# Re: Maude, Who Was 'Isadora'?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 20, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078 "2004-05-20T00:55:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 10
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Jim\_B](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_B)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/1 "2004-05-20T00:55:16Z")
I used to love watching reruns to _Maude_. As many of you must know, she was Edith Bunker’s ultra-feminist, ultra-liberal relative who eventually got a show of her own. I also used to love that [theme song](http://www.twin-music.com/azlyrics/t_file/tvthemes/maud.html). It talks about famous women thru the ages, but reminds us _“…and then there’s Maude…”_. There’s only one part of the [lyrics](http://www.twin-music.com/azlyrics/t_file/tvthemes/maud.html) I never quite figured out:
> [@](#):
>
> …Isadora was the first bra burner
> And you’re glad she showed up (Oh, yeah)
> …
I obviously know who the rest of those people are. **But who’s this Isadora woman? Why was she the first bra burner? And forgiving me for adding this, but why would we be glad she showed up?**
By the way, if you ever get a chance to watch a _Maude_ episode, don’t hesitate to do so. The show was a riot and so was the theme song. Just remember, if you don’t:
> [@](#):
>
> God’ll get you for that! _-Maude_
🙂
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/2 "2004-05-20T01:01:07Z")
Isadora Duncan. Just Google her name and bra burning.
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### Author:  [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/3 "2004-05-20T01:13:43Z")
Isadora Duncan never burned her bra (she was actually in the pre-bra era, made her professional debut c1900). But she was one of the first “modern dancers” to wear loose, flowing costumes on (and off) stage, showing her limbs and uncorseted figure.
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### Author:  [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/4 "2004-05-20T01:22:25Z")
From [this site](http://www.authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=218):
> [@](#):
>
> The original spark of belly dancing went underground and became the first feminist rebellion. Women still performed the dance when they gathered without men present. Imagine how liberating it must have felt to remove those hot and heavy veils and whirl in the cool air of the harem. Belly dance became a dance of protest, an expression of freedom, the first “burning of the bra!”
and
> [@](#):
>
> Isadora Duncan, one of the world’s most famous dancers, was a champion of women’s rights. She transformed modern dance with influence from Middle Eastern Dance, and gave the most beautiful and profound description of the dance I’ve ever seen:
> “Imagine then a dancer who, after long study, prayer and inspiration, has attained such a degree of understanding that her body is simply the luminous manifestation of her soul; whose body dances in accordance with a music heard inwardly, in an expression of something out of another, profounder world.” Isadora Duncan, The Philosopher’s Stone of Dancing, 1920
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### Author:  [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/5 "2004-05-20T02:40:29Z")
> [@Mr. Blue Sky](#):
>
> …“Imagine then a dancer who, after long study, prayer and inspiration, has attained such a degree of understanding that her body is simply the luminous manifestation of her soul; whose body dances in accordance with a music heard inwardly, in an expression of something out of another, profounder world.” Isadora Duncan, The Philosopher’s Stone of Dancing, 1920
Isadora Duncan and The Philosopher’s Stone? That might get a few broomsticks in the air.
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### Author:  [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/6 "2004-05-20T02:57:20Z")
Yeah, but she’s a bore when drunken.
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### Author:  [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/7 "2004-05-20T03:04:06Z")
Just posting to add that Maude is possibly the best (musically) TV theme song ever. Dave Grusin, you know. That’s some serious shit.
As to the lyrics, I love the macabre humor in “Joan of Arc with the Lord to guide her / she was a sister who really cooked.” :eek:
Thanks for the memories.
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### Author:  [@dwyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwyr)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/8 "2004-05-20T03:17:42Z")
Isadora should have given up the long scarves though.
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### Author:  [@moriah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moriah)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/9 "2004-05-20T04:10:24Z")
> [@dwyr](#):
>
> Isadora should have given up the long scarves though.
She was driven to her death.
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### Author:  [@quiltguy154](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/quiltguy154)
#### Post date: [May 20, 2004, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/re-maude-who-was-isadora/246078/10 "2004-05-20T12:06:50Z")
“The wheels on her car went round and round, round and round, round and round.” Too bad for her.