The real Bettie Page can no longer stand up

I never heard of Bettie Page until after she died. Here are two very different views of Page and her modeling career.

Truthdig describes Page as a provocative "pop culture icon," a sort of precursor to Madonna.

Suzie at Echidne of the Snakes offers a more complex view:

Bettie Page, whose pinup and BDSM photos turned her into a cult icon, died Thursday. She’s a stellar example of someone who became a commodity, whose image profited others.
Her “sex fiend” father molested her and her sisters, Page once said. After an abusive first husband and a gang rape, she left Nashville for New York, where she began posing for sexy photos to make money, and in hopes of becoming an actress.

The rest of Suzie's post is short and well worth reading. It sounds as if Page's career was less of an example of bold sexual self-expression and more of a case of a woman with few economic resources finding a way to make a living.