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Cosmetics and the female body. A critical appraisal of poststructuralist theories of masquerade
Citation
Negrin, L, Cosmetics and the female body. A critical appraisal of poststructuralist theories of masquerade, European Journal of Cultural Studies, 3, (1) pp. 83-101. ISSN 1367-5494 (2000) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2000 SAGE
Official URL: http://lup.sagepub.com/
Abstract
Recently, there has emerged a new paradigm, informed by poststructuralist theory, for the appraisal of cosmetics. According to this approach, earlier critiques of cosmetics have been based on a mistaken premise that there exists a 'true' self independent of the masks one assumes when, in fact, the self is constituted by these very masks. Thus, in contrast to previous critics who proposed a return to the 'natural' body, these recent theorists advocate a cosmetics which openly declares its artificial nature. However, as will be argued in this paper, in their concern to dismantle 'essentialist' notions of the self, poststructuralist theorists have unwittingly fallen into the embrace of the cosmetics industry with their promotion of the notion of the self as masquerade. In our postmodern culture where the cult of appearances has become ubiquitous, the advocacy of a hedonistic experimentation with various guises is complicitous with contemporary capitalist consumer ideology.
Item Details
Item Type: | Refereed Article |
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Keywords: | appearance, cosmetics, female body, masquerade, poststructuralism, self-identity |
Research Division: | Human Society |
Research Group: | Gender studies |
Research Field: | Gender relations |
Objective Division: | Culture and Society |
Objective Group: | Arts |
Objective Field: | The creative arts |
UTAS Author: | Negrin, L (Dr Llewellyn Negrin) |
ID Code: | 19876 |
Year Published: | 2000 |
Deposited By: | Art (Hobart) |
Deposited On: | 2000-08-01 |
Last Modified: | 2013-04-05 |
Downloads: | 1 View Download Statistics |
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