Dita goes to Disneyland: aesthetics of power and play in contemporary pin-up culture

Fox-Wong, Abby (2024). Dita goes to Disneyland: aesthetics of power and play in contemporary pin-up culture. University of Birmingham. Ph.D.

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Abstract

Visual depictions of the human body engaging in beauty and glamour praxis serve as commentary on social mores, gender roles, and even political and economic power. This thesis is concerned with how beauty and glamour praxis interrogate, destabilise, and renegotiate assumptions about feminine bodies in popular culture across a variety of settings. My methodological approach comprises Michel Foucault’s Technologies of the Self, Johan Huizinga’s Characteristics of Play, and my own criteria for evaluating the effects of beauty praxis which I have termed Vectors of Glamour. This framework is used to evaluate contemporary pin-up culture as exemplified by Dita Von Teese, social media as a vehicle for the production and consumption of women’s aesthetic labour, and the role of Disney parks as loci of beauty praxis. Dita Von Teese’s corpus of work is characterised by normative femininity and the promotion of a glamourous, beauty-centred lifestyle. Her public persona reflects hegemonic ideals of feminine beauty. The use of social media to showcase pin-up imagery alongside other forms of women’s aesthetic labour relies upon the false promise of affective empowerment. The pursuit of affective empowerment exploits women’s labour in social media by perpetuating patriarchal economic and social systems. Disney parks are liminal zones that occupy a space between the magical and the mundane. The semiotics of luxury are embedded in the Disney parks experience and visitors engage in various forms of beauty and glamour praxis inside these liminal zones. The three case studies are further linked by nostalgia as a capitalist tool. Broadly, these case studies are situated within the discursive contexts of feminist thought, media studies, and critical tourism.

Type of Work:

Thesis (Doctorates > Ph.D.)

Award Type:

Doctorates > Ph.D.

Supervisor(s):