Fatshion
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Recent papers in Fatshion
¿Cómo se ha desarrollado el mercado de talla grande en Chile? ¿Y cómo ha progresado la discusión sobre la aceptación de los gordos? Son preguntas que se resuelven en esta investigación. Se ha reconocido un marcado cambio demográfico en la... more
¿Cómo se ha desarrollado el mercado de talla grande en Chile? ¿Y cómo ha progresado la discusión sobre la aceptación de los gordos? Son preguntas que se resuelven en esta investigación. Se ha reconocido un marcado cambio demográfico en la sociedad chilena y el resto del mundo. Han aumentado las personas con sobrepeso, los que llamamos gordos como si el término los describiera a todos. Esto ocurre a razón de que han sido estigmatizados socialmente.
Un movimiento, fatshionista, se hace representante de los gordos que les gusta la moda pero no encuentran ropa a su gusto en los mercados generales, y además defienden los derechos de los gordos a nivel humano y ciudadano. Se ha generado un choque con los cánones de belleza, lo que ha provocado marginación y rechazo en el mundo de la moda, pero de a poco gracias a una apertura de mente, las gordas han podido integrarse. Sin embargo, no así se ha dado la situación del mundo laboral y la salud, donde aún son marginalizados.
Los gordos piden protección legislativa, tal como el estado ha protegido a otros grupos estigmatizados, como los homosexuales. Este tema lleva a la discordia (palabra usada en este paper como oposición, desavenencia de voluntades u opiniones).
Un estudio del mercado de talla grande nos lleva a entender las necesidades que este grupo estigmatizado da a conocer: ropa linda a su medida. Diversas empresas en Chile han acogido su reclamo y han tratado de satisfacer sus necesidades de la mejor manera, con una retribución publicitaria y de fidelización.
Detallamos en este paper las diferentes posturas que la gente toma al tratar el tema de la aceptación de los gordos, como también los resultados de esta discordia.
La investigación se ha realizado en mayor medida indagando a través de internet. Leyendo comentarios de medios masivos de comunicación, réplicas de la gente a artículos de redes sociales, blogs de moda, entre otras áreas de discusión online.
Un movimiento, fatshionista, se hace representante de los gordos que les gusta la moda pero no encuentran ropa a su gusto en los mercados generales, y además defienden los derechos de los gordos a nivel humano y ciudadano. Se ha generado un choque con los cánones de belleza, lo que ha provocado marginación y rechazo en el mundo de la moda, pero de a poco gracias a una apertura de mente, las gordas han podido integrarse. Sin embargo, no así se ha dado la situación del mundo laboral y la salud, donde aún son marginalizados.
Los gordos piden protección legislativa, tal como el estado ha protegido a otros grupos estigmatizados, como los homosexuales. Este tema lleva a la discordia (palabra usada en este paper como oposición, desavenencia de voluntades u opiniones).
Un estudio del mercado de talla grande nos lleva a entender las necesidades que este grupo estigmatizado da a conocer: ropa linda a su medida. Diversas empresas en Chile han acogido su reclamo y han tratado de satisfacer sus necesidades de la mejor manera, con una retribución publicitaria y de fidelización.
Detallamos en este paper las diferentes posturas que la gente toma al tratar el tema de la aceptación de los gordos, como también los resultados de esta discordia.
La investigación se ha realizado en mayor medida indagando a través de internet. Leyendo comentarios de medios masivos de comunicación, réplicas de la gente a artículos de redes sociales, blogs de moda, entre otras áreas de discusión online.
While research on consumer identity projects has begun to include marginalized consumers, we nevertheless lack insight of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of gendered identity are (re)constructed in the context of... more
While research on consumer identity projects has begun to include marginalized consumers, we nevertheless lack insight of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of gendered identity are (re)constructed in the context of consumer resistance and in relation to the market. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, we draw on Butler’s notion of performative identity formation and combine this with Bourdieu’s notion of capital as identity resource, first to explore performative identity construction of fatshion bloggers embedded in the normative understandings of gendered identity, of adopting and negotiating the dominant cultural discourses of fashion, and second, to consider the subversion of such discourses and resistant acts as these are enabled by normativity. We establish two performative identity tactics that highlight normativity as a resource for resistance.
- by Anu A Harju and +1
- •
- Marketing, Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Blogs
In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight people (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) and their stigmatization in our weight-obsessed society. The empowerment of marginalised groups on... more
In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight people (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) and their stigmatization in our weight-obsessed society. The empowerment of marginalised groups on various social media sites has also been studied (Ciszek 2013), as well as online community interaction having positive effect on self-image negotiation (Tiidenberg 2014). However, within marginalized consumer groups, fashion and identity from a gender point of view is still an under-researched area (e.g. Downing Peters 2014). Plus-sized women have traditionally been viewed as ‘othered’, displaced, and non-hegemonic objects, as subjects without power. Often, plus-sized women are seen as forming a homogeneous group without paying attention to intra-group diversity.
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Table of contents for the special issue on fashion, style, intersectionality, and queer worldmaking.
In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight people (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) and their stigmatization in our weight-obsessed society. The empowerment of marginalised groups... more
In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight people (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) and their stigmatization in our weight-obsessed society. The empowerment of marginalised groups on various social media sites has also been studied (Ciszek 2013), as well as online community interaction having positive effect on self-image negotiation (Tiidenberg 2014). However, within marginalized consumer groups, fashion and identity from a gender point of view is still an under-researched area (e.g. Downing Peters 2014). Plus-sized women have traditionally been viewed as ‘othered’, displaced, and non-hegemonic objects, as subjects without power. Often, plus-sized women are seen as forming a homogeneous group without paying attention to intra-group diversity. Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the Butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society. The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction. A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals. Keywords: Fashion blogs, fatshionista, identity, gender, social capital, plus-size
While research on consumer identity projects has begun to include marginalized consumers, we nevertheless lack insight of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of gendered identity are (re)constructed in the context of... more
While research on consumer identity projects has begun to include marginalized consumers, we nevertheless lack insight of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of gendered identity are (re)constructed in the context of consumer resistance and in relation to the market. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, we draw on Butler’s notion of performative identity formation and combine this with Bourdieu’s notion of capital as identity resource, first to explore performative identity construction of fatshion bloggers embedded in the normative understandings of gendered identity, of adopting and negotiating the dominant cultural discourses of fashion, and second, to consider the subversion of such discourses and resistant acts as these are enabled by normativity. We establish two performative identity tactics that highlight normativity as a resource for resistance.
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