Saturday, October 22, 2011

How far is too far?


Unknown Vintage Pinup Model


I have been noticing lately that in the pinup industry people have been veering away from traditional pinup work and dabbling more into overtly sexual modeling. Is there anything wrong with that? Probably not but I personally would not call it traditional pinup or pinup at all.
I am not preaching nor judging but calling things as there are from my point of view. Perhaps I am very old-fashioned but hey-that's what pinup and those bygone times were all about. If woman are literally showing their bare breasts and rear for all the world to see and calling that PINUP-they are wrong. Plain and simple. But we live in world where sex sells-big time! So much so that most "pinups" are focusing on fetish and implied nudity more and more. People need to make a living, right? Will they get noticed? OF COURSE they will! Who doesn't want to see a naked or semi naked pretty girl?



Traditional Pinup Art by Gil Elvgren


I then begin to wonder where is PINUP going with all this? To me, it has veered so much to another category that I sometimes can't even recognize the work some people are doing. Some people call themselves pinup models or pinup photographers but all I see is nudity, fetish, and sex. Is that really PINUP?

The times gone by were a time when people didn't show all their goodies for all the world to see but they did express their sexuality in very demure manner. Today if you saw some of the films for example like, Baby Face (1933) starring Barbara Stanwyck, the sexual innuendos are so subtly that you would miss it if you didn't pay attention. Movies now are all in  your face and nothing is left to the imagination.


Bettie Page, who to me is the Mother of Modern Pinup


The same is happening in the PINUP world. There are many women who celebrate the traditional pinup in beautiful and tasteful manners. I see nothing wrong with showing a little skin or emphasizing the beauty that is yours. Perhaps we need more mystery. Perhaps we need a little more...."Oh-I wonder what's under there??" instead of  "Yeah I saw that already, I am getting bored-its the same old thing every time."

So PINUPS its time to ask yourself, how do you want your work portrayed? How do you want to be seen? I see nothing wrong with the new twists and turns in Modern Pinup, but ask yourself if you want the whole world to see your goodies...do you want them to know everything or do you want to keep them guessing and wanting more? It's up to you!

xox

3 comments:

  1. Don't get me wrong - I appreciate the beauty of the fully nude or semi-nude female form like any guy, and don't have a problem with more overt sexual imagery. But I'm with you in that I prefer pin-ups to tease and retain an element of mystery. It's what you almost see that makes a pin-up so sexy. The paintings of Art Frahm, for instance, just wouldn't be the same if they were posed so that we, the audience, could see what that poor hapless housewife or bus passenger is accidentally flashing to everyone in the picture. In a pin-up, the promise is the payoff, and showing too much pushes the image over the fine line between pin-up and centerfold.

    Great blog, Bunny!

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  2. I agree 100%. In fact, I'm often disappointed when I hear of a pin-up site or a burlesque show and find that instead of being what I imagined (sweet, old school, flirtatious) it's the in-your-face nudity and fetish you've mentioned. I'd love to see a return to the old school pin up look!

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  3. Thank you Don and Alice! Its nice to know others yearn for that mystery old school pinup used to offer. Here's hoping there will be more of it in the future *wink* xox

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