Newseum: Furore over pin-up models in 70s papers

At Highway Mail, we found something fascinating that we thought you may enjoy taking a peak at – we unearthed some archived Highway Mail papers from the 50s, 60s and 70s. Sub-editor Kathy Bosman will showcase some of these old articles and look at how things have changed since then in the community, the area and the world at large. While leafing through the yellowed pages of the Highway Mail, she came across a series of letters to the editor about their regular pin-up models in the 1970 papers.

WHILE going through the 1970 and 1971 Highway Mail papers, it’s hard not to notice all the pin-ups of ladies scattered throughout the publications. What caught my eye was how scantily dressed they were. Not to be slut-shaming in any way, I just thought it was strange that a newspaper, which is there to inform the public about the local news in the area, adds photos of models (and sometimes everyday people like school teachers) in bikinis or towels wrapped seductively around them. To me, those are the types of photos you find in a magazine more geared towards an audience that is looking for sexual material. I figured it was a sign of the times and that society at the time was still in the throes of the 60s sexual revolution and hadn’t really gotten past it yet.

While I was paging through the 1970s papers, I came across a series of letters to the editor that made me giggle as they were in comment on the pin-up photos. The first was written by a 22-year-old ‘married woman’ who complained about the pin-ups, and especially one of a woman wrapped in a towel from the July 31, 1970 edition, saying, “I think it is disgusting.” She insisted that she wasn’t a prude and was young and married but would no longer buy the Highway Mail – at the time, the Highway Mail was not a free paper.

I found a response to the letter a few editions later, where the author, a man who lived in England but enjoyed reading the Highway Mail, insisted that “After all, what’s wrong with the female form – certainly nothing as far as I am concerned?”

He went on to say how the pictures in the Highway Mail were mild and decent compared to the material ‘thrust at us from every direction both in England and the Continent’.

Another letter in the same edition, from ‘Supporter’, said, “Men like to see this kind of picture . . . I see that your excellent photographer’s work is used by several national magazines – and I’ve never seen complaining letters in them. In fact, I’m considering applying for a post as his assistant!”

Lastly, another letter to the editor in a different edition was by a man complaining that, “Some of the girls featured are anything but pretty!!”

He went on to add: “Couldn’t you be more selective when considering any photographs of the women? Most of these girls are just looking for free publicity. That you must admit.”

The editor replied with, “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder and we are sure every girl featured in the Highway Mail has had more than one beholder who thought she was beautiful. Let us be gallant, shall we?”

I found a few more letters of complaint, coming from different angles, right up until the October 9th edition with the letter above. As humorous as these letters are to read, some of them made me cringe. I think we’ve come a long way as a society in being aware of the problem of objectifying women. That is why I was, at times, angry to see those pin-up photos in a publication that was supposed to be for local news to a general community and not aimed at a certain demographic. It shows a sense of patriarchal control, in that the newspaper was mostly aimed at men and their desire to see the ‘female form’. Ugh. (I have nothing against women choosing to model in whatever way they want as long as it’s not harming anyone else, but I feel this shows a systemic problem at the time.)

The newspaper should have been full of pictures of women who had achieved things for the community or who had an interesting story to tell – like they are today in our current Highway Mail. Yes, there were a few pictures of women doing things other than being brides, or in beauty contests or as pin-up models, but they were few and far between. It seemed like in those days, women were more about what they could do for men’s sexual or domestic needs. That’s not what women are for – we are complex and multi-faceted humans, after all – and I’m glad that society has become more and more aware of this. I still think we have a way to go.

I did find a later letter where a woman was requesting pin-ups of male models. I don’t think anything was done about that one. The outcry didn’t stop the pin-up photos from being published, and they continued into the 1971 papers. I don’t have access to any later archives so I’m not sure when they stopped.

People say that our society is degrading, but I beg to differ. I think, in some ways, we’ve become more sensitive to the rights of those who are treated unfairly. May we continue to grow in this regard.

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