“The reason that I left Beaver was because my womanhood was starting to show. So, they used to like tape me down.” —Jeri Weil
I just learned that Judy Hensler, played by Jeri Weil, was fired from Leave it to Beaver (which ran from 1957–1963) because of puberty (I understand that Janet Jackson, who was later shamed for exposing her breast during a half-time performance at the Super Bowl XXXVIII, had the same experience while viddying Good Times in the 1970s). Children inevitably grow up and, although there are ways to stop puberty hormonally these days, historically when girls develop their secondary sex characteristics that has been rather obvious.
Weil was given a chance to stay in the character if she continued used the technique of chest binding, or breast binding, but she was stubborn and refused. Chest binding causes lung constrictions and difficulty in breathing, acne of the breasts and surrounding area, bacterial and fungal infections, scarring of the breast tissue, and permanent deformation of the breasts.
I don’t know whether it was because of long waits on set that worried Weil or because she didn’t want to treated in a sexualized manner (it seems the latter based on her interviews), but it’s outrageous that she would be given such an ultimatum. So what if her breasts were noticeable? It’s not like the kids who watch the show who were around her age were seeing breast develop in their own lives, their homes and schools.
Weil became a real estate agent and writer after leaving Leave it to Beaver. In an interview with the Baby Boomers Talk Radio, she told the host that she do not further pursue an acting career because her experience on the show turned her off from the industry. “I didn’t even try,” she explained. “I wanted nothing to do with it.”
However, she did meet up with the Beaver, played by Jerry Matthews, when he reprised the role in the The New Leave it to Beaver. Here’s a clip from a March 1987 episode:
I read that, today, chest binding is much less dangerous. Maybe. Now that it has become a practice associated with the gender craze, the culture industry is normalizing it and big retail stores like Target and Walmart are marketing such things as “breathable strapless chest breast binder trans lesbian tomboy cosplay” items to girls. (Walmart removed the page showing an adolescent wearing the aforementioned item, but you can shop for a similar item using an adult model here.) The medical-industrial complex has joined the normalization by providing links to instructions on how to “safely” wear chest binders.
What explains the culture industry obsession over the prepubescent and androgynous form? What explains the shaming of puberty, which has been pushed down into Western popular culture generally, and is particularly affecting girls? Why is the medical-industrial complex affirming cultural stereotypes by administering chest binders, hormones, and surgeries? Anorexia is also a consequence of the cultural obsession with bodies and puberty. How is the medical-industrial complex handling that problem? Ask yourself about business models and shareholder interests to answer these question (see Making Patients for the Medical-Industrial Complex; Disordering Bodies for Disordered Minds).
Phobia of puberty and the problem of anorexia are hardly the only perverse things about elite culture. Moreover, similar perversions exist among the elite in other cultures and at other times, as well. Foot binding. Neck stretching. The removal of the labia and sometimes the clitoris of girls entering puberty. The patriarchy and its extreme expression in misogyny, the pathological fear and loathing of the female body, even while sexualizing and appropriating it, is an enduring problem in history. Hensler is just one example, albeit a notable one. She sacrificed her dream to be an actress, but I admire her for not giving in.
freedom and reason 