hi everybody! new to the site and thought i'd introduce myself... my name is mabel and im a graduate student at the university of texas at austin. i do media and cultural studies type stuff with a whole slew of research interests including youth subculture, music, fashion and especially contemporary adaptations/appropriations/enactments of vintage styles/music/fashion/etc especially stuff from the 1930s-early 1960s. one of my big interests in pin-up lifestyle stuff (other than personal style/fashion/music preference) is the representation/meaning of gender/femininity/feminism in and by contemporary pinup cultures and pinup girls. [and though it looks like my master's thesis is gonna focus on women, i ultimately want to expand and explore femininity and masculinity in things like hot rod cultures and rockabilly/psychobilly cultures.]
anyway so im an academic and im also a fan and a bit of a participant and im really interested in getting to know more about the people on the inside and what it all means to you... and also in making new friends!