Ha. Whew.

Response from Bombshell Betty: You’re so right! I remember an interview with Isabella Rosselini where she talked about how people would come up to her and tell her that her sister was so beautiful! It does seem like body self-love should be so obvious, but it’s not very common at all. Yet.

Until the Victorian age (see this very enlightening article on dieting only coming into fashion in the Victorian age: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=534189&in_page_id=1879)
a skinny woman was a sign of poverty, sickness and reminders that famine was just a couple lousy crops away.

And given the fashion of having a boyish figure in the 20’s, it seems to have been a lingering fashion (read, no curves and pre-pubescent) with rejuevination of the trend courtesy of Twiggy. At least there have been some timeless feminine icons that make men drool that we can still find inspiration: Mae West, Jane Russel & Marilyn Monroe.

I must look into your pin-up class ASAP.

Response from Bombshell Betty: Great points! It’s so true that ideal body types have shifted over the centuries. Curves were in when they were a sign of wealth. Now, being super thin means you can afford a personal trainer! Ha! There were hundreds of years in Europe where your attractiveness was directly judged by your hip-waist ratio, as created by extreme waist training. (mmm, corsets…)

I was just having a great conversation with Mynx D’Meanor about this. I’ve gained 20-30 pounds in the last year and a half, and I’m feeling great! Mynxie has promised me a blog post about her recent weight gain and accompanying body issues as well.

Part of the legal definition of pornography is that it’s prurient in nature. In other words, if it gets you all hot and bothered, it *might* be pornography, but if you don’t, it definitely isn’t.

I’ve always thought that before the right judge, a lawyer could argue, “This isn’t porn, this is *disgusting*, and there ain’t no law against disgusting.” But as a rule, judges don’t let the law interfere with their own ideas of right and wrong; they’d agree that it’s disgusting, not arousing, and convict the guy anyhow.

(BTW, I’m one of those guys who thinks fat women are hot – and not just BBWs, but SSBBWs as well. Yes, skinny women can be sexy, if they have the right attitude; it’s just that they’ve got to work harder at it.)

Response from Bombshell Betty: Honestly, I’m not very interested in the legal definition of pornography. The vagaries of the legal system are often illogical and have very little to do with the normal people they are in place to govern. It seems ridiculous to say that if I’m not turned on, it’s not porn. There is a lot of porn that doesn’t turn me on, and there are things that aren’t commonly considered porn that DO turn me on. So, I am much more interested in the common, social definition of pornography, which is, roughly “explicitly sexual content having little or no artistic merit.” It is the act of judging the content to have (or not have) artistic merit that sparks the debate about what is and isn’t porn. Who gets to decide artistic merit? In some cases, the government, yes. But in our lives and our relationship with erotic material? This is why I love Jong’s quote so much.

Another great article, Betty. Especially in correcting your quotes about fashion and body issues. I can’t imagine you saying that, even back then. We may be missing some context there.

I have to say that this post couldn’t have come at a better time. I’ve been working on writing about my own personal body issues– having gained weight during my hiatus from performing. I’ll be posting that soon.

xox