking magazine. Can you imagine being a hormonal teenager in the fifties and getting your hands on a Bettie Page Playboy pictorial? A sight like that is going to stick with you. Hugh Hefner LOVED Bettie to death.
7. She changed pop culture for the better.
Bettie’s influence just made pop culture better. Her charisma, confidence, and body positivity that eventually fully permeated the mainstream, while her star and legend exploded again in a fan resurgence sometime back in the early eighties. Bettie just made everyone who loved her… just a bit cooler. This fact was not lost on corporations who have plastered Bettie’s image on numerous products over the decades. Bettie is a legend and brand.
8. She embodies Coney Island
Bettie moved to New York City to become an actor after divorcing an abusive husband at the tail-end of the forties. She was first noticed on the beach at Coney Island by New York police officer and amateur photographer Jerry Tibbs, who introduced her to camera clubs. Bettie quickly became a sought-after model, attracting the attention of Irving Klaw and his sister, Paula, who operated a mail-order business specializing in cheesecake and bondage poses. The icon that is Bettie Page was born that day in Coney Island.
9. She pissed the right people off.
Of course Bettie drew the ire of fundamentalist Christians and conservatives for her kinky photoshoots: GOOD. Not to be forgotten, while Bettie loved bondage and appearing nude, she never participated in overtly sexually explicit films or photoshoots, and she even ended up converting to Christianity later on in life. Unfortunately, the censorship bureaus that were cracking down on cheesecake photography steered Bettie towards retirement in 1957 at the age of 34. Fuck those guys.
10. Those looks
And that smile! The joyful glee in loving yourself, and others loving you. Nobody gave looks like Bettie Page, and nobody ever will again.
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