(L-R) Professors Marcella Bencivenni, Hilary A. Hallet, and Christine Choi
On Monday, March 23, the Hostos Research Center was packed with students, faculty, and staff who had come to hear about how an unhappily married aristocratic British woman not only invented the “sex novel” but also became the “oracle that helped Hollywood to its sexual future.” That woman, Elinor Glyn, is the subject of the book “Inventing the It Girl: How Elinor Glyn Created the Modern Romance and Conquered Early Hollywood," and the author, Columbia University’sHistory Professor Hilary A. Hallett, came to Hostos to share the fascinating story of this remarkable woman to help us mark Women’s History Month.
Organized by members of the Women’s and Gender Studies Faculty Council, English Professor Christine Choi, who serves as the WGS Coordinator, and History Professor Marcella Bencivenni, the book discussion kicked off with Provost Andrea Fabrizio, who pointed out how women’s voices have so often been muted, yet have had such profound influences on society. “What women write and what women read, and frankly if they should be permitted to read and write at all, has been a subject of study in many time periods and continues to be so, and women’s reading and composition are so often dismissed or undervalued and even feared. This dates back to questions of whether women should be permitted to read scripture, poetry, and, of course, romance. And despite these debates, taboos, and questions, what women read and write shapes culture and influences our understanding of the world around us. This is such an important part of celebrations in Women’s History Month – to celebrate and recognize women who have shaped our world, and to see the journey their voices have taken in gaining place in history, and how they contribute to the changing perspectives of and estimation of women’s voices and perspectives more broadly.”
Provost Andrea Fabrizio delivered welcome remarks
One doesn't have to look far to see the enduring influence of Elinor Glyn on modern society. Romance novels have been by far the best-selling genre in the 20th and 21st centuries, and screen adaptations of bodice-rippers such as “Bridgerton” still capture the imaginations of today’s audiences.
As Prof. Hallett explained, Elinor Glyn was born in England into a modest family with a miserly stepfather who told her that she would need to marry well if she ever wanted to be wealthy. She finally married at the ripe old age of 27, “practically a spinster at that point,” but though her husband initially had a pleasant estate, his drinking and gambling habits soon impoverished them, and Glyn found herself languishing in a loveless, sexually unsatisfying marriage. But inspired by her sister’s form-fitting dress and lingerie designs, and drawing from her imagination and the classical stories of passionate gods seducing hapless mortals, she starts writing steamy books as a way to battle her depression and soon finds commercial success with the novel “Three Weeks” about a short-lived affair between a king and his lover. Sensing an opportunity to make some money, she went on a U.S. tour to promote the book, and caused a sensation with her long flowing outfits, bright red hair and green eyes.
Prof. Hallet captivated the audience with the fascinating story of Elinor Glyn
Though censorship was very much a thing in the United States, she somehow managed to push the limits of literary propriety, no doubt thanks in part to her sartorial elegance, English accent, and aristocratic bearing, which combined to lend a veneer of propriety to her work. And in the exuberance of the roaring 20s, she was embraced as an arbiter of sensuality and became its "incandescent flaming symbol.”
Elinor Glyn dressed as the protagonist of her book, “Three Weeks”
Glyn soon found her way into the burgeoning Hollywood scene, using glamour, elegance, and luxurious settings to commodify sex and openly depict female desire in ways that had previously been unthinkable. She even invented the term “It Girl” as a polite way to refer to a woman in touch with her own desires, drawing from a popular short story called “It” about sexual magnetism. In addition to being among the first to identify the actor Rudolf Valentino as a convincing wooer of women, she was also a mentor to Clara Bow, who became arguably the first sex symbol of cinema by portraying women who follow their own desires.
Glyn pictured with her protegée Clara Bow, Hollywood’s first sex symbol
Her influence was enormous and the Hollywood producers credited her with inventing sex appeal. With her elegance, sophistication, and sensuality, she became a sensation. And despite the lurid Hollywood publicity she enjoyed, her real life was actually far more outrageous.
Elinor Glyn, in short, broke down the barriers that had kept female desire cloistered, ushering in a new era in which women could claim their sexuality and be more empowered on love’s battlefields.
Students had questions about the “oracle of sex”
When a student asked what had been Glyn’s biggest challenge in breaking so much cultural ground, Prof. Hallett surprisingly said that self-doubt was what held her back the most. However, in retrospect, it is evident that Glyn was able to muster the courage and strength that typifies so many women and pushes them to move forward against difficult odds. So, during Women’s History Month, the story of Elinor Glyn stands as an inspiration to women to follow their passions and pursue their dreams.