Mae West: Sexist Comments

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 19 of a lengthy piece.
• • Laughing off the “Fatness” ― Mae West’s Body Image and Female Spectators in the Early 1930s • •
• • Mae West: Oversexed? • •
• • Robert Bruce's letter appeared in Photoplay [January 1934] • •
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Fan critics, you give me a pain! For the last year you have been crying, ‘We’re sick of those sexy pictures. Give us delightful, wholesale pictures like Smilin’ Through.’ Then along comes overstuffed, oversexed Mae West, who thinks all you have to do to become an actress is to swing your hips around, and you fall for it! ― Robert Bruce

• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Interestingly, this letter is presumably from a male reader of Hollywood fan magazines. It was signed by Robert Bruce.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: Despite the half-joking tone he employs, his comment is quite critical of Mae West.
• • Mio Hatokai wrote: It is, in fact, an oversimplified and sexist comment, but the point here is that Robert Bruce, too, has focused on Mae West’s generous and womanly hips — just like her other female supporters.
• • Mae West: Her curvaceous figure, not her risqué humor, marked her as “oversexed” • • ...
• • Mio Hatokai’s lengthy article will continue on the next post.
• • Source: Academic anthology on film stars released by Waseda University, 2015.
• • On Saturday, 12 November 1927 • •
• • Billboard commented in their issue dated for Saturday, 12 November 1927 about Mae West's play "The Wicked Age." Their remarks were exceedingly unkind.
• • On Thursday, 12 November 1964 • •
• • Hal Humphrey's article, "Charlie and Mae Together Again," ran in The Los Angeles Times on Thursday, 12 November 1964.
• • Overheard in Hollywood • •
• • The way the Mae West — Allison Skipworth moments stand out suggests the picture could have stood more of them, but the obvious intent is to nurse Miss West along. She's tossed into this one rather abruptly and without bearing on the plot, much in the manner that Jimmy Durante has been handled by Metro. That's okay if they don't do it too often. As long as this film proves the former legit name has something for pictures it wouldn't be taking a chance to shoot the works on her from now on.
• • In Her Own Words • •
• • Mae West said: "They always found a way to break me up with a man before it became too serious. I was not allowed to love, really love. My mother and then Jim Timony."
• • Quote, Unquote • •
• • A blog post discussed a visit to have tea with Mae West. The writer died this year.
• • "Afternoon Tea With Mae West" • •
• • Eric Lindsay [13 November 1929 — 18 June 2021] • •
• • Eric Lindsay wrote: The day Ray Jackson and I went to visit Mae West for afternoon tea was a major event in our lives. It was during our two month stay in Los Angeles sometime in the very early 70s. We were staying at Sunset Tower West, situated on 8358 Sunset Boulevard.
• • Eric Lindsay wrote: We had met up there with Reece Allen, a friend of ours from London. He used to play piano and sing at the Old Rockingham Club in a basement in Archer Street, London W.1., where he was then known as Maurice Allen. He was now settled in Los Angeles with his partner and ensconced as resident pianist and singer in a very smart lounge bar in the Valley. ...
• • Source: "Afternoon Tea With Mae West" written by Eric Lindsay; ericlindsay.wordpress.com/;  posted in 2012
• • 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 4,864th 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/
________
Source: https://maewest.blogspot.com/atom.xml  
• • Be sure to bookmark or follow The Mae West Blog
• • Photo: • • Mae West • • in 1934 • •
• • Feed — — http://feeds2.feedburner.com/MaeWest