Women have often shown up in
revolutionary images. What is a woman’s role
in the revolution? Today The Pinup Blog
explores revolutionary pinups!
Visual art has always had the ability to
concretely represent abstract concepts, while
still leaving room for debate. Revolution is
one of those abstract concepts.
Interestingly, women have been one theme
utilized in order to interpret the many faces
of the concept of revolution. Today, we take
a look at the different female
representations of revolutions.
#213 The
Bi-Weekly Bombshell: Women in Modern Art
Next
>>
One of my favorite days is coming up,
this week and I’d like to celebrate The Pinup
Blog way. Happy Earth Day
everybody!
Every so often I
hear the nonsensical and chauvinistic
claim that female environmental
activists are “grimy”, “dreadlocked” and
“hairy”. While I argue that dreadlocks
are lovely and can be just as kept as
any other hairstyle, I also argue that
leg shaving is my last pitfall as a
feminist and I seriously hope, to one
day, get over the need to moderate my
body in order to be “socially
acceptable”. “Grimy”… well, see how you
look after 2 years up a tree Today’s ladies are
gorgeous, inventive and environmentally
conscientious, and some are willing to
sacrifice a lot for their cause. Proving
(yet
again) that green is sexy.
The inspiring burlesque
artist, Tiara
the Merch Girl, is also a prolific
writer on issues of race in the world of
burlesque, at Racialicious ( “a
[fantastic] blog about the intersection of
race and pop culture” ). I was ecstatic to
find The Pinup Blog mentioned in her
article,
Who’s a Pretty Burlesque Princess
Now. The article asks
significant questions about the diversity of
burlesque and its importance as an art-form
and innovator. Take a few minutes off for
some burlesqu-shop-talk, to read this
phenomenal post.
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In dramatic scene, tough and even evil,
it’s the sexy Easter bunny fantasy gone
awry.
One of the most
common fantasies in cyber space, the
sexy bunny, has endless Google results.
While the typical sexy Easter bunny is
just a poster girl, on the sweet side
and often a Playboy cliche, I’ve run
into a more fetishistic bunny, this
year, which I’m more than glad to share
with you.
A friend sent me
Susie Bright’s fascinating sexual
politics blog. I admit, I had to go
through the gorgeously sexy pictures
(like this ridiculously pulp cover for
Orwell’s 1984) before I surfed it for
the articles. A fine addition to my
sidebar collection. A good read with
loads of eye candy for the vintage
lovers.
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The breasts are lopsided and frightening,
the nipples are turned at strange angles, the
hips and bum are exaggerated, and the cute
button up nose is pushed upwards and
distorted. Lisa Yuskavage gleefully mocks the
male fantasy.
Traditional pin-up
artwork may rest somewhere between the
border of illustration and pornography,
but many modern artist are trying to
help push the genre towards a more fine
art end. Pin-ups by definition are
created for mass consumption, able to be
posted up and viewed by a large
audience. The most classic images are
those of beautiful young women posed
suggestively to draw the consumer into
buying an array of products and
services.
In 2007 the Mildred Lane
Kemper Art Museum held an exhibition,
Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of
American Art and Popular Culture. This
Lichtenstein piece is what’s left of it
visually, but for you literary types,
there’s also this fascinating article
about the exhibition. This is definitly
one I’m sorry I missed.
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Not exactly cheesecake and not exactly
beefcake, but definitely sexy! It’s time to
feast your eyes on the butch pinup.
Feeling comfortable
in your own skin is the number one
ingredient for sex appeal. Not every
woman feels sexy in heels and lipstick,
and as a result, not every woman
is sexy in
heels and lipstick. This week, The Pinup
Blog takes a look at the diverse and
beautiful butch women, who prefer men’s
shorts over panties, and sideburns over
curlers.
The amazing
randomness of the internet took me
across time to
the fascinating article by Herbert A.
Friedman, Sex and Psychological
Operations. An eye-opening examination of
the chauvinism that reigned supreme, at the
time and the German utilization of it, for
war propaganda, in World War II. The essay is
accompanied by the leaflets of the time, that
became collector’s items and pinups for the
soldiers.
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Young, gifted, black and smoking hot!
Classic African American Pinups!
Young, gifted and black, in a time where just
being so was an act of resistance. This
Martin Luther King Jr. Day, The Pinup Blog
would like to count down it’s top 10 classic
African American Pinups. Women who didn’t
have it easy and are now finally coming into
some hard-earned fame.
#10 Victoria Spivey
Blues singer and songwriter Victoria Spivey
took part in the Soundie revolution, when she
was cast by film director King Vidor, in his
first talking film, Hallelujah!. She would
continue taking roles in films throughout the
1930’s and 1940’s, but focused on her music
throughout her life.
The Pinup Blog is ecstatic to create a
tribute to the Gibson Girl. And it’s about
time, too!
By the end of the
19th
century, Charles Dana Gibson conjured up
the “Gibson Girl”. The Gibson Girl, in a
sense, was a byproduct of Gibson’s
satire work, but her beauty overpowered
the American audience and she soon
became the first national standard for
feminine beauty, in America. Her
distinct style made her iconic, and her
signature big hair and hourglass figure
are easily recognizable.
The Collar: Innocent fashion accessory,
or bondage gear?
From the most
innocent piece of jewelry to the most
fetishist admission of submission, collars
are actually quite common in pinup art. Today
we’ll look at a few examples of collars in
cheesecake and try too see if their function
and concept changes.
The Innocent Accessory in Classic
Pinups
Most probably
originating from Victorian fashions, the
collar, better known as the choker
(political correctness gone awry?), has
been fashionable all through the
19th
century. Many classic pinups from the
1940’s and 50’s feature this elegant,
little accessory:
How does feminism,
environmentalism and
community-mindedness find its way into a
pinup calendar? Ask the women of Country
Mamas 2010 Calendar:
Becky Grant, CounterPunch business manager,
writes: How in the world does a pin-up
calendar not perpetuate the problem of overly
simplistic, generic female roles? I asked
myself the same question when I found myself
immersed in a sudsy bucket in a polka-dot
bikini, because it was my intention to show
moms embracing the everyday activities of our
country lives and what do you know? Not only
do we triumph over grittier tasks, we also
make up a fine calendar that demonstrates
well the charm, grace and beauty of life in
Petrolia. We’ve already denounced the fashion
industry with our clothing swaps (known in
these parts as Naked Lady Parties). We’ve
taken on the bureaucracies that try to
control us and their ridiculous policies by
schooling our children the way we want them
schooled, creating environments for them that
allow them to become community minded,
peaceful, compassionate and creative adults.
We are activists against corporate America by
growing our own food, building our own homes,
and living a conscientious, sustainable life.
We have abandoned the American dream for our
own dreams, borne out of our own unique,
diverse, self-determined identities. Buy a
calendar and help support our local causes!
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Shameless Photography
has nothing to be ashamed of. Other than
creating beautiful and whimsical retro
pinups, they also create a positive
atmosphere in the pinup world, with the
diversity of their models and an
empowering attitude:
“In a culture where we're constantly
bombarded by images, messages, and
standards designed to make us feel
inadequate and insecure about our faces
and our bodies, I aim to create a space
where women can feel safe, beautiful, and
empowered. Using makeup, lighting,
and photography, I create images that are
part fantasy, part reality -- and
entirely gorgeous. To become a
fantasy -- and to know that you can do so
whenever you want -- is a powerful thing.
No billboard model, no advertising agency
can own the realm of fantasy -- we all
do.”
On with the revolution!
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Grassroots third wave feminism manifest
in the revival of the Roller Derby.
Pinup, today, is not
just an art, but a lifestyle. With it’s
own brands of fashion, music, art and of
course, sports. Roller Derby, the choice
sport for those living this lifestyle,
is much more than a bunch of skimpily
outfitted young women bashing away at
each other. It’s a place for women to
organize, express themselves, and take
part in some seriously badass contact
sports. If they can be campy while doing
it- all the better!
#174 The
Bi-Weekly Bombshell: Vintage Pinup
Decals Next
>>
First impressions matter, and as film
makers know, one way the ultimate way to make
a woman attractive, is to give her a
dramatic, well produced entrance.
When a
sexy woman enters the room, for the first
time in a film, she can’t just come in.
Sensuous close ups and leering long shots
must be exercised to their fullest,
preferably with a singing number and over the
top sexual innuendo. Today we take a look at
gorgeous women first appearing on the screen
and the men that gawk at them.
Uma Thurman as Venus - Renaissance
Pinup
It seems appropriate to start with the mother
of all desirable women, Venus. In The
Adventures of Baron Munchausen, a fresh faced
Uma Thurman makes for one of the most
ethereal and soft entrances in cinema.
Heavily based on Botticelli’s version of
venus, the painting comes alive with sound
and motion, leaving the audience and the men
struck by a pure, but not un-sensual beauty
of a time long ago.
Molly
Kiely,
author ofDiary
of a Dominatrix,
is an in-your-face underground comics
artist and illustrator. I find her and her
work (in no particular order) fascinating,
cheeky and devilishly sexy. She’s got a
lot to say, so here’s some of it:
Everyone ought to have a colourful past
(and, ideally, a colourful present), and
mine is being an unrepentant pornographer.
I've heard all the criticism about
pornography that there is -- so boring. My
sexually explicit work is not declasse or
moronic, and I maintain that I am a kickass
feminist. In the words of one of my
admirers, my work is "seditious" and
"undermines the paradigm of Lonely Guys
Comic Porn."
And on that note, check her out!
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It is hard
to say what exactly
causedthe shift in
the Sci-Fi genre- from an almost
exclusive male interest, to a genre that
has more and more female readers,
writers and watchers. All of a sudden,
it became OK for a girl to like the
genre, and more and more girls started
to take interest. (According to some
polls- 80% of the genre readers are
girls, but I am not sure of their
accuracy). Such a shift has to (and did)
cause a change inside the genre- there
was a whole new crowd to satisfy, but
still keep the older crowd interested.
Sexy female
pin ups have been part of the Sci-Fi
fantasy genre since it’s creation.
Monthly magazine in the 30’s 40’s and
50’s feathered sexy half dressed woman
on their covers, usually fighting some
sort of horrible monster.
For most of the 20thcentury, the
sci-fi fantasy genre was male dominated, and
female roles were usually confined to the
generic female roles- the sexy babe or the
damsel in distress. While Tolkien and Asimov
had some more feminist female roles-
likeEowynand Dr.Susan
Calvin, those
characters where few and far in between.
Most female characters where for show, the
love interest of the brave male hero, the
sexy temptress etc.
Halloween is coming up and it’s time to
get horrifically sexy with a look at the
pinups of horror television (and one movie).
And ask a few questions about what it all
means?
Lust and fear come
together in the horror entertainment
industry. Basically, where there’s a
scary monster, you’ll find a beautiful
lady, making for a good star-crossed
lovers tale. Many times, however, you’ll
find the lady is actually the monster,
claiming archaic ideas that a woman’s
lust is a dark desire that will consume
you. All this and so much more
allegories, in The Pinup Blog’s
Halloween special.
One of my favorite
creators at DeviantART, Elias
Chatzoudis, has just created this
little busty statement, in favor of breast
cancer awareness, missing my
article by less than a week. So I
decided to pay him tribute, after the
fact. It’s a beautiful cartoon pinup and
deserves our awareness.
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This was not the first time men had
admired pin-ups of physically non-existent
fantasy women, but certainly the first time
they would ogle a 3D
representative.
Although
video game pin-ups have existed since
the revival of interest in consol games,
in the mid 1980s, most consisted of
cartoonish depictions of various scenes
representing the game’s story line; Such
as Nintendo’s hero, Link, from the
popular Legend of Zelda franchise,
slaying a multi-headed dragon, or a
whimsical forest scene of Sega’s Sonic
the Hedgehog. The classic pin-up genre
featuring suggestively posed women was
introduced to video game art posters in
1996 with the inception of the British
company, Eidos’s Tomb Raider series,
starring who can now be credited as the
first massively popular digital sex
icon, Lara Croft.
Breast cancer isn’t a very lighthearted
theme, but if there’s one theme that’s
perfect for pinups, it’s their tits. This
week (this month to be exact) on The Pinup
Blog: Pinups and breast cancer
awareness!
Rethink Breast Cancer
Starting out with a little retro fun, here is
Rethink
Breast Cancer’s ad for the Fashion
Targets Breast Cancer t-shirt. Both
organizations are aimed at young adults;
While Rethink Breast Cancer are
responsible for some controversial
ads, Fashion Targets Breast Cancer
have super-model spokeswomen, the likes
of Gisele Caroline Bündchen and Claudia
Schiffer.
The sexy cyclists of
Thought You
Knew (aka “TyK” ) have done it
again for 2010 and were more than happy
to publish these classy promotional shots.
Some behind the scenes fun and you can also
pre-order just in time for the new year.
Remember, it’s for a good cause!
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Does a female pinup artist bring
something new to the world of pinups?
I’ve already analyzed
two pinup works of the most outstanding
pinup artists [1,2],
now it’s time to explore one of the most
outstanding female pinup artist, Zoë
Mozert. Mozert’s 1948 piece, “Bubbles”,
shows off the artist’s undeniable
craftswomanship, but does it take a
different approach to pinup art?
Line, Blot, Shape, Texture and
Pattern
Without a doubt this is one of
the softest pinups you’ll ever encounter.
Starting with the basics, as always, we take
a look at the most elementary components of
the image. Aside from the plaid pattern on
the hair-bow (which I’ll get back to later),
there’s no real use of lines in Mozert’s
painting. As we learned from other pinups
I’ve analyzed, it is typical, in pinup art,
to try and mimic reality. For this reason,
suggestive lines are employed- or rather, the
meeting of two color surfaces, creates the
illusion of a line. Thus, in essence, what
you get is a use of color blots that create
shapes. Also- typical of pinup art- the blots
are smoothed out, in order to create a “soft
surface” and soft shapes, so much so, that at
times the shapes fuse into each other:
Suits for women would
come and go throughout history. When
women dress in suits they often don’t do
it to look like a man, but to project
strength. Our perceptions of
masculinity, as a synonym of strength,
is so deeply embedded that a unique
thrill tingles within us, when we
witness a woman in men’s clothing. Our
curiosity peaks, especially if she
balances the masculine facade with a
feminine one.
The female Elvis Presley, the Queen of
Rockabilly, Wanda Jackson rocked like no
other woman. With a raspy voice and done up
finger nails, she’s a spunky blast from the
past, I thought you’d all enjoy.
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“Since the dawn of time, the promise of
our charms has been used to urge our men into
battle. We are called up to rally behind our
troops, and to give the boys something to
take their minds off their job: WAR. Those
times are over.”
These lovely words
are those of Pinups for
Peace. A grassroots organization
promoting peace with a sexy, retro edge.
You don’t need much to be pinup for peace,
just show up at your nearest love-fest,
demonstration, or strike, wearing your
nylons and garters and hold up the sign:
“Burlesque not Bombs!”
The group’s site shows that there hasn’t been
much activity since 2008. As my readers know,
this cause is dear to my heart, so I thought
I’d give it a boost, and remind all you
pretty ladies to get out there and fight for
something that’s really worth it!
They’re fierce, they rock, they rap,
they’re retro, they are the diverse women of
Indie Rock!
From the poppish Pipettes, to the rapping
M.I.A, to the rocking Peaches, I bring you a
list of the fierce and divers ladies of
contemporary Indie rock. Though each act has
her unique style and statement, I can’t help
but reminisce of the days of 1980’s Blondie,
who seems to be the spiritual mother to many
of these ladies of Indie.
One piece of clothing that drove women to
self mutilation. THE symbol of the social
subjugation of women, for generations and yet
we still love it. So much so, that even after
it died, we revived it several times.
Women’s clothing have always been
controversial. Trying to balance comfort and
beauty has never been the goal of top
designers. Corsets, today, are a choice and a
fashion statement. They also don’t
necessarily mean body modification, by way of
cinching the waist, although some go for this
unhealthy practice. As a wise commentator
said, on the YouTube page of the video to the
left:
“Very
sensual, but after a point it becomes
grotesque. Part of the art is knowing how far
to go and have it still look good, not
deformed.”
Palestinian women come in all shapes,
colors and sizes, with different beliefs,
different religions and different ways of
life. This isn’t a well known fact, yet. In
this article I’d like to look at the beauty
from within as well as from without.
I can’t ignore the fact that I’m Israeli and
pro-Palestinian and the reactions this
article may bring my way (or just this
sentence). Nevertheless, it’s
important to me to create a bridge, where
walls are being biult- around Palestinians
and Arabs and Muslims in general. Most
important to me, is to show off, to people of
the West, the beauty and individuality of
each woman I feature. You can’t group
Palestinians into crude stereotypes, as you
can’t group any other group of people. If you
do it, you miss out on the beautiful
diversity of the world.
Hot Rod is very much an art form. It has
to do with restoration of old vehicles, so
it’s easy to see why the artists are usually
male. And where there’s a male hub, there are
always sexy ladies.
Gil Elvgren - Vintage Feminism and the
Origin of the Hot Rod Pinup
It may have
completely happened by mistake, but we can
trace the traditional hot rod pinup way back
to the early 50’s. When Elvgren took them out
of the home and into the car. I love the few
examples, where the Elvgren pinup is
daintily, yet competently, handling the car,
or the one, where she’s the competent driver.
JFK just isn’t the pinup type, so I’m
sure he wouldn’t mind if The Pinup Blog
ignore him and take a look at Jackie,
instead.
Let’s face it,
between the two of them Jackie was the
pretty one and this is
The Pinup Blog. So we’ll leave Jack out
of this post, but acknowledge that she’s
here because of her husband. Jackie was
also arguably the best dressed First
Lady in American history, only to be
rivaled by the current Mrs. Obama.
Sexy feminist- it’s not an oxymoron its a
living, breathing movement.
For some reason
there are people out there who believe that a
woman dressing provocatively means she knows
nothing about feminism and is asking to be
raped (I won’t name names, some of them don’t
even know who they are). This post is a
collection of pinups that stand for feminism
and correlate with a larger story than their
image. Ladies, gentlemen, feminists; Meet the
sexy, powerful women who believe in equality.
Rosie the Riveter - Make Pride Not
War
You can’t have a
post about feminist pinups without
Rosie
the Riveter. The problem, for me, is
that Rosie was originally painted under
the slogan of support of the war effort.
I made a public promise not to support
war and | keep my promise and talk about
Rosie the Feminist. You see, back when she
was painted, the poster was just one of the
many J.
Howard Miller’s series. Today,
however, it has become a feminist icon,
symbolizing women’s economic equality,
through the satisfaction of
self-sufficient labor.
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.
Sexy pinups demonstrate environmental
awareness- an Earth Day special on The Pinup
Blog.
It’s not easy to find conscientious
pinups, especially in the environmental
department. But it’s already looking better
than
last year. This Earth Day, I’ve got a
great list of green beauties for you; From
animal rights, to energy conservation.
Another interesting project is the TyK (Thought
You Knew) and CWHC (Chicago Women’s
Health Center) collaboration. This
project is actually geared toward
healthcare, but it’s run by a group of
Chicago ladies that love to ride and I
thought may be appropriate. With the
help of CWHC, Tyk has created a
beautiful retro pinup calender with the
theme of bicycles. Following through
with TreeHugger’s thesis that just
supporting the notion that bikes are
sexy, promotes this alternative
transportation method, I put a spotlight
on these cycling beauties.
They’re hispanic, BBW, male,
anthropomorphic and they have one thing in
common- They’re all in a bunny suit!
Easter brings upon
me a message of hope, this year. Out I
went to fetch you some Easter bunnies
and to my pleasant surprise I found a
world of diversities. All sexy, all
bunnies, in all sizes, shapes and
colors. It’s the diverse universe of the
Easter bunny fetish- as long as you got
long ears- you’re in!
“We are not just silly tarts with no
substance mincing about in various states of
undress; we are artists, we are performers,
we create theatre, we teach and encourage, we
write books and address academics. We provide
exquisite escapism. We rock. Spread the
word.”
Chiseled beauty, a business oriented mind
and a buzzability is what the 1990’s super
models brought into the pinup world.
When a model becomes widely known,
on a first name basis, she’s a super model.
The knowing of the name, makes that name
into a brand name. This brand name is worth
millions. The 1990’s would be the highlight
of super models. Before Paris Hilton there
would be Cindy Crawford, Linda Evangelista
and Naomi Campbell.
This fiery super woman is a mild mannered
mother of four and loving wife, who wanted to
give her hubby a super sexy gift for
Valentine’s Day. Together, we created
a
portrait of a strong, loving woman.
Today’s women are truly super women,
juggling a career, a family and looking
amazing as they do it.
Show your appreciation for a great lady in
your life with one of these Super Sexy items:
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While I have to admit I do love Iron Man
and Batman, there just isn't anything like a
female super hero, saving the day and the
world, all the while looking sexy and
glamorous, long hair blowing in the
wind.
Whether it's
watching them on movies or TV, reading
comics, drawing or painting them, or
dressing up in costume as one of these
gorgeous gals, people of all ages around
the world love Superheroines.
Pinups are sexy and glamorous with all
different types of style and personality.
Some of my favorite pinups are pinups of
characters in movies, games, and comics.
These strong, smart, sexy women make for
lovely pinups and great role models. I have
been excited about superheroine art for the
past few months, finding it in the form of
photos, digital art, paintings, and sketches.
I love it when
pinups make a difference. The ironic
piece to the left is one out of seven
pinups, dedicated to women’s rights. All
seven pinups can be found at
RDanielle’s Weblog. Unfortunately, this
link provides no information about the artist
of these clever pieces. It’s feminism at its
most brutal, go take a look.
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Pinup graffiti, cheesecake tattoos and
bombshell skateboards is what it’s all
about!
It’s true that a
pinup is something you pin up, but that
doesn’t mean that we can’t side-step the
technicalities, here and there. Today we
take a look at how pinups are used in
T-shirts and graffiti and other less
mainstream mediums.
This one’s for all
the ladies out there, who just love
their ladies retro. Featuring Brooklyn's
queer community, I Love
Brooklyn Girls began its sexy way in
2006. This year the Brooklyn bombshells
will be poking fun at gender roles with
their “professional pinups”. And if that
wasn’t enough, these lovely femmes will
donate 10% of their proceeds to The
Lesbian Herstory Archives. It’s for a
good cause, and anyway, you know you want
to
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Adding another great name to The Pinup
Blog’s diverse hall of fame: The first
African American movie star, Nina Mae
McKinney.
I got a fantastically enthusiastic email from
Tia which I’d like to share with all you
pinup lovers:
“Hello,
I just wanted to Thank you for pointing out
the lack of diversity in the pin-up world.
I'm a 25 year old black woman and I've
always loved pinups despite the fact none
of them shared my race. What I do have in
common with them is the glamor, confidence,
and most importantly the curves! Also they
were sexy without being trashy and in
today’s world the two have become
synonymous. I believe the pin-ups are are
the best celebration of a woman's form and
its a shame more people don't appreciate
that. Maybe we wouldn't have so many little
girls starving themselves and hating what
they looked like if they saw more images
that were real. Not these size zero,
airbrushed fakes. It saddens me that my
generation hardly knows about these women
besides Marilyn. I respect what you’re
doing by educating people and bring
attention to the forgotten stars. I've
always preferred to watch movies from the
30's,40's and 50's because when it comes to
an image the people were more real back
then. When I try to share my enthusiasm
with peers they don't get it, and they
don't want to. Although I'm happy, that
Josephine Baker, Lena Horne, Dorothy
Dandridge, and Eartha Kitt receive some
recognition it bothers me that people like
Nina Mae McKinney, who was the 1st Black
movie star,receives no recognition at all!
She made her first movie in 1929 and Thirty
films over her career,and unlike those
other ladies her career was just as
successful in the U.S and Europe but she's
one of many who's contribution will
continue to be overlooked.
Again Thank You for doing your part,if we
all continue to honor these women they will
never be forgotten!
Tia Sanchez”
Apart from Tia’s beautifully strong words, it
struck me that I’ve never heard of said Nina
Mae McKinney. So here’s what my research
yielded...
Martin Luther King day was yesterday, so
what a great time to commemorate one of the
great black women in history: Eartha
Kitt!
Many losses for the
pinup world, this year.
First it was the mythological Bettie Page
and on the 25th of December it was
the legendary Eartha Kitt. It seems that my
tribute article came right on the week
commemorating Martin Luther King, which is
just too perfect. So instead of another
eulogy (which you already know I hate doing)
let’s talk about the awe-inspiring Eartha
Kitt’s true contributions to
society.
“God approves of nudity. Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden, they were naked as
jaybirds.” ~ Betty (Bettie) Mea Page (April
22, 1923 – December 11,
2008)~
Many articles have sprouted about Bettie page
in the past couple of days. The details of
her death and turmoiled life are all over the
net. Most articles don’t elaborate on the
standard Wikipidia
article. I’d like to do something a
little different, to contribute to the
flood of eulogious articles and take a
look at this fascinating 1950’s sexual
icon.
From Jackie O to Michelle Obama, first
ladies are stylish, formidable women. Here’s
a look at stylish first ladies - pinups in
the white house.
First Ladies are usually
not regarded by their sexuality as their job
is of real substance. Most of them weren’t
beautiful, or fashionable (a fact that would
change with the coming of the television into
every American home). But some were, And
others had fantastic photographic moments.
Martha Washington - The First
Lady
Wife of George
Washington, Martha Washington was the
first First Lady. She was the first to
define the job and make it a meaningful
one. We may be used to the white-haired
matronly image of Mrs. Washington, but
this painting reveals a graceful and
proud woman with her best frocks on.
Defiantly a formidable role- model for
First Ladies to come.
Today’s ladies are
gorgeous, inventive and environmentally
conscientious, and some are willing to
sacrifice a lot for their cause. Proving
(
The inspiring burlesque
artist, 
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Traditional pin-up
artwork may rest somewhere between the
border of illustration and pornography,
but many modern artist are trying to
help push the genre towards a more fine
art end. Pin-ups by definition are
created for mass consumption, able to be
posted up and viewed by a large
audience. The most classic images are
those of beautiful young women posed
suggestively to draw the consumer into
buying an array of products and
services.
In 2007 the Mildred Lane
Kemper Art Museum held an exhibition,
Beauty and the Blonde: An Exploration of
American Art and Popular Culture. This
Lichtenstein piece is what’s left of it
visually, but for you literary types,
there’s also this fascinating article
about the exhibition. This is definitly
one I’m sorry I missed.
Shameless Photography
has nothing to be ashamed of. Other than
creating beautiful and whimsical retro
pinups, they also create a positive
atmosphere in the pinup world, with the
diversity of their models and an
empowering attitude:
I’ve already analyzed
two pinup works of the most outstanding
pinup artists [
Suits for women would
come and go throughout history. When
women dress in suits they often don’t do
it to look like a man, but to project
strength. Our perceptions of
masculinity, as a synonym of strength,
is so deeply embedded that a unique
thrill tingles within us, when we
witness a woman in men’s clothing. Our
curiosity peaks, especially if she
balances the masculine facade with a
feminine one.
