Reflection of Project (Halfway Point)

         This project has, without question, been the most enjoyable project that I've done up to this point in my academic career. Having little segments due over the course of however many weeks it's been has prevented me from becoming overwhelmed and overly stressed with work. Because I chose a topic that I'm genuinely interested in and that I truly wanted to learn more about has made this project a wonderful experience. It's incredible how much research I have up to this point and how it's coming along, I would've never imagined I'd have been able to compile so much research in what seemed like a short time because of the pacing. I've learned so much and actually have retained the majority of the information because of the way this project is structured. I already can't wait to present and am looking forward to further research in the next semester!

Overview of Wiki

           Pin ups were technically first seen in the early 1900s, yet they truly became popular during World War II when soldiers "pinned up" these models' pictures (hence the name "Pin Up girl"). The types of risque photos that were truly introduced in the 40s stirred up quite a bit of controversy, considering nothing like it had ever been seen before. Pin Ups had a unique style overall, but there were different styles within that style, such as: the Bad Girl/Vamp, the Virginal Good Girl, and the Flapper (a combination of the previous two). A few famous pin ups were Bettie Page, Bettie Grable, and Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn Monroe's naked centerfold in 1953 (Playboy Magazine's first issue) began changing the style of the Pin Up. Pin Ups began losing the mystery that they once possessed in a sense that, more skin became more of a demand at that point. This new vulgarity and graphic imagery changed the face of Pin Ups and more recently, the demand for the vintage style of Pin Ups is returning with a modern twist to it.

https://sites.google.com/site/pinupsresearchproject/ 

History of Sexy Pin Up Girls

Summary:

            The name “pin up” had been created based on the fact that soldiers during the war would “pin up” pictures of beautiful women in their lockers. When artists began making drawings that were of sexual nature, the evolvement of the pin up girl truly began (this was around the 1930s). Pin ups would be drawn on the sides of planes during World War II for good luck. Pin ups began incorporating other types of art, such as bondage and fetish in the 1950s. Irving Claw and Bettie Page exemplified this new type of pin up. In 1953, Playboy put out a centerfold with Marilyn Monroe in its first issue of the magazine. There had been centerfolds prior to Playboy, but this was the first one where the girl had been naked. Playboy really brought pin ups into mainstream America during this time, around the 1960s is when it truly emerged. Playboy encouraged America’s demand for more graphic and vulgar imagery, causing the unique and original style of the pin up to diminish over time. More recently, the Internet has allowed pin ups to make a comeback. Artists have begun to draw new images illustrating the pin up and photographers have been creating new art with the pin up style. All of this today has been created with a modern edge to it and it seems to be doing pretty well.

Analysis:

            Pin ups began simply with drawings of artists of the ideal woman, which led to photographers using this idea to create art in their photographs of women representing this idea. At that point, pictures of these women with this unique style were pinned up on the walls of rooms and even in the lockers of soldiers away at war. But these women in sexy outfits soon became insufficient for America, leading to nude pictures of women beginning with Marilyn’s centerfold in the first Playboy issue. From that point on, the pin up style wasn’t good enough anymore with America’s new demand for such vulgarity. It’s unfortunate to see such greed in people’s desire for more. As far as what’s out the today, there simply is no more mystery – everything’s given to you on a silver platter.

Reflection Questions:

1.      What made Americans crave more than what was given to them in original pin up style pictures?

2.      How did Playboy change the pin up style forever?

Summersizzle, B. (Videographer) (2009). History of sexy pin ups girls 3 hot facts model bethany [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YgVYNdZDsF4

The Early Years: What the Girl Wants

Summary:

            Pin up girls have been known to have split personalities. There was either “the virginal Good Girl” (pg. 12) represented by several actresses, in specific, Mary Pickford. This type of persona usually involved “a free-spirited child or childlike woman – with…some hint of a future ‘domesticated’ private life” (pg. 12). Mary Pickford represented this well in the sense that she often played roles involving those aspects of the “virginal Good Girl” persona. People loved her for this and she essentially remained “forever young” (pg.12). The other personality is known as “the not-quite-so-nice Bad Girl, or Vamp” (pg.12). This personality involved a very open sexuality; the girl was a predator, in essence; her “visibility – especially if she happens to be a streetwalker – allows for her sins to take on a greater scale and dimension, not to mention the subsequent destruction of the unfortunate men who get in her way” (pg.12). An example of a girl that represents this persona would be Theda Bara in A Fool There Was. This movie involved the Vamp seducing men and causing them harm involving in their deaths. After a while, the two personalities combined into what became known as: The Flapper. This personality involved a “new level of sexuality” (pg.12). The first It Girl was Clara Bow and somewhat more modern types of this persona would be Chloe Sevigny, and Uma Therman in Pulp Fiction. This persona involved two vital aspects; one aspect being that the flapper style let masculinity be sexy for men and women and the other being that these women were able to recognize sexual pleasure and to even insist on it.

            Hollywood actresses often were photographed in what was considered a “pin up shot” which were fawned over by many purely for the sex appeal/beauty of the picture. These pictures also added depth to the movies, though, and were symbolic and highly important. An example of this is with the movie, The Kiss, a girl promises to give a picture of herself to her paramour and her husband happens to come home to find the paramour retrieving the picture at their home and ends up getting shot and killed by the husband. This idea symbolizes that “photography can be fatal” (pg. 17).

            Pin ups began with burlesque, which led to objectifying women. This objectification of women often caused women to be empowered by producing and controlling the images taken of them. Basically, “You can make an image of me – but you can’t make an image without me” (pg.18).

Analysis:

            Pin ups began with the split personality, the Good and the Bad Girl which eventually led to the flapper (the combination of the two). Actresses in movies exemplified these personas and were photographed in character. Many of the shots are very popular to this day and added a lot of depth to movies and even symbolized a lot of aspects of pin up photography. These pin ups truly did have all of the power in these images. They may have been viewed negatively and as merely an object, while simultaneously having the world at their fingertips with their pictures.

Reflection Questions:

1.      How were pin ups objectified?

2.      What kind of power did pin ups have that resulted from their images?

Chang, C. (2008). Va-va-voom! classic hollywood pin-ups. (p. 280). New York: Fall River