You’ve probably already read about the people claiming to be “feminists” who splashed gray paint all over a Bettie Page mural in Ravenna.
After reading about it, I rolled my eyes so far into the back of my head that they’re now stuck. But regardless of whether this mural was defaced by “some feminists” or “some people who want to make feminism look stupid,” a few quick points:
1. The idea that a Bettie Page mural on the side of someone’s house “exploited” women’s bodies is bananas. No one was making money off of it.
2. According to a 1998 interview with Playboy, Bettie Page never felt that showing her body was shameful. She chose her career. “I felt normal,” Page told Playboy. “It’s just that it was much better than pounding a typewriter eight hours a day, which gets monotonous.”
3. If all depictions of female nudity equal exploitation of women’s bodies, we’d have to Ctrl-Alt-Delete much of what’s been considered art and religious/ritualistic ornament over the last several thousand years.
4. Bettie Page was a force for sex and kink positivity during a particularly prudish time in our nation’s history.
5. As my feminist colleague Heidi Groover pointed out to me on Slack, this seems to be a visual depiction of the conflict between sexualizing bodies as exploitation and sexualizing bodies as empowerment in the feminist community. Tagging any/all female nudity as exploitation is a loaded activity—it ignores the idea that nudity can be portrayed in a beautiful, empowering way.
6. But in the event that the paint-splashers were riled-up 14-year-olds newly exploring their politics, here’s a suggestion for youse guys: Want to do some feminism? Get involved with the movements for reproductive rights, fair wages, access to affordable housing, advocating for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, demanding prison reform, demanding racial justice. Those are just a handful; there are many, many, many more. Get on with it!
– a feminist
