FW #17: Old-Hollywood Actresses with FW Traits

 

The Original 1922 Fascinating Womanhood Pamphlets

We are finishing chapter 3 of pamphlet 2. Subheadings are: When the Right Man Comes, The “Sweet” Promise, and Why the Famous Actress Excels. This post is NOT a transcript of the video where I discuss things in depth, but here you can put the names with the faces of the actresses.

“…the girls who seem to you so faulty, but who nevertheless have won a man, may not be angels in your estimation or their own, but they are in the estimation of their adorers….once having found that spark, they [the adoring men] seem blind to a thousand faults.”

‘The Sweet Promise’ discusses how ordinary women can become extraordinary under hardship or in an emergency. It speaks to the capableness of women under adversity. This short passage speaks about widows; generally speaking however, fascinating women rely on their man, but the sweet promise is that when he isn’t there, she is able to take care of things herself (such as wives running the household while her husband is deployed). The trick is, of course, to hand things that he should be taking care of back over to him when he is there. This is where many women fail, and then they go from lovers to “mothers” – worn out, nagging, and grouchy, but we won’t get into that today.

Why the Famous Actress Excels: “They appear to be two exactly opposite qualities wrapped up in one girlish parcel. First, they appear to be angelic beings whom a man can adore from afar as infinitely better than himself; Second, they are helplessly human little creatures, full of preposterous fears, whom a man aches to gather up in his protecting arms to shelter and to cuddle forever.

“Such women, on the one hand, seem to be the acme of innocence and purity with a sympathy, a pity, and a charity that are all-embracing; and, on the other, seem to be the acme of girlishness, mischievousness, impulsiveness, and woeful dependence upon a man’s superior strength.”

The actresses mentioned in 1922 are:

Mary Pickford:

Marguerite Clark (I had never heard of her before):

Betty Compson, also someone I’d never heard of before, was known as a sweet girl. Look at the genuine smile with the dog:

Billie Burke said, “Cleanliness is the basis of all physical beauty” and wrote an article around 1913 about how women need to take hot baths, not cold, for cleanliness:

We then discuss who Angela Human is and why men find her irresistible.

The updated 1935 actress list has on it:

Mary Pickford again.

Jean Harlow. I wanted to show you lots of pictures to demonstrate the importance of not overplucking your eyebrows! If you pluck too much when you are young, they may not grow back. Natural is so much better than drawn on! Also notice the wandering mole. Notice her beautiful smile when with the animals.

Miriam Hopkins (I’ve never heard of her, though she looks familiar in that last picture). She was also known for her smoking – a very un-fascinating trait:

Patricia Ellis (I’ve never heard of her):

Then I mention:

Marilyn Monroe. Her mole didn’t wander around, so I’m thinking it was real. Look how much the eyebrow fashion had changed. The more natural, the better. In almost every picture I looked at she was smiling and joyful, and this was her most endearing trait. And by the way, Marilyn did not kill herself. No pills were found in her stomach, she had just signed a major deal getting everything she wanted, and people don’t kill themselves when they are happy (thus, the rumor she was depressed about JFK – she wasn’t).

Jayne Mansfield in her movie The Girl Can’t Help It. All she wants is to be a housewife, but her mob boss boyfriend (not pictured) wants her to be a star. How will she escape him and marry the man of her dreams? I found this movie to be very funny, especially when she walked by the ice man and the ice melts, the milk man and the bottles burst, and a man on the stairs where his eyeglasses crack.

Janet Leigh in Holiday Affair. Robert Mitchum buys her lunch and orders for her. He tells her he adores and worships her. However, the ending where she chases him was simply not realistic. Other than that, it was a very good movie. And just like in our real life, I found lots of photos where Janet (Jamie Lee Curtis’ mom) looks just average, so I tried to pick some of her better photos. Notice how much better she looks with her real hair color, whereas as a blond she looks washed out:

Katherine Hepburn in The Little Minister. She is teasing and playful, pouts, glances, and smiles. Btw, it is only in this movie, where she displays these fascinating traits, that men say they adore Katherine.

In general, they did not find her attractive at all, because of her highly visible masculine traits, not only in dressing in jeans, trousers, and then suits, but the way she talked “barked,” and how she stood, walked, etc. Women, on the other hand, adored her. My own great-grandmother changed her name from a C to a K to emulate her. When you are young and beautiful you can get away with big buttons on coats, too big of polka dots, slouchy, wrinkled clothes. The problem is, as you age, your bad habits make you look, well, bad.

Men generally adored Audrey Hepburn, but not Katherine. Can you see why? Even with Audrey’s pixie cut, she still looks and acts feminine, so men are attracted to her. Again, I found many pictures where she isn’t all that attractive – she’s average in many ways – but then you find pictures where she’s dressed well, or in her correct colors, and the lighting is just right, and she’s stunning. She is so much more enticing in feminine clothes! What we also know about and greatly admire in her is her kindness:

BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY’S, Audrey Hepburn, 1961

David Copperfield’s beautiful Dora and his childhood playmate but true love, Agnes:

It’s a Wonderful Life – the date and the proposal scenes:

A World of His Own, episode 36 of Season 1 of The Twilight Zone. A man replaces his condescending, intolerable wife with a new one from his own imagination:

I know it is very easy to think we are talking just about beauty by my showing these pictures, but the chapter is about fascinating TRAITS, not beauty. If you will take a closer look, you will notice that many of these women were just “average” and used a lot of makeup, foundational undergarments, and the right colors to improve their looks. Also notice how their looks changed depending on the color of their hair. Platinum blond was idealized – but really – it’s not the best color on these women!

Another thing I noticed when choosing the pictures, is that almost all of these women were in movies that are not edifying. In learning more about their actual lives, most of them were tragic.

And then in the video I go over quite a few other topics, including this one:

You can become the “new” wife!

Remember not to belittle yourself (he will find out your shortcomings soon enough!). You insult his judgment in admiring you when you belittle yourself.

And don’t complain about other women. It will only arouse his protective instincts on their behalf. Speak only kindness instead.

May God bless you as you find a GODLY role model to emulate, and not an actress.

Janine