Bettie, oh so bad.

As long as we're showing some sexy vintage photos that are a little small and of lower resolution quality, I thought I'd share a couple rare images of Bettie Page, the iconic pinup. 

Bettie modeled in an era of the Comstock Law, which meant any image that wasn't clearly "art" could be  deemed "lewd" and send the model, photographer, and publisher/distributor to jail. Since there's no clearcut line between "art" and "porn," courts often made the arbitrary distinction of "can you see pubic hair?" 

"Art" like a Greek statue, had no pubic hair, whereas "dirty" pictures showed pubes. As a result, the famous images of Bettie performing bondage in her spike heels and bull whips don't show her nude at all. No nipples, and certainly no pubes. In that way, the sexual content was implicit rather than explicit. And although some could easily argue that the bondage images are far more "lewd" than the simple sight of a pubic patch, the clothed, but implied BDSM Bettie were harder for a court to rule on what exactly was breaking the law. 

So it is very rare to see an image of Bettie (or any famous model from the 1930s-1950s) posing the way we see today--girls with open legs, splaying and spreading for the camera. Luckily, these images of Bettie survived. Although the image quality is not the best technically, if you can imagine it being taken with a digital camera today, it would certainly have a very contemporary feel. Bettie was certainly 50 years ahead of her time.