My Favorite Bettie Page Photograph

Don't know who took it, or when it was taken, but 305 is my favorite. I liked 304 just as much, even though it has a little mark on it in the versions I've found. And I can't find one right now. So 305 will have to do. And it does well.

There are countless images of Bettie out there. And it makes me so happy! I try to collect all the ones I like. There are so many.

I hear they made a movie. It sounds like it might be fun, but I doubt it plays anywhere near me. I'll have to wait for the DVD, and then probably order it over the 'net. It won't really be Bettie; it'll be some actress I've never heard of. But, eh, we'll try out my willing suspension of disbelief.

Some of you may ask, "Why all this fuss about a pin-up model from the '50s?"

I've always been a tomboy. Always preferred the company of males over that of females. Except for my mom's elaborate dress-ups, I grew up disdaining all things feminine. Throughout high school I tinkered with makeup, but it was more to make me look, I dunno, more gothic, I guess. Just heavy, dark eyes kinda thing. Eventually I just quit wearing it, aware I was smearing bat shit and whale puke on my face. I also didn't like what it did to my contacts. Icky.

Don't get me wrong; I had Barbie dolls and My Little Ponies as I was growing up. But race cars and Transformers were really cool too. I liked to play in the dirt and the creek. I liked to ride bicycles and play ball. I adventured alone in the woods, swinging across the creek on vines. In ever wild little girl lurks a jungle Bettie.

My favorite Barbies were dark haired, like me. They all had Bettie's bangs. Mine bangs have a cowlick. I'll never have Bettie's bangs without a lot of hot iron, hair spray, and effort. Which is not at all my style. Except for the effects of deodorants, moisturizers, and razors, I'm fairly natural these days.

Bettie's pictures put me in tune with the little girl my mom wanted me to be. Feminine, beautiful, and fun. Maybe not tied up and being spanked by another chick, but definitely a high fashion or beach Bettie.

Bettie had some mad seamstress skills as well. She made almost all of her costumes. Except for some of Irving Klaw's mail-order special requests. Now, being non-feminine, I never took Home Economics. I never learned to sew. I recall my mom and my grandma trying to teach me things, but only the rudimentary bits stuck. I was better at macrame.

I aspire to be able to sew as well as Bettie. I'd love to make my own wardrobe. I hate going to stores to pay money for clothes that don't fit right or look the way I want them to. My mother-in-law has been trying to teach me to sew, recently. Hopefully we'll find more time for it, and I'll get better. I want to make my own clothes!

So Bettie is the girl I want to be, the Barbie doll I loved as a kid, and my alter ego for imaginary jungle adventures. She's got that perfect kind of beauty. When she's looking at you, you know you're going to have fun. She just shines. Even when she's tied up and being spanked by another chick.