Pamela Anderson: Biography vs. Bodygraph

image credit: E! Online

I just finished Pamela Anderson’s autobiography, “Love, Pamela”. I listened to it on Spotify. Normally, I’m not an audio book kind of person. I like the weight, the smell, the feeling of a book in my hand. I like the tangibility of the thing. I like that it forces me to be present with the story in a way that keeps me from being able to do other stuff while I’m reading. However, I got a sacral hit to listen to this book one day while searching for something to listen to on a walk, so I gave it a go. And I have to say, there was something about hearing this woman’s story in her own voice that really worked for me. 

First of all, Anderson has had one heck of a life adventure. I have, of course, been aware of Pamela Anderson since she rose to stardom on Home Improvement and then the cultural zeitgeist that was Baywatch. It was impossible to NOT have an awareness of her. I remember when the sex tape became publicly available. (Yes, I’ve seen it.) But I didn’t know anything about the circumstances of how it became publicly available, or of her attempts to make it unavailable. (Had I known, I would not have watched it.) All this is to say, while I had an awareness of her, I never really followed her, so I didn’t know very much about her life. Hearing her share her story was really interesting, and, I must say, pretty inspiring. 

As I was listening to her story unfolding, I found myself making guesses about elements of her Human Design. It wasn’t a conscious exercise I set out to do. It was more that I was recognizing various themes and energies throughout her story that made me curious about her design. I didn’t give these thoughts too much energy in the moment. I would listen to the book when I went on longer walks, and that wasn’t an everyday thing. It took me a couple weeks to finish it. However, when I finished the book, I felt like I had a pretty clear understanding of at least a few key elements of her design. 

Curious about how accurate my informal assessment was, I decided to look up her bodygraph and ‘check my work’. I was delighted to find that I was spot on. 

The element I noticed first was the undefined G Center. The G Center houses the energy of identity, direction, and love. When this center is undefined, there is no consistent expression or experience of these energies. Instead there is a tendency to attract others with defined G Centers (consistent identities), and to ‘try on’ those identities for a while. It’s a way of helping to quell the continual seeking for a sense of self that is ever-present for the undefined G Center.

Anderson was continually drawn to and attaching to people with very strong personalities. She mentioned feeling safe and seen and loved in these attachments. This is what can happen when an undefined G Center connects with a defined G Center. They get to experience the other's identity. It's like playing the role of the others in your life. You get to try on that identity and wear it in your own way. It can give a temporary sense of self that can allow the undefined G Center to feel more tethered and understood (by themselves and by others). The ones with G Center definition will see a perpetual reflection of themselves in the relationship. It will help them to feel accepted and validated in who they are. Unfortunately, she had a tendency to attach to people with a strong sense of self who were also wounded beings who hadn’t made peace with their Shadows. (But that’s an essay for another time.)

Those with an undefined G Center also require others to help them find their direction in life. There’s no clear and consistent understanding of how they are meant to move through life. They are dependent on the recognition and invitations of others. Pamela’s life is a beautiful succession of these seemingly synchronistic events. She was invited to represent a Canadian beer company, which lead to her getting public recognition at a sporting event, which lead to her getting an invitation to pose for Playboy, which lead to her moving to LA, which lead to more and more connections with people who were able to recognize her capabilities and offer her opportunities to use them in different ways. By following these invitations, she was able to understand herself and to fulfill her purpose in life in an organic and relatively easy way. (I say ‘relatively’ because it wasn’t always pleasant or without hardship, but because she seemed to continually find new opportunities open to her and people who wanted to support her along the way; a seeming consistency of being in the right place at the right time.)

Lastly, undefined G Center folks can have a hard time feeling worthy of love. This is especially true if their formative experiences didn’t instill a safe, secure attachment, sense of belonging, or feeling of being unconditionally loved. And Anderson’s childhood was a challenging one on many fronts. So, there was a continual call to explore what it means to love and be loved throughout her life. She explored this with her romantic relationships with men who expressed strong masculine facades and successful careers/financial prospects. (Looking for safety and security in loving relationships.) She explored this with her own parents in various ways at various stages of their evolution together. (Looking to feel that sense of ‘home’ and secure attachment and lovability in the nuclear family.) She explored this with her children. (Understanding how to feel and share the consistent expression of unconditional love she has been seeking throughout her own life.) She also explores this, to a degree, with her relationships with florae and faunae and the way she works to support the safety of the natural world from a deep and sincere love of it.

Because she was so savvy in trusting her gut (Sacral Authority), she was able to accept invitations that moved her in a direction that ultimately allowed her to become a very aligned expression of her design. This has given her a more consistent understanding of who she is and what she is capable of doing. 

And it’s allowed her to fulfill her Incarnation Cross (LAX Demands 1). Her Incarnation Cross (which I didn’t attempt to guess) is driven by Gate 52’s ability to remain patient and focused in order to find the optimal timing for taking action. This is supported by a drive toward improvement (Gate 58), the energy to control circumstances (Gate 21), and a depth of being that spurs curiosity about all of life and its possibilities (Gate 48). 

The other thing that became obvious to me about Anderson’s design while listening to her read her story was her Type. She is so clearly a Generator. She speaks often about her strong work ethic, and her ability to complete projects once she begins them. She is regularly described as hard-working. These are clear Generator traits. 

I hazarded a guess that she had an undefined Solar Plexus Center. She is very emotionally empathic, and the way she describes understanding the emotional expressions and motivations of others was a big clue. Also, the way her emotions can become enmeshed with those around her aligns with an undefined Solar Plexus Center. She has developed a strong emotional intelligence thanks to her ability to sample the emotional experiences of those in her environments. 

I wondered if her Heart Center was also undefined. She has repeatedly spoken of her inability to understand her own value in the world. (This likely has some overlap with her undefined G Center, too.) And she has not always been successful at following through on her commitments. To be clear, this is not a negative thing for those with undefined Heart Centers. They simply don’t have access to the knowledge of whether or not they will have the energy to fully guarantee their promises. (And in Anderson’s case, it was beneficial for her to not honor every commitment, especially when it came to her marriages.) 

I suspected she had a Line 1 Perspective variable. This is a view of the world that is primarily concerned with safety and security. This was pretty obvious. 

I didn’t guess at her Motivation variable, but it makes total sense to me that she’s a Line 3. Line 3 Motivation is about following one’s desires when taking action in life. People with Desire Motivation can often be found trying different things, gathering people, experimenting, organizing. They like bringing things together. And looking at Anderson’s life as a timeline, it paints a pretty compelling picture of someone who has continually been gathering people together, trying new things, taking chances to see how they’ll turn out, learning about the world through actually living it. Line 3 energy is very resilient, and whatever you think of Pamela Anderson, I don’t anyone would disagree with the fact that she is resilient. 

This is not meant to be a complete reading of Pamela Anderson’s Human Design, but it was an interesting experiment for me to spontaneously experience aspects of her design while listening to her read her autobiography. I hope you found it interesting, too.