Josephine Baker - Tumblr Posts
19 - Josephine Baker - Dancer Though best known as a depression-era dancer, Josephine Baker was also a civil rights advocate, member of the French Resistance, and adoptive mother to no less than twelve children. She had one heck of a life; she was born into poverty and ended up on the streets at age 12. At age 15, she joined a vaudeville act in St. Louis before moving to New York and performing in various Broadway revues during the Harlem Renaissance. By the time Ms. Baker was 19, she was the highest-paid chorus girl in vaudeville, and that was far from being the most amazing thing that happened during her life. Ms. Baker moved to France and hung out with Ernest Hemmingway and Pablo Picasso. Ms. Baker owned a cheetah with a diamond collar. Ms. Baker invented the banana dance. Ms. Baker was unaccountably badass. In RPGs, the Dancer is sort of an upside-down and backwards Bard. Where Bards can heal and support, Dancers can damage enemies and reduce their stats, or even cause status effects from a distance. Usually an exclusively female class, Dancers tend to be a little rare, and useful Dancers are even more uncommon, but its always nice to see them as an option just to have something to balance out the Bard. And why did I pick Dancer for Josephine Baker? Well, besides the obvious, her danse banane hit me with some serious debuffs.
Josephine Baker in her dressing room at the Casino de Paris in Paris, 1931.
Photos by Boris Lipnitzki
EVERYONE VOTE FOR JOSEPHINE BAKER RIGHT NOW
Propaganda
Anna May Wong (The Thief of Bagdad, Shanghai Express)—Wong was the first Chinese American movie star, arguably the first Asian woman to make it big in American films. Though the racism of the time often forced her into stereotypical roles, awarded Asian leading roles to white actors in yellowface, and prohibited on-screen romance between actors of different races, she delivered powerful and memorable performances. When Hollywood bigotry got to be too much, she made movies in Europe. Wong was intellectually curious, a fashion icon, and a strong advocate for authentic Asian representation in cinema. And, notably for the purposes of this tournament, absolutely gorgeous.
Josephine Baker (The Siren of the Tropics, ZouZou)— Josephine Baker was an American born actress, singer, and utter icon of the period, creating the 1920s banana skirt look. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion film. She fought in the French resistance in WWII, given a Legion of Honour, as well as refusing to perform in segregated theatres in the US. She was bisexual, a fighter, and overall an absolutely incredible woman as well as being extremely attractive.
This is round 6 of the tournament. All other polls in this bracket can be found here. Please reblog with further support of your beloved hot sexy vintage woman.
[additional propaganda submitted under the cut.]
Anna May Wong propaganda:
"She so so gorgeous!! Due to Hollywood racism she was pretty limited in the roles she got to play but even despite that she’s so captivating and deserves to be known as a leading lady in her own right!! When she’s on screen in Shanghai Express I can’t look away, which is saying something because Marlene Dietrich is also in that film."
"SHE IS ON THE BACK OF QUARTERS also she was very smart and able to speak multiple languages and is a fashion icon on top of the acting/singing"
"Paved the way for Asian American actresses AND TOTAL HOTTIE!!! She broke boundaries and made it her mission to smash stereotypes of Asian women in western film (at the time, they were either protrayed them as delicate and demure or scheming and evil). In 1951, she made history with her television show The Gallery of Madame Liu-Tsong, the first-ever U.S. television show starring an Asian-American series lead (paraphrased from Wikipedia). Also, never married and rumor has it that she had an affair with Marlene Dietrich. We love a Controversial Queen!"
"She's got that Silent Era smoulder™ that I think transcends the very stereotypical roles in which she was typically cast. Also looks very hot smouldering opposite Marlene Dietrich in "Shanghai Express"; there's kiss energy there."
"Hot as hell and chronically overlooked in her time, she's truly phenomenal and absolutely stunning"
"A story of stardom unavoidably marred by Hollywood racism; Wong's early-career hype was significantly derailed by the higher-up's reluctance to have an Asian lead, and things only got worse when the Hayes code came down and she suddenly *couldn't* be shown kissing a white man--even if that white man was in yellowface. After being shoved into the Dragon Lady role one too many times, she took her career to other continents for many years. Still, she came back to America eventually, being more selective in her roles, speaking out against Asian stereotypes, and in the midst of all of this finding the time to be awarded both the title of "World's Best Dressed Woman" by Mayfair Mannequin Society of New York and an honorary doctorate by Peking University."
"Incredible beauty, incredible actress, incredible story."
"-flapper fashion ICON. look up her fits please <3 -rumors of lesbianism due to her Close Friendships with marlene dietrich & cecil cunningham, among others -leveraged her star power to criticize the racist depictions of Chinese and Asian characters in Hollywood, as well as raise money and popular support for China & Chinese refugees in the 1930s and 40s. -face card REFUSED to decline"
Josephine Baker:
Black, American-born, French dancer and singer. Phenomenal sensation, took music-halls by storm. Famous in the silent film era.
Let's talk La Revue Negre, Shuffle Along. The iconique banana outfit? But also getting a Croix de Guerre and full military honors at burial in Paris due to working with the Resistance.
She exuded sex, was a beautiful dancer, vivacious, and her silliness and humor added to her attractiveness. She looked just as good in drag too.
So I know she was more famous for other stuff than movies and her movies weren’t Hollywood but my first exposure to her was in her films so I’ve always thought of her as a film actress first and foremost. Also she was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture so I think that warrants an entry
Iconic! Just look up anything about her life. She was a fascinating woman.
“The French are glad to die for love.” Josephine Baker in Zouzou (1934) dir. Marc Allégret // Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1953) dir. Howard Hawks
Josephine Baker in her dressing room at the Casino de Paris in Paris, 1931.
Photos by Boris Lipnitzki
Pride special! Historical figures who were LGTB (edited with pride flags)
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) - A famous Irish poet and playwright best known from his novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. Homoerotic subtext was featured in some of his works. He was very flamboyant and had multiple affairs with other men. One of these affairs was with his friend and lover Lord Alfred Douglas while being married with two sons. This relationship ultimately lead Wilde to be arrested and put in trial for sodomy which he was found guilty. In 1895 he was sentenced in two years of hard labour. After his release from prison, he moved to France and lived in mid-1897 with Ronald Ross. Later that year he met with Douglass and they lived in Naples but separated because of the financial pressure from their families (who didn’t accept their meeting) and personal reasons.
Alan Turin (1912-1954) - British logician, computer scientist, and mathematician. His most influential work is Turing Machine which can be seen as a model of a modern computer. In 1952 he was charged with gross indecency after admitting his sexual relationship with Arnold Murray. Homosexual acts were illegal during that time in the United Kindom. He was given a choice to either go to prison or parole including his agreement to undergo hormonal physical changes designed to reduce libido. He chose the later and the treatment caused impotent and gynecomastia.
Pjotr Tšaikovski (1840-1893) - Classic Russian composer. He composed many masterpieces such as Swanlake and The Nutcracker. He suffered from bad mental health and was reclusive and shy. It is under debate that Tšaikovski might have had a hard time accepting his own sexuality. Sergey Kireyev was his first, and according to his brother’s diary his “strongest, longest and purest love”.
Frida Kahlo (1907-1953) - Mexican painter who is known from her colourful, yet dark-themes paintings. Based on her own experience, women’s harsh life and pain are expressed in her art, making her almost a feminist cult person in the 90s. She was openly bisexual and was friends with Pablo Picasso.
Joséphine Baker (1903-1975) - American-French dancer, singer and stage artist. She was openly bisexual and very famous in her time for her revealing costumes, dance performances and exotic beauty. She was also an activist against racism and worked as an honourable correspondent for France during World War II, gathering information about German troop locations. Baker was openly bisexual.
Anne Lister (1791-1840) - Considered to be the first modern lesbian for her openly gay lifestyle, Lister was an English landowner and diarist, who wrote about her life in detail, including her lesbian relationships containing intimate details about them (these parts written in code) to her diaries that are over 4 million words long. She took care of business and travelled a lot during her life. Lister was in a relationship with Ann Walker and in 1834 they took communion together in Holy Trinity Church and thereafter considered themselves married. A Historical drama series Gentleman Jack was released this year and it tells her story based on her diaries.
Chevalier d’Éon (1728-1810) - A French diplomat and spy who was also a soldier in the Seven Years’ War. While working in London as a spy, d’Èon was rumoured to be a woman despite wearing dragoon’s uniform and serving the king as a man. People started betting on d'Éon true sex. D'Éon declined the invitation to be examined for it would have been dishonouring whatever the result. Later on, d'Éon was in political exile in London (after a series of events), unable to return to France but after the death of Louis XV d'Éon tried to negotiate on his return to France. D'Éon was allowed to return but with the condition that he would turn over the correspondence regarding the secret du roi (King Louis XV’s secret channel of diplomats d'Éon worked in) D'Éon returned but claimed to be born as a woman and raised as a boy. D'Éon demanded to be recognized as a woman by the government. The government accepted this but demanded d'Éon to wear appropriately female clothing. D'Éon agreed and returned to France and lived as a woman until death. D'Éon’s dead body was examined and confirmed to have had male organs yet having feminine characteristics. This might be evidence to d'Éon being intersex.
Dr. Alan L. Hart (1890-1962) - An American physician, tuberculosis researcher, radiologist, writer and novelist who was one of the first trans men to undergo hysterectomy and gonadectomy in the USA (1917-18). He pioneered x-ray photography which was used to detect tuberculosis. Dr Hart also wrote short stories and four novels during his career. Gay men and gender dysphoria are portrayed in his writing.
Roberta Cowell (1918-2011) - A British racing driver and a fighter pilot in World War II. Cowell was the first known trans woman to undergo sex reassignment surgery. In 1940 she was commissioned in Royal army service corps. While serving as a pilot officer in Germany Cowell attacked enemy targets on the ground but crash-landed and was captured by German troops. Her too escape attempts failed and she was eventually taken to Stalag Luft I where she remained as a prisoner for five months until the camp was abandoned because of the pressure from Red Army. After the war, Cowell began her transition and became friends with Michael Dillon.
Queen Christina (1626-1698) - Queen of Sweden from 1632 to 1654. One of the most educated women in the 17th century, who was interested in books, painting, sculptures and manuscripts. She even called great philosopher Rene Descartes to teach her. Christina never married which was considered scandalous. She also felt strong loath towards actives that were considered feminine during her life time and preferred hunting, fencing and riding instead. Her sexuality is under debate, but some historians consider her to have been lesbian.
(fun fact, I’ve seen this portrait life recently)
BONUS: Leonardo Da Vinci in pride colours
These are only few amazing people I have mentioned and there is plenty of many others so don’t be afraid to add people who are not mentioned or correct me if I have errors
African-American Classic Actresses
1920s - 1980s
Josephine in "A Splash of Color"
Welcome everyone we invite you to come see our newest cartoon "A Splash of Color" debuting miss Josephine Baker, who is this dame you may ask well she's her to make our cartoons a bit more colorful! Only at Joey drew Studios.
💫♠️𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐬 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐬! 🖤💫
I couldn’t help myself I made another Home Screen aesthetic this time it’s 1920s black, gold, and white themed! I really have fun making these they just take forever to do. Credit to @laneofpennies and @diorstars for making some of the icons! 
Lady Josephine B. (October 15, 2019) (with closeup)
by ©️sophia D. S. wright
Digital painting
Composed on iPadPro
With Procreate
Original 5050x5050px