Bettie Page has had multiple run-ins with the law regarding the controversial nature of nudity and the legal definition of pornography. In 1952, Page was charged with indecent exposure during a nude farmhouse shoot in Lewisboro, NY (Art Poses in Woods Brings $5 Fines to 27).  After a local contacted the authorities, a squad car with multiple officers arrived at the location of the shoot and arrested the photographers for disturbing the peace and the models for indecent exposure (Bettie Page Reveals All). Bettie argued that what she was doing was not indecent and the charge was modified to disorderly conduct. In the same year, U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver was campaigning as a democratic presidential candidate. Kefauver’s campaign focused on organized crime, including the large-scale distribution of pornographic images and materials (Bettie Page Reveals All). A significant part of his campaign argued that pornographic and lewd material lead to juvenile delinquency. He lost the 1952, election, but continued his campaign against organized crime as a US Senator with the intent to run again for the 1956 democratic presidential candidate (Estes Kefauver: A Featured Biography). In 1955, Kefauver called Bettie Page to testify against photographer Irving Klaw claiming Klaw’s “pornography” influenced juvenile delinquency. Page stated Klaw never did nudes, he should not be charged as a pornographer. Many photos of Bettie and Klaw’s other models were confiscated by law enforcement. Page refused to testify against Klaw, and upon confronting Kefauver and the committee, Page was blamed for a 17-year-old boy committing suicide while looking at one of her bondage photographs. Page said she had nothing to do with that and defended her refusal to testify against Klaw, as she said he was not breaking any laws and she would not lie on the stand. Throughout her life, Bettie continued to defend her modeling work and emphasized the existence and importance of women’s sexuality (Bettie Page Reveals All).  

“Art Poses in Woods Brings $5 Fines to 27.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 29 July 1952, www.nytimes.com/1952/07/29/archives/art-poses-in-woods-brings-5-fines-to.... Accessed 17 Aug. 2024. 

“Estes Kefauver: A Featured Biography.” Senate.Gov, United States Senate, www.senate.gov/senators/FeaturedBios/Featured_Bio_KefauverEstes.htm. Accessed 17 Aug. 2024. 

Mori, Mark, director. Bettie Page Reveals All. Music Box Films, 2012, https://www.amazon.com/Bettie-Page-Reveals-All/dp/B00J63UA66. Accessed 17 Aug. 2024.