Mae West: Path to Genitals

“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 24 of 27 parts.
• • “Get the Idea, Boys? Mae West’s Shoes” • •
• • long legs as “the pathway to the genitals” • •
• • Sabina Stent wrote: “Even before she moves, a woman in high heels has transformed her body,” noted the fashion historian Valerie Steele. “She looks taller and thinner. Her secondary sexual characteristics are flagrantly emphasized, while her legs—the pathway to the genitals—are as long as Bambi’s. As the leg muscles tighten, the calves appear shapelier. And because they are at an angle, her feet look smaller and more pointed.” Mae West’s legs were always covered, and even on the rare occasion when she is wearing “ordinary” heels, she is sitting. Did we ever see her walk in a regular shoe?

• • Sabina Stent wrote: Alison Lurie has noted how high-heeled footwear provides multiple sexual signifiers for many people.
• • an extended leg is the biological sign of sexual availability • • … 
• • This long essay by Sabina Stent will be continued on the next post.
• • Source: Majuscule, Issue 2; posted in December 2019.
• • On Saturday, 21 January 1950 • •
• • When the revival of "Diamond Lil" left the Plymouth Theatre on Saturday night, 21 January 1950, Mae West immediately took the show on the road. The hard-working performer has never let an understudy substitute for her onstage. How many actresses can say that?
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West is Hollywood's Jekyll-Hyde. She revels in her two identities. On a picture she gave me she wrote, "A bad woman with a good heart." I'll bank on the good and applaud the bad.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • To J. Eugene Chrisman, who wrote a Screen Play profile [Nov. 1932] on her, Mae West said: "Yes sir, you did write my first fan magazine story, after I arrived like a stepchild in Hollywood. You called it 'Dynamite Lady,' which would be some hefty picture title for me, if Metro hadn't used it in a sub-title."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • An Illinois public library mentioned Mae West.
• • “The Real Mae West” on 23 January 2020 • •
• • Get a glimpse into the life of Mae West on Thursday, 23 January 2020 from 11 to 12 a.m. at the Plainfield Public Library, located at 15025 S. Illinois St. in downtown Plainfield.
• • Mae West shattered box office records and public sensibilities. She rocketed from Broadway to become the highest-paid actress in Hollywood. Her one-liners scandalized the censors yet made her an icon. In this historical portrayal, actress Martina Mathisen impersonates the woman behind the wit.   ...
• • Source: Plainfield Public Library; published on Tuesday, 21 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 4,392nd 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 • • wearing normal heels on the set, when Julie Andrews visited • •
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