Monday, February 19, 2018

Mae West: So Brazen

While you’re sleeping, college professors in Hungary are thinking about MAE WEST. Here’s a long, striking research paper you might have missed. This is Part 11.
• • "Mae West. The Dirty Snow White" • •
• • Written by:  Zsófia Anna Tóth
• • a sexuality closer to comedy than passion • •
• • Zsófia Anna Tóth wrote:  Schissel also adds that although West always played the “tough girl,” her sexual adventures and allusions were questionable in strict heterosexual terms by emphasizing the role of comedy in all this: “unlike other ‘fallen women’ of the day, the sexuality she displayed was closer to comedy than to passion” (2). Yet, I do not agree with her (and the unnamed critics’) suggestion that “[n]o real woman could be so brazen, so self-contained, or so funny” (2). A woman can be all of these and Mae West was; however, her sexual identity was often questioned throughout her career.
• • For example, George Davis wrote about West in Vanity Fair in 1934 by saying this:  “ I can pay you no greater tribute, dear lady, than to say that [my love for you] has healed the wound in my heart caused by the death of the one and only Bert Savoy. I love you, Miss West, because YOU are the greatest female impersonator of all time.”  (qtd. in Hamilton 1996, 136)
• • “queen of the bitches” • •  . . .
• • This was Part 11 of a lengthy article. Part 12 will follow tomorrow.
• • Source: Americana — — E-Journal of American Studies in Hungary; Vol. XI, No. 1, Spring 2015.
• • On Monday, 19 February 1940 in Life Magazine • •
• • The cover of Life Magazine's issue dated for 19 February 1940 featured the King of Romania. Inside were two aristocrats of comedy: Mae West and W.C. Fields. 
• • On Monday, 19 February 2018 • •
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 3,900th blog posts! Hooray!!
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Renaming of Mae West's "It Ain't No Sin" as "The Belle of New Orleans" drew protests today from civic and political bodies here in Louisiana.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I used to like to play Post Office. Mamma didn't object. But she got mad if I started giving special deliveries to one boy all the time. She wanted me to play with them all."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A NYC daily mentioned Mae West.
• • Mae West wrote the play "Sex."
• • On February 19th, The New York Times wrote: The moral tone of the stage in New York has distinctly improved since the activity last year of the District Attorney's office in closing Sex, The Virgin Man and The Captive, according to James G. Wallace, Assistant District Attorney, who prosecuted the cases. He spoke at a luncheon of the City Club, where other speakers were Frank Gillmore, Executive Secretary of the Actors' Equity Association; John S. Sumner and Morris Ernst. ...
• • Source: Article: "New York Stage Improved" printed in The New York Times; published on Sunday, 19 February 1928
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 13th anniversary • •  
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past thirteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 3,800 blog posts. Wow!  
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started thirteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 3900th blog post. Unlike many blogs, which draw upon reprinted content from a newspaper or a magazine and/ or summaries, links, or photos, the mainstay of this blog is its fresh material focused on the life and career of Mae West, herself an American original.

• • Come up and see Mae every day online: http://MaeWest.blogspot.com/
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1 comment:

  1. In regards to Matilda West wanting young Mae not to make "special deliveries" to one boy all the time, didn't mama know best! I really like the caricature of Mae you shared today. I have a huge collection of them, and this one is new to me. Mae had the assets to inspire artists for sure!

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