Defining Pin Up

[Miss Amelia O'Dell]

I guess this more of a rant and a question rolled into one lol. I'm from a fairly small town but its not a "backwards" town by any means. Its small but pretty advanced- we have an arts district, several professional photographers (only like 3 or 4 in pin up), and people here really appreciate performance art and things of that nature.

 

Anywho, there is a particular gal here that runs an "alternative magazine" she's extremely outspoken and has a huge following among the "alternative community" (that in and of itself is a loooong story lol). She's a big fan of pin up so she promotes it very heavily in her magazine which is great! Unfortunately her idea of pin up isnt at all what pin up should be. When I think of pin up I think back to the adorable implied sexy photo's of yesteryear. Instead this woman insists on promoting these "playboy-esque" photos and labeling them as pin up. I dont have a problem with sexy photos, or even nudes or what have you but she clearly isnt understanding the subtlies of what qualifies a photo as pin up.

 

Just this morning she has pictures of girl in booty shorts (i.e. covering nothing) standing on a ladder in a tank top. Now granted that outfit probably could be used for a sexy pin up shoot but nothing about the styling, the posing, the facial expression nothing about these photos said pin up and yet both she and the photographer that took them labeled them as pin up.

 

I know the definition of pin up probably varies from person to person but it just chaps my hide because I don't want people who don't know any better to think that's all pin up is. Its a similar issue I face with belly dance -there are still those that call it hootchie coochie dancing and some that still think its stripping. *eyeroll*

 

So thats the rant! haha. Now my question is: What do you ladies think about this? What's your definition of pin up?

[Roxy Tart {PL Team / Comm. Mgr}]

It's a hard thing to define because there are numerous different kinds of pin up.

 

Wikipedia defines it as this: A pin-up girl, also known as a pin-up model, is a model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture. Pin-ups are intended for informal display, e.g. meant to be "pinned-up" on a wall. Pin-up girls may be glamour models, fashion models, and actresses. The term pin-up may also refer to drawings, paintings, and other illustrations done in emulation of these photos.

 

The type of pin up are thinking of is Cheesecake or classic pin up, but now there is also modern pin up... and that get's a little tricky. The above says "pictures see wide appeal as popular culture." And today's popular culture likes girls in booty shorts.... nothing we can do about that. It is hard for those of us who love classic cheesecake to look at modern pictures, of modern girls in modern clothes with modern hair and make up and call it pin up, but by definition, it kind of is. Of course, if we are going by this definition, it depends on the girl, and picture, on a case by case basis. But if you count out the modern looking girls, and think that cheesecake is the only real pin up, then you have to count out all the alt girls who do it too. Crazy hair, tattoos, piercings...

 

One of the reasons I like PL so much is because it's a place where all forms of pin up can be seen together. And because of that, we can keep the classic vintage pin up look alive in this modern world.

[Honey B Hooligan {Madam}]

as always, extremely well said Roxy. There are a TON of different FORMS of pin up. And Roxy is correct, what you're thinking of is referred to as "Cheesecake" pin up. At the other end of that spectrum you have alternative pin up, fetish models, etc. etc. the list just goes on and on. I also agree with what Roxy said about PL. I absolutely L O V E that PL is for ALL forms of pin up.