Credit: …And God Created Woman
Brigitte Bardot is one of Hollywood’s most fascinating women. The gorgeous former actress was born on September 28, 1934, in Paris, and she went on to become a singer, actress, and model. She had, perhaps, the biggest and most successful career of anyone of her time, and she gave it all up in the 1970s. It’s her right to do so, but she was once regarded as the most beautiful woman in the world.
She’s always been strikingly beautiful, but she’s also never bothered to try and fit in. She’s always been unafraid to say what’s on her mind, how she’s feeling, and what she thinks – and that was not something considered appropriate during her younger years. She was often criticized for her beliefs, but it never stopped Brigitte Bardot from speaking out. What makes her one of the most outrageous women in the world?
She Always Was a Performer
The thing about Brigitte Bardot is that she’s always been a performer. There was never a time in her life when she didn’t have the desire to spend her time on a stage in front of others. Though, as a child, her goal was to grow into a professional ballerina. She certainly had the looks for it.
She’s graceful and elegant, and she is one of the most beautiful women alive. However, her goal changed in the early 50s when she decided a career as an actress was more her speed. She became famous in 1957 when she starred in a movie titled, ‘And God Created Woman.’
She Was Never The Conforming Type
Even then, Brigitte Bardot was uninterested in conforming to anyone’s standards of beauty or personality. She wasn’t a housewife. She wasn’t demure. She wasn’t quiet about her thoughts and feelings, and she certainly wasn’t interested in doing or saying the right things just to impress others.
This was something Simone de Beauvoir noticed, and she included Bardot in an essay she wrote in the late 1950s. Titled ‘The Lolita Syndrome,’ Beauvoir described Brigitte Bardot as many things, but mostly as a train plowing through all the things at the time that were deemed appropriate and acceptable for a woman. She called her liberated, and it fits.
Credit: …And God Created Woman
Showing up At Elysee Palace in Trousers
If there is one thing we can say about the French, it’s that they kind of do their own thing. They’re unafraid to be fashion-forward, to think outside the box, and to say what’s on their mind rather than hold it in. In 1967, Brigitte Bardot did the unthinkable at the time. The former president of France, Charles de Gaulle (the one for whom the Paris International Airport is named), invited the legendary actress to Elysee Palace to meet.
During that time, pants – or trousers as they were called at that time – were legally banned on women as a form of formal wear. Women must wear skirts or dresses, but pants were not an appropriate form of fashion, nor were they legal. What did Brigitte Bardot show up to the Palace wearing to meet the president? Trousers. She was covered in shiny buttons, wearing trousers, and her long hair was down and unkempt in a stylish manner. Her attire was considered, at the time, absolutely inappropriate, and yet she did not care.
The World Wanted Her Cancelled
When she danced in ‘And God Created Woman,’ the world wanted her canceled. There she was, a beautiful young woman who was unafraid to go in front of a camera and dance. She did not have a problem showcasing her sensuality or her sexuality, and the world was unamused.
At the time, the Hollywood actress was demure. She was ladylike and proper. She was allowed to be funny when it was appropriate, but she was expected to be covered, to be a lady, and to be prim and proper. Bardot was none of those things. She wore too much makeup. She did not cover enough of her skin. She did not live a demure life. She was sexy and beautiful, and she was living her life on her own terms, and the world did not like it.
Credit: …And God Created Woman
Walking Away from It All
With beauty, fame, fortune, and a desire to do what she wanted to do, Brigitte Bardot gave up her career less than 20 years in. She walked away from the fame and fortune to work as an animal rights activist, never looking back. She has no regrets. She did what she wanted, and the fact that walking away from it all to chase her true calling shocks anyone only goes to show that the world never really knew Brigitte Bardot.
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