|
|||
By: Carmen C. Anderson |
|||
Females have a history of adorning ships of war as sea art figureheads. Men have often named their cars, horses and motorcycles after women. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that the women created by Alberto Vargas, George Petty, Gil Elvgren and other pin-up artists went to war as calendars and aircraft nose art. Although, pin-up nose art was virtually non-existent during World War I, there was a large-scale expansion during World War II and the Korean War. Pin-up nose art were viewed as sexy, playful and even exploitative. Often suggestive, sometimes crude, graffiti accompanied the art. This nose art often paid homage to wives, girlfriends, movie stars and even mothers. The heroine was depicted in a manner to suggest sentiment, lust or wishful thinking depending on whom the artist was portraying. Sometimes the artist seemed confused and the heroine appeared to be both virgin and sinner in the same picture. During war, there was little chance that the art would be seen by the general public, therefore, the "peacetime sense of morality" was replaced by a healthy dose of "reckless disregard." The women in the nose art were depicted as naked or in various stages of dress and undress, available and "wanting", often accompanied by overtly phallic images and fetishistic apparel.1 Usually, she would be least likely to be invited home to meet Mom; and more unlikely to be invited back by her. Occasionally the nose art featured a pin-up that possessed a quality that was safe and demure, "the girl next door." A perfect example of this would be, Queen Mae flown by the CO of the 90th BG. Nose artist, Al Merking created an image of a nude queen sitting atop two bombs that don't exactly appear to be phallicly challenged. Queen Mae won't be invited home for dinner! In obvious contrast, would be the B-26 flown by Lt. Robert C. Mikesh named Monie. The nose art was named for his wife, Romona and inspired by a, May 1952, Gil Elvgren calendar. The lass appeared in the nose art exactly how she would look when invited home for dinner with Mom…fully dressed and unaccompanied by the usual props. |
It was not unusual for the clothing to be painted on the women when the planes were sent back state side. Although, this common practice began in World War II, it continued during Desert Storm. Despite the strict guidelines of the Saudi Arabian government regarding women many allied aircraft depicted highly erotic pin-ups. Although, this nose art managed to escape the guidelines they received a fresh coat of paint before being sent back to their home base.
One might wonder if pin-up nose art is doomed to be erased by a thick coat of political correctness. Given the current climate of sensitivity and with more women entering the military it is logical to assume that this would happen during peacetime. It is unlikely, however, that this would occur during combat. One must consider that during combat an unusual environment is created populated predominately by men (often young and sexually immature). Also, these warriors' lives depend on their ability to function within a totally different code of ethics and morality that are difficult to judge by those outside it (certainly not by the standards of the current peacetime politically correct environment). It is hard to envision a pilot being directed to destroy a target or given the more difficult assignment to bomb a community and then be punished because the instrument he used to accomplish his mission had pin-up nose art on it. Therefore, one must assume that pin-up nose art will be around as long as there are wars to fight and planes to fly.
|
||
