Pin-up model
model whose mass-produced pictures see wide appeal as popular culture
A pin-up model is a model whose mass-produced pictures and photographs have wide appeal within the popular culture of a society. Pin-up models are usually glamour, actresses, or fashion models whose pictures are intended for informal and aesthetic display, known for being pinned onto a wall. From the 1940s, pictures of pin-up girls were also known as cheesecake in the U.S.
The term pin-up refers to drawings, paintings, and photographs of semi-nude women and was first attested to in English in 1941. Images of pin-up girls were published in magazines and newspapers. They were also displayed on postcards, lithographs, and calendars. The counterpart of the pin-up girl is the male pin-up, also known as beefcake, including celebrated actors and athletes such as the actor James Dean, the singer Jim Morrison, and the model Fabio.
History
From the early 19th century, when pin-up modeling had "theatrical origins", burlesque performers and actresses sometimes used photographic business cards to advertise shows. These promotional and business cards could be found backstage in almost every theater's green room, pinned up or placed in "frames of the looking-glasses, in the joints of the gas-burners, and sometimes lying on top of the sacred cast-case itself." According to historian Maria Elena Buszek, "To understand both the complicated identity and the subversive nature of the 19th-century actress, one must also understand that the era's views on women's potential were inextricably tied to their sexuality, which in turn was tied to their level of visibility in the public sphere: regardless of race, class or background, it was generally assumed that the more public the woman, the more 'public,' or available, her sexuality." Famous actresses in early-20th-century film who were sexually fantasized were both drawn, photographed and put on posters to be sold for personal use. Among the celebrities who were considered sex symbols, one of the most popular early pin-up girls was Betty Grable, whose poster was ubiquitous in the lockers of G.I.s during World War II.
In Europe, prior to the First World War, the likes of "Miss Fernande" (who some identify as Fernande Barrey) were the world's first pin-ups in the modern sense. Miss Fernande displayed clear cleavage and full frontal nudity, and her pictures were popular among soldiers on both sides of the First World War.
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This entry incorporates text from “Pin-up model” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.