Mae West: Courtship Strut

“In real life, I’m very boring, so I made up the walk and the talk,” said MAE WEST.
• • British freelancer Dr. Sabina Stent, whose area of study included “Women artists, Surrealism, and unconventional females,” penned a fascinating essay on Mae’s customized double-decker footwear. This is Part 25 of 27 parts.
• • “Get the Idea, Boys? Mae West’s Shoes” • •
• • an extended leg is the biological sign of sexual availability • •
• • Sabina Stent wrote: The various reasons for the appeal vary, but is at least “partly because they [high heels] make the legs look longer,” while “an extended leg is the biological sign of sexual availability in several animal species.” The result is what anthropologists call the “courtship strut.” We see this strut, explicitly, with Mae West. Footwear will influence how a person walks, and heels are notorious for slowing the pace. As Lurie provocatively suggests, wearing heels arouses desire “perhaps because it guarantees that no woman wearing them can outrun a man who is chasing her.”

• • Sabina Stent wrote: We might say Mae West initiated the chase, but even in heels, you would have a hard time catching her.
• • Mae West was a persona of contradictions • • . . . 
• • This long essay by Sabina Stent will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Majuscule, Issue 2; posted in December 2019.
• • On Monday, 22 January 1934 in Times Square • •
• • There was a festive feeling in the air Monday evening, on 22 January 1934, when Mae West and Eddie Cantor and many other stars entertained at the New Amsterdam Theatre — — at the 52nd annual benefit for the Actors' Fund.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Ben Southwell directed the episode "Living Famously — Mae West," which was part of a TV series originally broadcast in Great Britain.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "I'm too busy to fall in love."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • Playbill mentioned Mae West and her gay play.
• • Provincetown Theater, under the leadership of Artistic Director David Drake, will launch its 2020 season in Provincetown, Massachusetts, May 14 with Mae West’s The Drag.
• • "The Drag," written under West's pseudonym Jane Mast, tells the tale of a closeted Park Avenue newlywed and his secret double-life with a pack of Greenwich Village drag queens and was shut down in 1927 for “corrupting the morals of youths.” …
• • Performances will continue in Provincetown through Sunday, 7 June 2020.
• • Source: Playbill; published on Tuesday, 7 January 2020
• • The evolution of 2 Mae West plays that keep her memory alive • •
• • A discussion with Mae West playwright LindaAnn LoSchiavo — —
• • http://lideamagazine.com/renaissance-woman-new-york-city-interview-lindaann-loschiavo/
• • The Mae West Blog celebrates its 15th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past fifteen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,300 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started fifteen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,393rd 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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• • Photo: • • Mae West • • a showcase of Mae West's shoes (auction) • •
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