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Abstract
This article focuses on interconnected issues of nostalgia and sexual politics of retro-femininity in the online photo-sharing practices of mature women who display eroticized photographs of themselves on Flickr. These stylized images mimic the retro-feminine ideal, borrowing heavily from visual conventions of pin-up and aesthetics of hyper-feminine vintage fashion. They represent both a longing for the past younger self and a romanticized view of a model of femininity of the bygone era. The self-presentations in question are examined in a relationship with debates over the agency of self-display within the online sphere, considering how the uneasy positioning of aging female body in the youth-centered contemporary culture complicates the reading of these images.
Notes
1. Link to the image on Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/old_school_pin_ups/17405202540. The Flickr account includes other examples of pin-up photos of women aged over 50.
2. The data used in this article comes from my doctoral research into online self-presentations of 50+ women. The study examines a variety of self-presentations across multiple social media platforms, among them sexualized forms of self-display like the ones discussed in this essay.
3. Fully fashioned stockings are knitted flat and then the two sides are sewn together forming the seam. That method of manufacturing peaked in the 1950s. Many enthusiasts of vintage fashion prefer this kind of legwear as more authentic.
4. BDSM is a combination of abbreviations that stand for bondage and discipline, dominance and submission, and sadism and masochism.