Death League Update: Bettie Page

December 15, 2008 | Comments (0) | by T.R.

If you're a new reader and are not familiar with the Pomp Culture Death League, here's the skinny. Our last season ended on Thanksgiving. We drafted new teams prior to that, and the new season began on Black Friday. It did not take long to chalk up the first casualty of the year. Bettie Page, post-WWII pinup girl, died last week at the age of 85.

Obviously I'm too young to appreciate the impact that Bettie Page had on The Greatest Generation. I would imagine that she was to my grandfather as Kathy Ireland was to me. I dig brunettes, and Bettie had a nice figure. Maybe it's the bangs that give me reservations. I'm sure the fashion of the day has something to do with it as well.

Anyway, Bettie was somewhat of a controversial figure. She was the mother of all swimsuit models, but she did not limit herself to innocent shots on the beach. Bettie also dabbled in bondage photos, though by all accounts these were for fun, not fetish. She also appeared nude in Playboy, which was somewhat of a coup at the time for Hugh Hefner's fledgling publication.

For the better part of the last fifty years, Bettie had lived as a recluse, including a stint in a state mental institution. She avoided the public, wishing to remain memorialized through her photographs. We applaud Bettie's unabashed sexuality at Pomp Culture.

Three cheers for Bettie Page. And three points for Brant Brown's Death League team.

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