The Art of the Pinup
Can a pinup be feminist? More importantly, can a feminist let herself become a pinup? According to photographer Sophie Spinelle, the answer is a resounding "Hell, yes."
Sophie is the founder of Shameless Photography, a Brooklyn-based independent portrait studio which seeks to reclaim fishnets, stilettos, and crinolines for feminists of all sizes, colors, and abilities.
"This isn't about the male gaze," says Sophie. "It isn't about anyone's gaze. It's about how we feel in our bodies, how we can finally be present, fierce, and fearless in our own beauty."
Spinelle left a high-powered job as director of development for an international think tank in order to launch Shameless -- in part because claiming her identity as a queer high femme made her passionately committed to redefining what a radical can look like.
"When I came out," Sophie explains, "It sometimes felt like my queer community divided the world into us and them. Us meant gender-defiant radical feminists working for the revolution. Them meant lipstick-wearing closet cases in twinsets and heels."
"But then I thought, who the hell are you to question my politics just because I'm wearing pink?" Sophie says, laughing. "I want Shameless to be a space in which women can feel powerful in their femininity, where the usual beauty standards are turned upside down."
Shameless also aims to be an anti-consumerist salvo against a culture that constantly bombards women with images, messages, and standards designed to make them feel inadequate and insecure about their faces and their bodies -- to keep women on the treadmill, instead of on the ramparts.
As Sophie explains it, "Becoming a fantasy is a powerful thing. And we need to recognize that no billboard model, no advertising agency can own the realm of fantasy -- we all do."
To see Shameless's pinup portfolio, or to contact Sophie herself, visit http://www.shamelessphoto.com.
Photo:
http://www.prlog.org/
