For a character who retired in 1939, Betty Boop has managed to not only stay in the public eye, but thrive in it. Betty's unmistakable look can be seen on coffee mugs and T-shirts, she's active on social media, and she's even released a self-help book, 2020's Betty Boop's Guide to a Bold and Balanced Life: Fun, Fierce, Fabulous Advice Inspired by the Animated Icon. She's been both hailed as a feminist icon and played down as a sexual stereotype.
However, despite her male gaze sexualization, Betty Boop defied the female stereotyping that befell other female cartoon characters. She was liberated, unashamed, and free, taking on careers like as a pilot, a racecar driver, and even successfully ran for president. She wasn't free from men who openly tried to force unwanted sexual interactions, as was regretfully a product of the time . But Betty held her own, successfully defending herself from these advances time and again.
Cartoon scholar Katia Perea, in the previously cited Smithsonian Magazine, said, "With that kind of sanitation, there's this compulsion to present... this normative representation of middle-class sensibilities, and that ends up taking away the joie de vivre. It's no longer something that's exciting to see." With her popularity plummeting, Fleischer Studios stopped making Betty Boop cartoons in 1939.
Entertainment Entertainment Latest News, Entertainment Entertainment Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Source: Collider - 🏆 1. / 98 Read more »
Source: screenrant - 🏆 7. / 94 Read more »
Source: screenrant - 🏆 7. / 94 Read more »