![\"BettiePage7.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/BettiePage7.jpg\")
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Obituary here<\/a>.<\/p>\n A saucy vivacious beauty who always seemed more comfortable in outdoors shots than interiors, Bettie Page was photographed in all manner of compromising (literally) positions, yet with such a verve and humor that it never seemed she was being taken advantage of. They’re campy photos. Fun. She’s fearless. You don’t look at those photos and worry<\/i> about her. I like her best when she’s rolling in the grass in a leopard skin bathing suit, or cavorting on the beach, digging her toes into the sand.<\/p>\n She walked away from her career as an S&M pinup girl after a brou-haha involving censorship, and she also found God, and it just didn’t seem right for her to pose in that manner anymore. But she never downtalked or denigrated her former self (unlike some other performers I can think of. Dear Madge, I’m looking at you. I liked you BETTER in your former dirty-girl incarnation, it was way more honest and forthright than the bad-British-accented persona you have adopted now). She also wasn’t afraid to say that she had no idea what people found so erotic in photos of her tied up, it didn’t appeal to her at all, but, as always, she did so in a way that didn’t alienate her main fan base. Page apparently was a devoted correspondent to her many fans, sending them thank you letters for remembering her so fondly. She did not trash her fans for liking the dirty photos she had taken. She knew that, in general, her fans “got it”. So they were turned on by her photos. Isn’t sexual desire a natural part of life? It seemed to me that her general attitude towards all of that was, “Well, I’m happy to help out in any way I can!”<\/p>\n Page said once, in a recent interview, that if she could do it all over again, she would probably join a nudist colony. She flat out just felt more comfortable nude than clothed. There was nothing dirty about it for her. Ever.<\/p>\n I have a book of her photographs, edited by pioneer photographer Bunny Yaeger, and I just looked through them this morning, in tribute to Ms. Page. The black bangs, the arched back, the naughty grin … These are dirty photos, make no mistake about it, but as anyone who enjoys sex knows – there’s something innocent about sex as well. It’s like playing. It’s like being free, going into the dreamworld where you can be anyone you want to be. She captures that.<\/p>\n She did not have a happy life. She was institutionalized for a time, she had multiple mental problems, and ended up poverty-struck, living off of Social Security checks. Despite this, she had a loyal group of fans who still loved her, keeping the flame alive, and she lived long enough to see the Bettie Page Renaissance we are living in right now. Amazingly enough, even when the film The Notorious Bettie Page<\/i> came out, with the wonderful Gretchen Mol in the lead role, Page refused to be photographed at any of the events surrounding the film. She loved the film, she supported its making … but she had her mind on her fans, and what it would do to them to see her as an 80-something year old woman. She wanted the fantasy to remain intact for them.<\/p>\n She said “\u0080\u009cI want to be remembered as I was when I was young and in my golden times. I want to be remembered as a woman who changed people’\u0080\u0099s perspectives concerning nudity in its natural form.”<\/p>\n The meaning of generosity.<\/p>\n Rest in peace, Ms. Page.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Obituary here. A saucy vivacious beauty who always seemed more comfortable in outdoors shots than interiors, Bettie Page was photographed in all manner of compromising (literally) positions, yet with such a verve and humor that it never seemed she was … Continue reading ![\"6a00d83453dee469e200e55235d34a8834-800wi.jpg\"](\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/6a00d83453dee469e200e55235d34a8834-800wi.jpg\")
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