She’s short, she’s sassy, she’s cute, she has the innocent face of a child and the curvaceous figure of a 1920s flapper. She’s Betty Boop!
Betty Boop first appeared in 1930, but she is still a prominent figure today. We see her on t-shirts, eye masks, office supplies and the list goes on, but she’s not featured on these items for no reason, the “boo-boop-se-do” character has created a lasting legacy as an icon in our society.
Her Origin
From 1930 on, Betty Boop was all the rage, with her first appearance being in the cartoon “Dizzy Dishes” where she was literally depicted as a dog, but a dog who was a half-human flapper. Interesting, right? Over time though, they decided it was best she became fully human, and was deserving of her very own TV show.
Suddenly, everyone was mesmerized by the first ever female cartoon figure. She had a flirtatious, fun personality that, despite being a cartoon, still attracted the viewers.
The Flapper Aesthetic
The 1920s-1930s was a time of rebellion as women began going against the social norms. They began cutting their hair to their shoulders, wearing mini dresses, entertaining for the public and being called “flappers.” When we looked at Betty Boop, she demonstrated just that as her hair was short with curls and everyone knew her by her red mini dress with a garter belt peaking out underneath.
Sexualization
This was definitely an eyebrow raiser. Betty Boop was the first of the many cartoonish sex symbols to come. She would bat her coquettish doe eyes, pucker up her bright red lips and many male cartoon characters would lust over her.
The cartoon character was often depicted as being taken advantage of. Many feminists have different views of the character, some see her as female empowerment, while others find her character to be an excuse to infantilize women.
There is no doubt that the patriarchal beauty standards are the reason women are expected to shave their body hair and appear “weaker,” than their male love interest. Betty Boop having a round head, coquettish doe eyes, tiny pipsqueak figure and high pitched voice make her appear more so like a baby doll or a child.
What more could a man want a cartoon character to look like? Males, both cartoon and human, lusted over her looks and daintiness, but one thing that made Betty Boop stand out as a feminist icon was how she continuously appeared to put men in their place when they tried to harass her.
Feminism
During the 1920s-1930s, women actually began embracing their sexuality, and the flapper style they began to wear wasn’t from anyone asking them to be “sexual,” it was purely out of confidence.
Women were always told not to “Flaunt it,” but women began realizing, “Why not? This is who I am and how I look.” So, Betty Boop embraced just that, she was sure of herself and could be seen as uplifting toward women at this time.
In many of her cartoon episodes, such as “The Man of the Mountain,” she approaches the old man not scared, but confident. The man turns out to be a creep and grabs Betty, but before he could do anything further, Betty punches him right in the face. This showed women of the time how they should be standing up for themselves and they don’t need a man.
Betty Boop also wasn’t married and she lived in her own house, so not only was she confident, but she was a confident, single woman. This was during a time period where women were expected to find a husband, get married and have children, but that wasn’t the case for Betty.
Along with this Betty is also seen driving a car in multiple episodes. Even though women were allowed to receive driver’s licenses, many men didn’t allow their wives to drive.
Betty Boop will always be remembered as one of the earliest feminist in our society.