Mae West's Worldview: XY-Rated

When I was a little girl playing dress up with my sisters, we’d take turns striking a pose to imitate Mae West’s famous line: “Why don’t you come up and see me sometime, big boy?” Then we’d giggle as if we knew exactly what that meant.

If you grew up during the twentieth century, you had to be living under a rock, as the saying goes, not to know something about Mae West. Best known as a comedian and actress, West’s brassy over-the-top behavior made her famous long before the likes of Entertainment Tonight and PerezHilton.com supplied the public with daily doses of celebrity news and gossip.

Mae West lived a spectacular show business life – at least according to stories about her. She was daring, brazen and completely original. She worked hard to be famous. Even her trademark walk was learned by observing female impersonators. And with her mother’s blessing, who thought everything her daughter did was fabulous, Mae West danced the shimmy when others wouldn’t, wrote her own risqué plays when none were available, and supported gay rights long before most people really understood the concept.

Her first starring Broadway role was in a play she wrote, directed, and produced entitled Sex. The scandalous production caught the attention of city officials and West was arrested along with the cast and prosecuted on morals charges. She was sentenced to ten days in prison on Welfare Island, but enjoyed an early release for “good behavior,” which apparently included dining with the warden and his wife.

West wrote several other plays, including The Wicked Age, Pleasure Man, and The Constant Sinner. Perhaps we can detect an emerging …shall we say, theme?

Many books and articles detail West’s amazing career, but it must be included here that by 1933, West was the eighth-largest U.S. box office draw in the United States and by 1935, the second-highest paid person in the United States (after William Randolph Hearst)! In addition, she was famous for a litany of quips and double entendres. Her wit and risqué references guaranteed public outrage, plenty of notoriety, and high praise from adoring fans.

Thinkwriters have only to read Mae West’s earliest memories a single time to realize that even as a youngster she put grand effort into controlling and dominating her environment. According to West....

When I was a girl, I understood right away that there was this double-standard thing for men and women, not just in sex, but in everything. A man’s world was one of freedom, a woman’s one of limitations. I believe in a single standard for men and women . . . . Many women’s lives are defined by the man or men in their lives. I wanted to define my own life.

One of the things that apparently made West angry was people who wouldn’t stand up for themselves. She also disliked boundaries and rules that constrained her. With all of this in mind, which of the four worldviews belongs to Mae West?

To make the best choice, let us first review the memories.

In memory #1, Mae West summons a dog with unique markings so she and the dog can be photographed together. Believing herself to be as distinctive and memorable as the dog (and already knowing she can get others to do her bidding), West orchestrates a “photo shoot.” Even as a child, Mae West "directs" with an eye for what will draw the viewer’s attention. Of course, personal desire drives her behavior – desire to stand out, to be the center of attention, and to get what she wants. Already she is a force of nature!

In memory #2, we witness the same scenario, except by this time (age 4), West recognizes that some people see her as “difficult.” Even so, her desire does not waiver. Fully supported by her mother, West is allowed to have the doll of her choosing, even though the one doll she wants is the most difficult to retrieve – not unlike herself – absolutely extraordinary but difficult to possess and control.

In memory #3, desire again permeates the recollection. West poses and gazes at herself in every mirror that reflects her image along a fine residential section of specialty shops with mirrored doors. Staring in the window of a jewelry store, West recalls seeing an actual “diamond” hanging on a velvet bust and imagines that owning it would guarantee her happiness. Given West’s penchant for the double entendre, we can also imagine what this so-called “hanging diamond” might represent to Mae West, a woman accustomed to capitalizing on the power of sex and sexualized entertainment.

And finally, in memory #4, West recalls hearing “great audience applause” . . . “applause just for me, and I knew then there wasn’t any other place I ever wanted to be.” Again, desire is the theme – desire for more attention, more applause, more approval, and more adoration. In this memory, we see a little girlness about her – a child playing an adult. She is dressed up like a cartoon character – a Betty Boop-like figure but with blond hair. And even though she has a child-like innocence about her, her naïveté is “applied” with great skill. Like the fox cleverly getting what it wants, West knows how to apply her innocence with just the right amount of shrewdness to have her way.

Based on her earliest memories, only one worldview fits Mae West perfectly.

To begin, the correct answer is not “I have to win.” For Mae West, winning is like breathing; no appreciable effort is required and thus no energy is assigned.

“Women rule” is also incorrect. If anything, “Men rule” would be more appropriate. Based on her memories, West didn’t identify with women as a group. She put herself above women. She saw herself as extraordinary and special – as distinctive as a dog with long white hair and one black eye and one black ear – and as discerning as a doll connoisseur capable of identifying the one best doll among hundreds.

#3, “I’m courageous,” is also not the best answer. In the absence of fear, courage is a non-issue. Not a hint of fear is detected in any of West’s four memories. Quite the opposite in fact; she remembers ordering people around from the time she was a child, thereby learning how to get her way with ease. Getting one’s way doesn’t involve courage; it involves entitlement and moxie, precisely what Mae West possessed in spades – giving a whole new meaning to the term “ball gown,” her signature attire.

Thus, we see that Mae West’s worldview is “I’m the man.” West approached her world as though she was the man. “Come up and see me sometime,” is the man’s line. Sexual aggression is the man’s prerogative. Hiding vulnerabilities is the talent of men. Men rely on their instincts and so did Mae West from the time she was a little girl - a little girl who wanted her picture taken with a dog, not a doll - and a little girl who was encouraged to have her way, no matter the cost to others.

Little girls are instructed to be “little ladies,” but boys are coached to go-for-it; to take what they want; to stand up for themselves; fight if they have to; and never let others push them around, no matter who it is. Especially during Mae West’s lifetime (1893-1980), being a woman had major limitations, but being a man promised great freedom. This was a time when the powerful often took advantage of others’ innocence.

Mae West was determined to control and dominate her own space and to gain respect by being strong and decisive, just as her earliest memories portray. In fact, it was never difficult for Mae West to make fun of women, because when one has the point of view of the man, making fun of women is easy. Indeed, Mae West was born a woman, but she had a take charge perspective from the beginning. In her own words, “I created myself. I developed myself. I didn’t turn out exactly this way all at once, though I wasn’t different when I was a little girl...”