9/1/2023 0 Comments Lolita coords sites![]() ![]() The ideals of a Lolita beyond visual cuteness include dignity, manners, maintaining a proper appearance, demure behavior and lady-like speech (Zi Young and Cassidy 2015, Gagne 2008). What participation in the group provides is the opportunity to construct one of your ideal selves and become that individual for a short time, escaping tough circumstances, relieving stress or simply having fun. This is due to the fact that balancing dual selves and the complexity of one’s identity is part of the essence of Lolita. Who they are, what they think of themselves, how they wish others to perceive them all come together in the constant search for and construction of identity that is Lolita whether this be by consumer purchases, DIY projects, forum participation or even behavior in public.Īn art piece published online depicting a fantastical Lolita character with black wings and purple hair dressed in pink lace with a bonnet.Īlthough the Lolita’s identity is heavily dependent on clothing and bodily adornment, everyday participation while in school or work is not necessary for authenticity within the group (Porzio 2012). There may be many real and ideal selves the individual is attempting to balance via participation in the community and dressing up (Rahman, Wing-Sun, Lam and Mong-Tai 2011). This visual performance of self for personal gain is only possible due to the fluid nature of the Lolita’s structure of self. By promoting demure mannerisms and sweet femininity without the traditional passivity ascribed sexualized women, the style offers participants resistance against conventional cultural pressures and happiness via an escape into fantasy ( Kang and Cassidy 2015, Monden 2008). The Lolita style itself ranges across a variety of sub-genres such as Sweet Lolita seen in Angelic Pretty, Classic Lolita seen in Victorian Maiden, Gothic Lolita seen in Moi-même-Moitié, Pirate Lolita seen in Alice and the Pirates and the lesser-known Grotesque Lolita seen in Blah Blah Hospital. ![]() ![]() The impact Visual Kei bands have on their audiences through androgyny and unique fashion trends turned out to be the perfect medium for the spread of Lolita aesthetics beyond Japan, across East Asia and by the early 2000s with globalizing new technology, into the Western World (Porzio 2012).Ī group of Western Lolitas meet up for a picnic to socialize, take pictures and discuss the fashion. By the time Visual Kei rock bands such as Malice Mizer, emerged in the 1990s, the Lolita subculture had been born (Rahman, Wing-Sun, Lam and Mong-Tai 2011). With the beginning of the kawaii craze, literally translated as cute craze, of the 1970s, cuteĪesthetics in the form of teddy bears, curly handwriting and ‘girly’ consumer goods such as Hello Kitty merchandise, began to gain momentum within Japanese popular culture and soaring into mainstream popularity during the 1980s ( Winge 2008). Japanese girl dressed in Sweet Gothic Lolita at a cafe.ĭespite the basic Victorian doll image originating from historical Europe, Lolita’s cute and feminine style flourished in Japan due to the fact that the concept of cuteness and sweetness has historically not been restricted to children ( Monden 2008). Starting in the 1980s and 90s, “rather than dealing with the difficult reality of rapid commercialization, destabilization of society, a rigid social system, and an increasingly body-focused fashion norm, a select group of youth chose to find comfort in the over-the-top imaginary world of lace, frills, bows, tulle, and ribbons” ( Younker 2011, 97). Lolita fashion, inspired by historical Victorian dolls, started in Japan and has since gained popularity across Asia and parts of the Western world such as Spain, Britain and the United States. Where the novel introduced Western Society to the sexualized child, the subculture stands as a response to the rigidity and homogeneity of modern Japanese society harsh gender norms ( Porzio 2012). The term Lolita may have originated from Vladmir Nabakov’s 1955 novel Lolita, yet its origins and contemporary meaning are vastly different. Two young Japanese women dressed in Gothic Lolita using parasols, wigs, bonnets, lacy dresses and tights. Commodification, Diffusion, and Defusion. ![]()
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