Posts tagged pinup

My minor in college was Rhetoric & Film Studies, which is the hippie liberal arts school equivalent to communications… but way more fun.

As someone who grew up reading People and could name every primetime television show that aired on major networks since 1989, you could say that pop culture is part of my diet.  So when I got the opportunity to take a class called “Hollywood Stars” my senior year to finish up my minor, you bet I soaked up every bit of it!

We had a lesson one day that discussed characters of stars.  Essentially, you’ll personalities like the cowboy, the girl next door, the macho man, the villain, and many others.  My personal favorite: the pinup.

To define pinup would be like trying to define a common piece of every woman you’ve ever seen on the big screen… and every woman you’ve probably met.

We think of pinups as women who channel an era of yesteryear, who also play with the cheeky-ness of a sexual revolution over the horizon.  The style transcends decades, reflecting the cutting edge of what it means to be a lady. Miss Manners expects us to be prim and proper, not a curl out of place… but there’s something about the pinup culture that encourages women to draw outside the lines. You know, be real.

Do you know of any woman who has ever stayed inside the lines? Besides nuns? We’re not perfect, but that is precisely what is so attractive about the woman, the pinup. In an imperfect way, the pinup can very well be the ideal woman in some eyes.

The pinup has been a mom, a wife, a single girl, a working woman, even a source of encouragement during tough times! If you ask me, the pinups won WWII. Enter the likes of Betty Grable.  You’d fight like hell too if you could imagine coming home to a girl like her.

Lines don’t have curves and that’s why pinups don’t adhere to any particular body standard.  Marilyn Monroe was a size 12, and still manages to reign supreme as one of the most beautiful women of all time. You’ll see me write more and more about this figure in pop culture history because I find it to be so important to see how skewed American body standards and modern-day feminism can be today.  I can’t tell you how many women I know (myself included) talk themselves down, but find a whole new light of encouragement when embracing the vintage and voluptuous style of the pinup. I’ve met pinups twice my size, age and height that have totally rocked with self-confidence and remained to stay outside any line.

It’s definitely something to admire.

Good day, Tumblr friends!

My dear cousin who lives across the country encouraged me to start up my blog again now that I “actually have a life” now. Gotta love my family.

Honestly, not much has changed and I enjoy a bowl of ice cream while watching Teen Mom on a Friday night as much as the next wild twentysomething.

But in a nutshell, a few small changes in the last nine months (NO BABY! Hate the stigma of “nine months”) have somewhat established a different me and a different life. I suppose my future ramblings will consist of the following:

1. Being married
2. Being married to the military
3. Being married to my job
4. Being married to my new hobbies

I had an old boss joke around saying that someone finally made an honest woman out of me. To an extent, it’s kind of true. There’s nothing wrong with living selfishly especially at this age. I still indulge in personal pleasures from time to time like getting my hair done and buying myself a nice dress that I probably won’t wear until next summer (thanks Washington), but it was until I made a commitment to Ryan that I knew my relationship with him and God would really start turning a page in my book.

The pastor we met with for pre-marital counseling quizzed us on what marriage is and how it’s a different it is compared to other relationships. It’s pretty powerful, actually. You make a vow, an oath, a decision—the biggest promise of your life to another human being in front of the law of the land and God. Your relationship becomes a binding contract (sorry, I’m not a huge romantic) that you made the decision to honor. Emotion can play a big part in this decision, but a confident mind can be the biggest factor that determines the strength of the partnership. It’s truly amazing to think about.

For those of you who know me and have known of the saga of our relationship, this has been a long time coming. Ups and downs really tested us, but in the end we made a huge leap and look forward to what else life has to throw at us.

I’m also getting a dose of what it’s like having to share your husband with his job. Only, unlike some jobs, Ryan’s life literally belongs to Uncle Sam. As a service member, he’s been through the drawbacks of having to miss out on birthdays, work late, deploy and be away from his family months at a time. I’m now experiencing that firsthand as well.

However, I’m also noticing the inner dynamics of a military community. As a kid who wasn’t directly raised under a military household, I never knew the sense of closeness families have with one another when they’re going through some good times and bad times. Growing up with a sister and being in a sorority taught me how to jive with women (and men) who have different personalities, and so far I’ve enjoyed meeting other spouses who can relate to what Ryan and I go through with his job. It’s been a blessing.

As for my job, I’m still with the awesome downtown Seattle law firm and as my one year anniversary passed, I realized how much I’ve grown to like being a working woman. I thoroughly enjoy it and I’m looking forward to improving my skills so that I can branch out elsewhere doing God knows what. It pays the bills!

Lastly, I picked up a couple hobbies. One of them, get this, is pinup modeling. Never in a million years did I even think of doing any sort of modeling. When I was a really brown chubby brown third grader, I was fully content with being good at eating sleeves of Oreos. Today, I still am content with that ability, but I digress…

After my photographer friend encouraged me to try it, seeing how interested I was in Kustom Kulture, I figured a couple shots of Jack before getting photos taken probably wouldn’t be too painful. Sure enough, I enjoyed it. I even entered into a pageant, posed for clothing companies and even nabbed a spot in a pinup magazine! The third grader in me is celebrating with a glass of milk!

But the world of Kustom Kulture is my new niche. A place I never thought I’d end up joining, but I’m loving every bit of it. In a nutshell the “Kulture” envelopes vintage cars, hot rods, choppers, tattoos, and pinups into one big party of great personalities. What I love about the pinup modeling aspect of it is that you’ll find women of all ages, sizes, and backgrounds working their magic in photos, runways or hugging beautiful cars.

A good friend I used to work with at MSNBC even told me to write about my experiences in this new world, and possibly develop a book. Consider this a launching pad for the wide-eyed rookie who didn’t think for a minute that this would be a hobby.

Oh, and my other hobby is drinking coffee. HEY-OH! Goooood morning.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to sharing more. I’ve noticed that past blogging attempts have attracted some readers that end up asking for advice. To me, that’s the biggest pleasure from writing so publicly. I’ve made lots of friends through shared experiences and advice so I’m looking forward to doing that more as I continue on. In the meantime, have a lovely Thursday!

(Source: missywill)