Ginger's Susan Hayward Message Board: To reach If You Knew Susie by Trish Sharp, click the profile photo at www.facebook.com/susanhaywardclassicfilmstar and you will see the link.
Just a personal tribute to that wonderful lady who graced the cinema screens of my childhood and teens. Susan was most definitely not one of your run-of-the-mill actresses of that period. She had attitude in abundance. She possessed that fiery spit in your eye quality that elevated her far above all those other stereotyped screen sirens of yesteryear. They simply just paled into insignificance alongside her undeniable beauty and talent. Whilst they took their lead from the scripts they read,Susan took her own inspiration from her personal experiences growing up in a tough, hard environment.Unfortunately, we shall never see her like again, but we can be always thankful in our hearts that she touched our lives in some small measure whilst she was with us. Rest in everlasting peace and perpetual beauty my fair lady.
In full agreement Peter.I often think of some of the writings around the late 60's when the social upheavals had given huge impetus to feminism, Women's Lib and affiliated movements. At the time, women of the calibre of Susan Sontag, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, Joan Baez and others were lauded as "real women" and role models (deservedly so). But there was a lot of rhetoric saying that Hollywood Stars should not be viewed as such, as they were mainly unliberated bubble-headed artificial women ( certainly true in SOME cases).
Yet in the 40's and 50's which was pre all this populist awareness, we have Susan Hayward and many of her contempories, Davis, Crawford, Stanwyck, Kate Hepburn etc- showing a toughness of spirit, independence, strong will but combined with innate feminity, which I (speaking from a male point of view)felt elevated women's status.
Kerry
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Just a personal tribute to that wonderful lady who graced the cinema screens of my childhood and teens. Susan was most definitely not one of your run-of-the-mill actresses of that period. She had attitude in abundance. She possessed that fiery spit in your eye quality that elevated her far above all those other stereotyped screen sirens of yesteryear. They simply just paled into insignificance alongside her undeniable beauty and talent. Whilst they took their lead from the scripts they read,Susan took her own inspiration from her personal experiences growing up in a tough, hard environment.Unfortunately, we shall never see her like again, but we can be always thankful in our hearts that she touched our lives in some small measure whilst she was with us. Rest in everlasting peace and perpetual beauty my fair lady.
It's interesting to note the references to feminism regarding Susan Hayward. As a woman who became a feminist as a pre-teen, before the word even came to be, let along the movement, I wonder if seeing such actresses as Susan Hayward, Ida Lupino, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn and Katherine Hepburn helped me realize my own feeling that women could, indeed, be strong-willed, independent, resourceful and career-oriented.
As for their remaining "feminine," I never thought women with those characteristics were un-feminine, since my view of feminity had nothing to do with so-called "beauty" standards, which were petty shallow at that time (maybe even today, who knows?).
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Replying to:
In full agreement Peter.I often think of some of the writings around the late 60's when the social upheavals had given huge impetus to feminism, Women's Lib and affiliated movements. At the time, women of the calibre of Susan Sontag, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, Joan Baez and others were lauded as "real women" and role models (deservedly so). But there was a lot of rhetoric saying that Hollywood Stars should not be viewed as such, as they were mainly unliberated bubble-headed artificial women ( certainly true in SOME cases).
Yet in the 40's and 50's which was pre all this populist awareness, we have Susan Hayward and many of her contempories, Davis, Crawford, Stanwyck, Kate Hepburn etc- showing a toughness of spirit, independence, strong will but combined with innate feminity, which I (speaking from a male point of view)felt elevated women's status.
Kerry
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Replying to:
Just a personal tribute to that wonderful lady who graced the cinema screens of my childhood and teens. Susan was most definitely not one of your run-of-the-mill actresses of that period. She had attitude in abundance. She possessed that fiery spit in your eye quality that elevated her far above all those other stereotyped screen sirens of yesteryear. They simply just paled into insignificance alongside her undeniable beauty and talent. Whilst they took their lead from the scripts they read,Susan took her own inspiration from her personal experiences growing up in a tough, hard environment.Unfortunately, we shall never see her like again, but we can be always thankful in our hearts that she touched our lives in some small measure whilst she was with us. Rest in everlasting peace and perpetual beauty my fair lady.
Yes Gloria, I would imagine that the influence of those ladies at the time, may well have given yourself and masses of other women, the instinctive realization that those qualities were indeed shared by both genders, and were certainly NOT the exclusive preserve of the male.
Re the "feminity" para.-I agree with you, that as a quality it transcends mere beauty. When I mentioned it in context with strength, independence etc, it was that the prevailing social mores and thought in the 40's and 50's (at least in the mainstream)were that (wrongly !!) women would sacrifice "feminity" to an extent if they sought careers, or were prepared to stand up and fight for issues etc.
Thankfully, most (unfortunately not all) of that style of thinking has gone.
I like to think that in those parochial and narrow outlook days, that Susan and the others we have mentioned were the precursors of a change in public and social perceptions.
They did well didn't they. !
Kerry
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Replying to:
It's interesting to note the references to feminism regarding Susan Hayward. As a woman who became a feminist as a pre-teen, before the word even came to be, let along the movement, I wonder if seeing such actresses as Susan Hayward, Ida Lupino, Barbara Stanwyck, Bette Davis, Audrey Hepburn and Katherine Hepburn helped me realize my own feeling that women could, indeed, be strong-willed, independent, resourceful and career-oriented.
As for their remaining "feminine," I never thought women with those characteristics were un-feminine, since my view of feminity had nothing to do with so-called "beauty" standards, which were petty shallow at that time (maybe even today, who knows?).
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Replying to:
In full agreement Peter.I often think of some of the writings around the late 60's when the social upheavals had given huge impetus to feminism, Women's Lib and affiliated movements. At the time, women of the calibre of Susan Sontag, Frida Kahlo, Gertrude Stein, Virginia Woolf, Joan Baez and others were lauded as "real women" and role models (deservedly so). But there was a lot of rhetoric saying that Hollywood Stars should not be viewed as such, as they were mainly unliberated bubble-headed artificial women ( certainly true in SOME cases).
Yet in the 40's and 50's which was pre all this populist awareness, we have Susan Hayward and many of her contempories, Davis, Crawford, Stanwyck, Kate Hepburn etc- showing a toughness of spirit, independence, strong will but combined with innate feminity, which I (speaking from a male point of view)felt elevated women's status.
Kerry
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Replying to:
Just a personal tribute to that wonderful lady who graced the cinema screens of my childhood and teens. Susan was most definitely not one of your run-of-the-mill actresses of that period. She had attitude in abundance. She possessed that fiery spit in your eye quality that elevated her far above all those other stereotyped screen sirens of yesteryear. They simply just paled into insignificance alongside her undeniable beauty and talent. Whilst they took their lead from the scripts they read,Susan took her own inspiration from her personal experiences growing up in a tough, hard environment.Unfortunately, we shall never see her like again, but we can be always thankful in our hearts that she touched our lives in some small measure whilst she was with us. Rest in everlasting peace and perpetual beauty my fair lady.
