Baby Houseman's Inner Conflict About Femininity -- Part 3

This article is Part 3 in a series, following Part 1 and Part 2.

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A deleted scene illustrates the femininity contrast between Lisa and Baby Houseman. In the following video, the scene is shown from 5:12 to 6:01.

The scene takes place in Lisa's and Baby's bedroom during their first day at Kellerman's Mountain House. The two sisters are dressing dinner (where they will be introduced to Robbie Gould).

Next to Baby's bed is a nightstand on which are piled four hardback books along with a couple of writing pens. On the bed is one blouse, neatly folded.

Baby's Bed

Next to Lisa's bed is a night stand are piled some women's magazines, a hairdryer, and a box of high-heel shoes.

Lisa's Bed

Lisa's bed has been slept in, because she has taken a nap in order to rest up for a long night of dancing. After her nap, she dumped all her clothes onto the bed in order to select and assemble her most attractive outfit in order to present her most attractive first impression that evening.

She is ready well in advance. When the scene begins, she is looking for her final accessory -- the purse she intends to carry that evening.

Lisa is wearing a beautiful blue dress that shows plenty of skin below her neck. Her outfit is accessorized with a pearl necklace and a shoulder brooch. Her hair is decorated with a pretty, red ribbon.

Lisa stands in front of her mirror to check her appearance as she does some dance moves that feature her swiveling hips. Lisa imagines that the men who see her dancing in the ballroom will be pleased and attracted by her appearance.

In contrast, Baby has not taken a nap, so her bed still is made. One folded blouse lies on her bed's corner. Instead of taking a nap, Baby wandered alone around the resort's grounds and overheard the resort's owner telling his male employees to romance the guests' teenage daughters.

Now Baby is in the hotel room, where Lisa already is completely dressed and happy. Baby stands alone in the bathroom, wearing only her underwear and looking morose.

Baby is dissatisfied and obsessing about her bust's shape. She tightens her bra straps to lift her breasts higher.

Baby studies her bust's silhouette, imagining how it will look to men in the ballroom.

At that moment, Lisa comes into the bathroom and sees Baby studying her bust shape. Lisa smirks, because she has caught Baby obsessing about her feminine appearance.

Normally Baby poses as an intellectual young woman who is nonchalant about her appearance and about the advances of young men. Understanding Lisa's smirk and upset by it, Baby rushes to slam the bathroom door in Lisa's face.

This deleted scene portrays the femininity contrast between Lisa and Baby and also Baby's inner conflict about femininity. She wants to look attractive, but she does not want to be seen trying to be attractive. She feels ashamed of herself for worrying about her appearance. She should be worrying instead about her studies and about social problems.

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In the following scene, the Houseman family is sitting down at their dinner table in the restaurant. Lisa is wearing the same blue dress. After the dinner, the handsome waiter Robbie Gould will invite her to dance with him in the ballroom.

Baby is wearing a party dress that is pretty and feminine but that reveals no bare skin below her neck. She has not accessorized her outfit.

Evidently, she loosened her bra straps again after she shut the bathroom door on Lisa.

Baby dances and chats with Neil Kellerman politely, but she does not feel sexually attracted to him. He seems to be sexually attracted to her, but his attention does not interest her.

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Baby is 17 and Lisa is perhaps 19 years old. Around those ages, most young woman are naturally pretty and attractive to men. In that respect, both sisters are ordinarily pretty. Neither is an extraordinary beauty.

Lisa, however, has a knack for enjoying and employing her femininity. She enthusiastically expends time and effort to enhance her appearance in order to please and attract men. She behaves instinctively, naturally and joyfully.

Lisa is looking forward to developing a romantic relationship with a man -- maybe beginning that very night -- during her three-week stay at the resort. The processes of making herself attractive and then attracting men's attention is fun for her. Lisa understands that her attractiveness is not only in her physical appearance but also in her pleasing, entertaining, flirtatious behavior.

Baby lacks Lisa' knack for femininity. Baby dawdles all day instead of resting, dressing and grooming herself for the dinner and dance. While she wandered around the resort grounds during the day, she remained alone and secretive. She peeked through a slightly open door to watch Max tell his male employees to romance the guests' teenage daughters. Max's talk puzzles and even disgusts her.

In the ballroom, when Baby gets stuck with Neil, she makes no effort to circulate and find a more handsome man. She does not intend to involve herself in a romance with Neil or anyone else during her three-week vacation. Rather, she intends to spend her time reading textbooks for her upcoming school year at a women's college.

Whereas Lisa is looking forward to three fun weeks of attracting and captivating some handsome eligible bachelor, Baby is dreading a three-week ordeal of feeling alienated and unappreciated.

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This is the third in a series of articles. Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7.