Over the past few years, there’s been a Pamela Anderson renaissance – a pam-aissance, if you will. And personally, I’m here for it.
The era of her comeback at 56 years-old was cemented when the pop culture icon went makeup-free for this year’s Paris Fashion Week. During a ‘Get Ready With Me’ video for Vogue France, Pamela explained her choice to stay bare-faced amongst the fashion crowd.
“Something just kind of came over me and I was dressing in these beautiful clothes and I thought, ‘I don’t want to compete with the clothes’.”
“I’m not trying to be the prettiest girl in the room. I feel like it’s just freedom. It’s just relief.”
On December 4th, Pammy attended the Fashion Awards at the Royal Albert Hall in London, where she presented the Leader of Change award to Michaela Coel. Once again, her look was pared back with just a subtle lip gloss.
Of course, as a wealthy Hollywood icon Pamela is privy to more facials, fresh food and the lack of a draining 9-5, all of which can help make our skin glow, but there’s no denying that it’s refreshing to see a middle-aged women embrace (rather than repel) the ageing process.
If, like me, you grew up in the 2000s, you’ll remember Pamela Anderson as the Playboy Bunny x Baywatch bombshell. In the era of P!nk‘s ‘Stupid Girls’ music video (IYKYK), women like Pamela were considered to be bimbos. Add on a fucked sex tape controversy with her ex, Tommy Lee, and the general public were 100% primed to dislike (and slut-shame) her.
But, finally, in the Year of Our Lord 2023, folks are finally starting to see Pamela for the literal ICON she is. If you needed any more convincing, here’s why Pammy deserves all of the flowers.
She’s a camp icon
Yes, she’s burnt into our brains with her Baywatch run but did you know that Pamela has also acted as a bodyguard in the camp show V.I.P.? The 1998 low-budget dramedy series features Pamela as a young woman in LA who accidentally saves a celebrity from some bad guys.
Of course, she’s then immediately hired as a bodyguard (duh) whose lack of investigation skills means she wins over the bad guys nearly every time. During the show, Pamela also pokes fun at her famous tabloid image. We love a self-aware queen.
The show is campy and trashy (in the best way possible) and a relic of the late nineties and early 2000s.
If you’re keen to see Mother moonlight as a bodyguard, you can stream season one of V.I.P. for free on PTV’s brand new channel, PEDESTRIAN TELEVISION here. As well as V.I.P., there are a bunch of cult classics for you to reminisce on.
She’s an advocate for animals
Over the years, Pamela has been involved in a number of campaigns for animal advocacy group, PETA. Some have been more controversial than others but at the end of the day, it comes from a place of caring about animals who don’t have a voice of their own.
Pamela’s also been a vegetarian since childhood and a vegan since her early twenties.
Plus, who could forget the time she literally wrote a letter to PRESIDENT PUTIN (!!) asking him to block the passage of the Winter Bay, a ship reportedly containing 1,700 tonnes of fin whale en route to Japan from Iceland. She’s also a board member of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society.
A woman after my own heart, tbh.
She’s for the girls and the gays
In 2005, Pamela became a spokesperson for MAC Cosmetic’s MAC AIDS Fund, which helped people affected by AIDS and HIV. Remember, this was just two decades post-the beginning of the AIDS crisis in the US, so for Pamela to put her face to an important cause such as AIDS and HIV, she would’ve helped to dispel the lingering homophobia and ignorance around the disease. What an icon.
After her spokesperson duties, Pammy went on to raise money at events in Toronto, Tokyo, Dublin, and Athens.
Pamela Anderson has proven that people will underestimate women all.the.time. But weaponising your attention for good causes can turn your bimbo-ness into a superpower. Thankfully, the cultural tides are (slowly) shifting and we now know that just because a woman is sexual, it doesn’t make her a vapid airhead. So, thanks Pammy for being an icon all along. You deserve all the flowers.
Image credit: 9Now & Getty