Role Model Monday | Eartha Kitt

So I've been slaking. Seriously slacking. But with a new job, my brother leaving for uni and other boring little life changes, blogging somehow slipped out my schedule.

All it took was a touch of festive song listening to inspire me to take back to keyboard though (the laptop one, that is). How I was not aware that Eartha Kitt sang the original version of Santa Baby is beyond me but thank goodness I know now. Of course one thing lead to another and it wasn't long until I was listening the Kitt's crooning all evening.

Anyone who knows me well, knows how much I adore all things French, so to find out that Kitt sang in both English and French just determined that this post needed researching asap. I half believe I was meant to be French; my love for ballet, my adoration for the language and well, who doesn't love Paris?! I also began to believe, as I made my way through all Spotify had to offer from Ms Kitt, that I love, love, love music from that era. Don't get me wrong, Beyoncé gets me through so many gym sessions in a way no other artist can, but those jazzy blues make my ears so tingly that I simply cannot get enough of that 1950s sound. If I had to pinpoint just one thing I inherited from my father, it would his overwhelming appreciation for all kinds of music.

With Kitt's I Want To Be Evil producing the line "the closest I've been to a bar is at ballet class", how would it ever be possible for me to not admire this woman?! Okay, so it's not exactly true in my case (oh heeey many, many nights at uni bars and clubs) but I will go on record and say I do prefer a ballet barre to the alcoholic kind. Well, most of the time.



Eartha Kitt wasn't just famed for her soulful sounds. To be fluent in French, to be respected as a performer in practically every artistic discipline, to live to the ripe old age of 81 and to have a lipstick created and named in her honour? Yep, us 90s babies could learn a lot from Miss Kitt. She was also iconic in many dramatic roles, including, of course, her portrayal as Catwoman; Laverne Cox of Orange is the New Black fame even paid tribute in this year with her Halloween costume. Kitt was also particularly politically active during her lifetime, another trait I value highly about her. We are starting to see more women in the public eye tackle the big issues facing our societies, which is causing a rippling effect whereby women everywhere are taking up the mantle. The importance of this trend cannot ever be understated.

Neither can be the truly miraculous journey Kitt embarked on from her less than fortunate beginnings. According to a Guardian article from 2013, it took until 1998 when Eartha was 71 for any light to be shed on her supposedly white father. A man who was protected by the authorities at the time whilst Eartha and her mother faced scorn from their society. Unsurprisingly Ms Kitt became involved in the civil rights movement of the 60s but her comments on the Vietnam War, whilst arguably valid, did attract controversy at the time.

But in the lead up to Christmas, the day upon which Ms Kitt finally passed away, let us firstly listen to her brilliant musical offerings, but more than anything let us try and make as positive an impact on the world as Eartha Kitt. Never has a nickname - Mother Eartha - been so fitting.