Well, truthfully, I have no darlings yet. My little fledgling blog has yet to really fly out of the nest; but here's hoping it finds a way!
I hope to use this blog as a way to support the ideas and looks of Old Hollywood Glamour. Most of you finding this will already know what I mean: Marilyn Monroe, Rita Hayworth, Bette Davis, Marlene Dietrich, Audrey Hepburn, Greta Garbo, Elizabeth Taylor...just to name a few.
To be a pin-up in the past wasn't necessarily a *good* thing. What's tame to our eyes today was risque and synonymous with sex and eroticism. There have long been supporters of the art form, those who see it as a way to positively shed light on the healthy (aka: not emaciated) female form. The protestors see it as a way of objectifying women.
To me, to my modern eye, I see pin-up as a way to return to being feminine in style. It is easy for me to say, my gender is no longer expected to be just a housewife or a secretary aspiring to be a rich housewife. And I have a lot of stong women to thank for that. Pin-up to me is a way of being sexy and remaining classy. It's a way of caring about how you look and act and dress. It's about etiquette and intelligence and attitude and pride in who you are. I think, as a society, we blur the genders more than ever. That's fine for some, but I am damned proud of being a woman and I 'enjoy being a girl.' Marilyn Monroe once said: "I don't mind living in a man's world as long as I can be a woman in it." That resonates with me. I can be strong. I actually do many traditionally masculine activities. But I will do them with lipstick and heels, and I will do them with class. And, most importantly, I will do them well.
After all, these glamour icons didn't let much get in their way (save for the occasional pill or drinkie-poo, but we won't go there), why should I?
Hopefully, I can change a few minds and everyone will go out into this world a classier human being. That way, I can go to Disneyland and not have some girl walk up to me and ask, "Do you know where I can take a dump?" I really wish that was a made up reminiscence. It's not.
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| Marlene Dietrich |
