The Life of Bettie Page: A Feminist Libertarian Issue

I don’t think I’ll be able to give the topic the depth it deserves tonight, but here’s a start. From the Associated Press:

1950s pinup model Bettie Page dies in LA at 85

In 1951, Page fell under the influence of a photographer and his sister who specialized in S&M. They cut her hair into the dark bangs that became her signature and posed her in spiked heels and little else. She was photographed with a whip in her hand, and in one session she was spread-eagled between two trees, her feet dangling.

…Moralists denounced the photos as perversion, and Sen. Estes Kefauver of Tennessee, Page’s home state, launched a congressional investigation.

Page quickly retreated from public view, later saying she was hounded by federal agents who waved her nude photos in her face.

A beautiful woman is harassed by federal agents for having nude photos taken of her and widely distributed. You’d think they would have thanked her for it. Seriously though, this is a perfect example of how laws against pornography and obscenity are usually turned against women—ostensibly the very people such laws are intended to protect.

Ms. Page apparently led a very troubled life even if you disregard the government harassment. I’m sorry she’s gone, but may she rest in peace. And there will be more on the subject very soon.