Pin Up Grrls: Sexually Combating Social Inequality

                In the early half of the 20^th century, women were struggling for their basic civil rights.  Because of this, women were searching for the best way to extoll their views without being to inflammatory to the male dominated culture of the time.  The “pin-up” during this time was one of the American woman’s first ways to express a newfound sense of freedom, through sexual representations that aimed to shock the status quo; and thus, demonstrating their power when fighting for equality. According to Maria Busek, women attempted to shock the masses with what was normally considered “taboo”, “these photographs-among the earliest pin-ups- call into question the ability to define women to a binary structure, while marking the spectrum of unstable and taboo identities” (Buszek M.E., p. 31).  This helps to illustrate how women had discovered a new sense of themselves and were no longer afraid to display their capability and potential if they were allowed the same opportunities.  Busek defined this as “awarishness” or, “the event in which women became aware of the potential power to affect change through these sexual representations that reflected their desire for equality” (Whalen D., September 21).   Furthermore, this movement of utilizing sexual images as a form of empowerment, helped to create a “new woman” which focused on a new idea that emphasized “empowering modern women by giving her a voice” (Buszek M.E., p. 76).  These points help to describe that the pin-up was not meant to be a sexual representation of a women’s body of sexuality itself but rather, it was meant to give women a much need sense of importance and empowerment.  The image below helps to depict some of the illusory methods used in the “pin-up” area that helped women gain a voice, through shock value.

                As it can be seen in the Alberto Vargas portrait below, there are a variety of subtle tactics that help to demonstrate the beauty, strength, and power that a woman possesses through her sexuality.  For example, color is obvious in the portrait as serving as representative of something deeper.  As is common in many of Vargas’s pictures, red is used frequently.  The color red can symbolize power or passion, or it could reflect the passionate desire by women to be heard for something beyond their physical appearance. The irony that this is approached in a sexual manner is what makes this statement so significant.  In addition, she has a lit cigarette in her hand and she is not directly looking into the camera.  This signifies a rebelliousness that was residing within women; they had just begun to outwardly fight for their equality and this demonstrates that women would “look into the camera” on their own terms.  Finally, we can see her pose; she is casual, yet firm in her position, once again signifying that she will comfortably combat the inequalities she may face. Not only do we see some of the subtleties of the photo that help to describe the women’s movement of the time, but looking at what the picture means culturally and historically also shed more light on what exactly the pin-up represented.

                The pin-up not only allowed women to have more of a positive voice in fighting for their rights but, it also had cultural and historical outcomes that may or may not have been intended.  In addition, it is important to understand the perspective from which the evaluation is coming from.  Naturally, there are many ways to view any image or situation.  This concept could be described as a gaze or “the multiple ways to construct and deconstruct an image (pin-up), more specifically, if a pin-up with be viewed as feminist or anti-feminist” (Whalen D., September 14, 2017).  How this image is viewed by both men and women may lead to completely different interpretations to what exactly this image means.  Furthermore, the context of when this image is being viewed will ultimately lead to much different opinions on whether this image helps women’s equality or harms it.  For example, this image is far less shocking or inflammatory than it originally was during the 1950s.  Time also plays a significant part in deciding what exactly images mean.

Buszek, M. E. (2006). Pin-up grrrls: feminism, sexuality, popular culture. Chapters 1, 2.  p. 31 and 76. Durham: Duke University Press.

Whaley, D. (2017, September 14). Lecture 3. Lecture presented at American Studies in Philips Hall, Iowa City.

Whaley, D. (2017, September 21). Lecture 3. Lecture presented at American Studies in Philips Hall, Iowa City.