Interview with Bettie Page

Summary:

            Betty Page is known to be one of the famous pin ups of all time, the Queen of Pin Ups. She modeled only for 7 years, but the amount of magazines she had been pictured in was more than Marilyn Monroe and Cindy Crawford put together. This time frame when Betty had been seen all over was during the 1950s. She appeared in all types of photos in calendars, playing cards, magazines, etc. (Estiloz, 1996). According to Tim Estiloz, Bettie was “the perfect combination of girl-next-door sweetness and a naughty sensuality all wrapped up in one drop-dead gorgeous package” (Estiloz, 1996).

            Bettie Page grew up during the depression in Tennessee. Page had always imitated what she saw from the professional models and actors by posing as they did, never having thought that she’d wind up as one, herself. Page was offered a Hollywood screen test after having graduated college and according to Page herself, during the screen test the people directing it “tried to make me up to look like Joan Crawford, they bunched my hair way out on the sides, penciled my eyebrows…” (Estiloz, 1996). Page said that after watching the screen test, she found it hard to recognize herself.

            Page didn’t succeed initially in Hollywood and worked as a secretary in New York. Page began working with amateur photographers who photographed her in bikinis at first, but she also took pictures in the nude, as well. Page never felt that there was anything wrong with the pictures she took. “I don’t believe God disapproves of nudes, he put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden…and they would’ve probably been naked all their lives if they hadn’t disobeyed him” (Estiloz, 1996).

            Page moved onto more serious photographers and posed for scores in men’s magazines. Page was one of the first centerfolds for Playboy, following Marilyn Monroe in 1953, in 1955 (Estiloz, 1996). There was a “special something” Page possessed and Page had heard that it might’ve been her smile that expressed her fulfillment in her work that she truly did enjoy. Page reveals that when posing, she would often imagine she was posing for her boyfriend (Estiloz, 1996).

            Page did some photographs with bondage and fetish themes and danced in sevreral burlesque style eight millimeter films. She wore a cone shaped bra to “tweak the conservative mindset of the 1950s” (Estiloz, 1996). Her pictures were seen as sexual to others, but she never saw them as being sexual.

            Page married three times, and all three wound up ending rather ugly, so to speak. Howard Hughes even tried to get together with Page at one point, but she denied him. Page believed that people fear models, essentially, and she wasn’t asked out as much as she was before she was famous.

            Page yearned for a change in her life and wound up leaving New York in 1957. She believed she had been too old at the age of 34 to continue modeling as well as feeling as though there were too many pictures of her out in the world already…  and she was simply “tired of it” (Estiloz, 1996).

            Page is remarkably popular in today’s society and is still found on calendars and comic books all over. She is a legend of the Pin-Ups… she is “eternal” (Estiloz, 1996). Bettie made a request that she not be seen by the public as she looks today. She wants to “preserve her memory” of what she was known to have looked like in her youth. (Estiloz, 1996).

Analysis:

            Pictures of Bettie Page can be found all over and she remains a legend to this day. When Page posed for pictures, she wasn’t trying to put on a façade and pose as something that didn’t occur naturally to her. Page was real and her photos exude that aspect of her modeling style. She never saw her pictures as sexual or “wrong” because she viewed her body as something God-given and meant to be viewed by the world, in a sense. She felt as though the first humans were naked and probably wouldn’t have been naked had they not disobeyed God – but being in the nude was never something God disapproved of. Page loved her work and although her love life wasn’t where she might’ve hoped it would be, having married three times, she is still active today and lives happily on her own in California.

Reflection Questions:

1.      Why did Bettie Page not see her pictures as sexual, especially while posing for them, how did it not cross her mind?

2.      Why does Bettie Page “hate old age” ?

Estiloz, T. (Writer) (1996). Interview with bettie page[Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j0Ynlp7sxZs

Pin Up History - Unraveling Where and How it all Started

Summary:

            The average “pretty girl” was used in calendars, advertisements, and pinned up on walls during the 1930s. This time has been considered when “the art of seduction blossomed” (Warzecha). George Petty’s work in Esquire magazine truly kindled the talk of Pin-Up girls. His art “consisted mostly of girls being ogled and accosted by unlikely suitors” (Warzecha). When looking in calendars, magazine covers, and matchbooks, one may find famous artworks essentially created by George Petty and Gil Elvgren. A decent amount of the actresses that we know of today actually began as pinups with their photos. Movies were then created about pinup models and artists around the time of World War II (a very popular era for pinups) (Warzecha).

The pinup craze died down around 1960. “Cheesecake art became lost within the sea of sex industry. This was the time when pin up photos have become even more realistic and unambiguous” (Warzecha). Pinups are making a comeback today and people are beginning to appreciate the beauty and mystery a Pin-Up girl emanates.

An interesting new term is now being used to describe male pinups, “beefcake.” The reason being it gives off a more masculine feel rather than “cheesecake,” which is another name for a female pinup (not as common).

           

           

Analysis:

            Pinups began with the typical pretty girl used for advertising and led to much more with works created by talented artists such as George Petty and Gil Elvgren. Pinups began to become the epitome of seduction during World War II. A unique point about pinups is an alternate name they are sometimes referred to as, that being “cheesecake.” It’s cute that this term has been altered in today’s society to fit people’s idea of what they consider to be a “male” pinup.

Reflection Questions:

1.      When did men begin being considered as a pinup?

2.      Why is the term “cheesecake” not as common as “pinup”?

Warzecha, S. (n.d.). Pin up history - unraveling where and how it all started... Retrieved from http://www.pinuppassion.com/PinUp-History.html

Pin Up Style: The Vintage Sexy Look For Spring 2012

Summary:

            Fashion has been known to repeat itself and recycle old trends. A suggested style that be brought back this year has been the style of the 1940s Pin-Up girl. The pictures that are most famous consist of prominent themes found in the Pin-Up girl style, such as pictures of women doing daily chores, the sailor theme, and the seductress in lingerie (Kay, 2012). One major aspect of the Pin-Up style was that in many pictures, the girl was always “accidentally sexy” in that her skirt may have gotten caught on something or some other accident may have occurred in the photo that would cause the girl to reveal a little extra skin (Kay, 2012). This era, women were expected to be discrete and humble, and most were. Because of this, men were often so intrigued by these images; this fed into the male fantasy and the Pin-Up style grew to be all the rage in a matter of time (Kay, 2012).

            The celebrity Pin-Up girls known as sex symbols became the ideal women. Men began developing this idea of this type of girl being what all women are supposed to look and act like. These images greatly changed the standard of beauty in this era (Kay, 2012). In comparison to the images fawned over today, the Pin-Up style may even be viewed as vaguely conservative. But to this day, this style “retains a sense of feminine elegance and innocence, as well as a mysterious sex appeal, which is timelessly attractive” (Kay, 2012).

There are many components that contribute to the Pin-Up style that’s ever so popular. Beginning with the hair- the hair style was either long or a medium bob cut. The hair was soft and curly or soft and wavy. This hair style was considered to be elegant and all that one needs to attain it is a barrel curling iron and hairspray (Kay, 2012).

Pin-Up girls wore their makeup quite simply in that all they used was a cherry red lipstick, blush, and thick-winged eyeliner. Black liquid eyeliner is necessary to attain this look and the traditional one will give the most dramatic effect vs. using the easier-to-use felt-tip liquid liner (Kay, 2012). As for the lip stick, lip liner is recommended.

There’s a variety of clothes that encompass the Pin-Up style. For example, dresses/skirts were worn the majority of the time with a polka-dot print. A popular style of dress was showing the arms or chest of a woman, such as halter-necks. A few other styles of dresses are a-line, free flowing, and curve-hugging (Kay, 2012).

Garter belts and black thigh-high stockings were a popular accessory then and still are prominent today. Long opera-style and short lace gloves were occasionally worn as well. Jewelry was rarely used, excluding sailor-themed jewelry (Kay, 2012).

Lastly, the shoes worn by Pin-Up girls were high-heels, every time. The design on the shoe was often bubbly and feminine, such as polka dots, floral, bow decorations, or cherries. The main colors were navy, red, and black (Kay, 2012).

           

           

Analysis:

            This article gives a background of the Pin-Up girl and goes on to explain the style in depth. The innocent and elegant style of the Pin-Up girl has been recognized as a hot style that deserves to have a comeback and it’s being encouraged to be brought back this year as the newest, stylish look. An interesting point was brought up in the article about the main aspect of the Pin-Up girl appeal was the “accidental sexiness” that was displayed in the images. There was mystery in the images and not everything was thrown out at once, unlike today. On the other hand, for the time, it was quite controversial. The idea of this “inappropriate” and out-of-character persona the vintage Pin-Up girls portrayed truly did create a new dimension to the male fantasy. Having never seen anything like it, men were immensely intrigued by these images and developed a new standard for beauty and their concept of the ideal woman.

Reflection Questions:

1.      How did the idea of making pictures “accidentally” sexy come to be?

2.      Where did the Pin-Up style come from, in regards to hair, makeup, and clothing?

Kay, A. (2012, March 17). Pin up style: The vintage sexy look for spring 2012. Xaxii Magazine, Retrieved from http://xaxii.com/article?art=pin-up-style-the-vintage-sexy-look-for-spring-2012

Using Women's Bodies to Sell - Pin-Up Girls, Objectification of Women, and Self-Objectification

Summary:

            Focusing on modern advertisements, women are most commonly used to advertise most of the products we see on TV, hear on the radio, see on billboards, etc. Although women are the more commonly targeted demographic for products like yogurt, clothing, and cereal and are used for the advertising of these products, women are also used for the advertising of products not commonly used by women: car parts, heavy duty tools, etc. (Lowen, 2008). Such advertisements with the objectification of women don’t even phase society in this day in age; people are so used to being surrounded by it constantly.

This is nothing new, objectifying women for advertisements unrelated to them dates back to the 1950s. Pin Up images were found in calendars meant to advertise tools for a male-targeted demographic during this time period (Lowen, 2008). Pin ups often became famous through this type of advertising. Pin Up girls usually gained even more fame through their images that accentuated their strongest features and “hid” their weaker ones (Lowen, 2008).

Many people reacted to images of Pin up girls created by painters with a negative opinion, believing that the images were unrealistic depictions of what the ideal woman should aspire to look like because that was the woman that men fantasized about. There is no doubt that the earlier Pin Up images that were painted, not photographed, were altered and unrealistic. A painter of Pin Up girls himself stated that he “felt the ideal pin-up was a fifteen-year-old face on a twenty-year-old body” (Lowen, 2008). Today’s “Pin Up” girls (not identified as such anymore) are more commonly photographed rather than drawn/painted. Still altered, these photographs are said to be more believable because of the power of Photoshop/digital altering, and not as capable of being perceived as more imaginative yet reality-based such as the painted images from the 30s, 40s, and 50s (Lowen, 2008).

Whether it be the painted images of Pin Up girls or the photographs of Pin Up girls (both having been altered as an unrealistic depiction of a woman), a concern has risen. A “dangerous trend” supposedly exists and is leading to the development of eating disorders among young women because of obsessions, accusingly created by these images, of how people view them and their bodies. “A steady diet of exploitative, sexually provocative depictions of women feeds a poisonous trend in women's and girl's perceptions of their bodies, one that has recently been recognized by social scientists as self-objectification -- viewing one's body as a sex object to be consumed by the male gaze” (Lowen, 2008).

           

           

Analysis:

            This article has an overall negative outlook on Pin Up images, not only of today, but from the early and mid 1900s as well. It’s been proven that images in the media can be a major factor in depression and eating disorders amongst young women. It’s a fact that the images today are extremely altered, touched, and retouched to the point where the ensuing image is one of a woman that does not exist. Yet society is brainwashed, and even knowing this information, girls will see these images and still feel they must strive to look this way, though it’s impossible, in order to be “pretty” or “desired”. Not to mention the fact that these images encourage that girls have to feel that they must be “pretty” or “desired” at all, making it seem like that’s everything and all they are worth being a female. Having that type of mentality that society has created amongst many women is very dangerous and is only getting worse by the decade. 

           The article makes a point to mention that the painted pictures of Pin Up girls in the 30s, 40s, and 50s are altered, yet we’re able to “recognize them as images created from the imagination, even if they're based on life,” (Lowen, 2008) making it seem like what we have today is much worse. Either way, both are images of “fake” women, so to speak, and produce the same effect on women, today’s images are just more realistic because of the advancement in technology and are more thrown in your face. It’s important to remember the photographs, not paintings, of Pin Up girls from the early-to-mid 1900s, though. These images were barely tweaked like they are today and the ideal of what was considered beautiful and sexy was far more “voluptuous” in that time period. The ideal image of a woman has changed, which must be kept in mind. The photographs taken of women in that time period were natural and healthy in comparison to those of today, which are altered to be unhealthily skinny and with man-made body parts. So in that respect, it wasn’t such a terrible thing for girls to look at images of these women and strive to look like as they do because that was a reachable goal of a real woman.

Reflection Questions:

1.      What made painters of the first Pin Up girls create a “unrealistic” depiction of a woman to be considered ideal?

2.      What was the true cause of “the dangerous trend” (self-objectification), was it the Pin Up girls originally painted, the photographs we are only now seeing in the most recent decade, or is there a possible other cause?

Lowen, L. (2008, August 14). Using women's bodies to sell - pin-up girls, objectification of women, and self-objectification. Retrieved from http://womensissues.about.com/b/2008/08/14/using-womens-bodies-to-sell-pin-up-girls-objectification-of-women-and-self-objectification.htm