Farrah Fawcett: From a Generation of Then-Young Men, RIP

We were sixteen, and so many of us had the famous Farrah Fawcett poster on our walls — she was in her swimsuit, a look of contentment on her face in her near-nakedness.  We must have spent hours in total looking at that poster and dreaming.  Girls styled their hair like Farrah in that era — modeling themselves on the vision of Farrah that the media had given us.  In that era, without the internet and limited access to “girlie” magazines, Farrah represented an ideal of femininity and sexuality that rivaled that of Marilyn Monroe for the generation of men before us.  

We watched Charlie’s Angels for Farrah (and Jaclyn Smith), and tolerated the contrived story lines — after all, there were many well-written action-packed police shows on at the time:  The Rockford Files, Hawaii Five-O, Baretta, Columbo, McMillan & Wife, etc.  But we watched nevertheless because Farrah was there.  A beautiful woman who civilized the feral teenagers, sat them down to an hour of television and off the streets at night.  That was Farrah Fawcett — the dream girl of a generation of then-young men now in their late 40’s and early 50’s.  

Today, there is an abundance of astoundingly beautiful women.  They do not last in the public eye for more than a year or two — the media turns our attention so quickly to the next ideal woman.  Women like Farrah Fawcett were iconic because we could dwell on them; we could reflect for years on their beauty, and know that they would be there again tomorrow.  There was stability in our ideals.  She represented not just an ideal of womanhood, but an idea that beauty was durable, that time almost stood still for her, and us as we admired her.  

We will miss her deeply, and the times she represented, and the ideals of of our youth of which she reminds us.  Rest in peace, Farrah Fawcett.  We will miss you.