Repulsed by portrayal of women as used in
Cinco de Mayo ecards, The Pinup Blog went on
a hunt for Sexy Mexican culture with self
respect.
It’s a little hard
to balance my feminism with my love of
pinups, but sometimes I’ve got to say
“no”. Usually when a holiday pops up, I
just Google “sexy Christmas/Halloween”
to start my search. The results for
“sexy Cinco De Mayo” kind of grossed me
out. I’d expect stereotypical images
that identify a culture, like the
glittery myspace retro pinup to the
left- the attention to detail (in what
must have been the original vintage
piece) shows a love and respect towards
it. But there’s a thin red line, between
that and the
booty
shaking, “booz me up” image, next to
it. So I decided to celebrate Cinco de
Mayo by celebrating some beautiful,
respectful Mexican pinups.
Classic Mexican Themed Pinup in American
Culture
Gil
Elvgren
T.N. Thompson
Pearl Frush
Classic Mexican themed pinups, in American
culture, are not many, but they do exist. And
although the fashions- from clothes to
makeup- are American, and the stereotypical
references to Mexican culture- the sombrero
and hint at Mexican craft- I think the
respect to the ethnicity is there- the skin
and hair are dark and the eyebrows, while
meticulously tweezed, are thick and black.
All in all, respectful depictions of women
and their respective ethnicity and culture.
Classic Vintage Mexican Pinup
These are all over eBay and they are
absolutely stunning pieces of art. It’s
vintage commercial art at its finest. The
detail in depiction of the richness of the
culture will live your mouth agape. Women’s
beauty captured in the frame of Mexican
culture. You can almost smell the cooking,
here they music and join in the festivities.
Pin Up Girl Clothing’s Mexican Pinup
Tee
Pop culture has a
way of... well… popping up! You’d have
to specifically look for it, or stumble
upon it completely by accident, but Pin
Up Girl Clothing features
Something
Sacred’s "Lovely Vandal" tee shirt,
with a lovely Mexican pinup and a touch
of gratify.
Rodolfo Federico Antonio
Fraga
I can’t find much
about the artist Rodolfo Federico
Antonio Fraga. I only found this
fascinating erotic image on eBay and the
following text:
“The artist name on this piece is Rodolfo
Federico Antonio Fraga, he began to work in
comics in 1963 with Tradiciones y Leyendas de
la Colonia ( editorial latinoamericana ), he
works also in editorial edar doing mini
comics like Mini Aventura,Mini Terror,Mini
Policia, ( the covers ). He also works in
editorial Ping Pong doing cow boys and terror
comics... ”
If you know anything about Rodolfo Federico
Antonio Fraga, please let me know, using this
comment section or via
email.
Las Senoritas Fabric by Alexander Henry
Fabrics
Alexander
Henry Fabrics creates illustrative
retro fabric design. They have their own
in-house artists that paint each design
by hand. The also have a
pinup
specialty section for all you pinup
lovers. One of my favorite prints that
can’t be found on their site anymore
(but can be purchased
here)
is the Las Senoritas design. Very
Elvgrenesque, very colorful and full of
beautiful detail.
Mexican American Celebrity Pinup
America has some of the most beautiful
Mexican American women. Some of them even had
time to pay homage to the heritage of the
pinup girl. Salma Hayek, Jessica Alba and Eva
Longoria add their ethnic beauty to the world
of pinups, without touching on stereo types.
Stub Mexican Pinups
The internet is
full of stub pinups. Beautiful pinups without
a painter to their name, or without enough
information about the painter, or just a one
time piece relevant to the theme I’m writing
about. Here are a few stub Mexican pinups, I
found on this search:
If you know anything about these author-less
beauties, please let me know, using this
comment section or via
email.
Dr Lakra
Akin to the stub
pinups there are these bits of
information about some pinups. The pinup
to the left, for instance is the
enhanced work of Dr Lakra. Much like
Rodolfo Federico Antonio Fraga, there is
little
information about Dr Lakra:
“Dr Lakra is a tattoo artist living and
working near Mexico City. In his parallel
activities here, however, Dr Lakra transfers
his draughtsmanship onto the idealised
figures in 50’s Mexican magazines. Pin-up
girls, wrestlers, beauties and cuties are
tattooed and 'enhanced' in ink with bats,
demons, spiders and the faces of pouting
vixens. Like pertinent graffiti, the relative
innocence of another era is politicised and
the images are infused with a relish for the
diabolical. Beautification or social
identification, the works are a carnival of
the grotesque. Kitschy erotica, ancient
ritual, and hallucinogenic visions are fused
in a collage of ideologies.”
One thing you can understand from looking at
Dr Lakra’s image is that there’s a vast
vintage Mexican pop culture just waiting to
be explored.
Happy, respectful Cinco De Mayo,
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Tags: portrayal of women, Dr Lakra, vintage Mexican pop culture,
Mexican pinups, Salma Hayek, ethnic beauty, stereo types, Jessica Alba, Eva Longoria, Mexican American Celebrity
Pinup, illustrative retro fabric
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Las Senoritas Fabric,
Pin Up Girl Clothing,
Rodolfo Federico Antonio
Fraga, ethnicity and culture,
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stunning pieces of art,
American culture, Gil Elvgren, Pearl Frush, T.N. Thompson, glittery myspace retro
pinup, feminism, self respect, sexy Cinco De Mayo, Sexy Mexican culture,
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