Mae West: Captivating Curves

MAE WEST’s plump, curvaceous body was a vital element in her comedy. Academics have emphasized that “excessive body is one of the qualities of female unruliness, suggesting that she is unwilling or unable to control her physical appetites.” Japanese film historian Mio Hatokai discusses how Hollywood publicists and fan zines responded to this “fatness” in 1933. This is Part 15 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West: Authors described her image as “multivalent and powerful” • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: In what way, then, was Mae West’s image “multivalent and powerful,” especially to the young women fans who seem to have greatly enjoyed Mae West’s films during the 1930s?

• • Mio Hatokai wrote: What did the readers of fan magazines think about Mae West’s curvy figure and  the acts she performs?
• • Mae West’s body got great attention • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Mae West’s body must have attracted great attention, because almost every fan letter from the readers concerning Mae West mentions something  about  it.  
• • Anita Cahoon’s fan letter to Photoplay [April 1933 issue] • •
• • Mae West: “I’ve just seen Mae’s buxom curves.” • • ...  
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Sunday, 8 November 1931 in Brooklyn • •
• • The Brooklyn Daily Eagle recalled in its archives that on Sunday, 8 November 1931 Mae West performed her play "The Constant Sinner" in Brooklyn's Majestic Theatre.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • Mae West's memoir "Goodness Had Nothing to Do With It" [NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1959] was published when Mae was 66 years old. This sunny-side-up narrative focuses on her triumphs and downplays (or omits) any inconvenient setbacks.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "It took a show-wise girl to put this vamp business on a paying basis."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A Texas newspaper mentioned Mae West.
• • "Five Letters to the Lovelorn by Hollywood's Foremost Bachelor Girl" • •
• • The Texas readership was assured that, when considering these matters, "Mae West put her heart in the role of counselor on romantic matters."
• • Moreover, "Even though the movie star is married only to her career and is quite famous as Hollywood's bachelorette, Mae West's deft handling of romantic problems on the horizon make her an expert on love to thousands of her fans."  …
• • Source: Port Arthur News (Texas);  published on Sunday, 8 November 1936
• • 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 17th anniversary • • 
• • Thank you for reading, sending questions, and posting comments during these past seventeen years. Not long ago, we entertained 3,497 visitors. And we reached a milestone recently when we completed 4,800 blog posts. Wow! 
• • By the Numbers • •
• • The Mae West Blog was started seventeen years ago in July 2004. You are reading the 4,860th 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 • • in 1933 • •
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