Putting a ¡°positive spin on objectification¡± and subverting stereotyped femininity is the aim of a new book, with the author¡¯s research including attending readings of fairy tales by naked performers.

Jacki Willson, lecturer in cultural studies at Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts London, saw Sofia Coppola¡¯s film Marie Antoinette in 2006, became fascinated by its ¡°anarchic femininity¡± and ¡°got quite annoyed that it had been totally panned by the critics¡±. Two years later, she published a book called The Happy Stripper: Pleasures and Politics of the New Burlesque.

It was these two experiences, she said, that led her to embark on a further book devoted to the question: ¡°Can you use femininity, as it¡¯s been appropriated and stereotyped, subversively?¡± In Being Gorgeous: Feminism, Sexuality and the Pleasures of the Visual, Dr Willson aimed to develop ¡°a politics that embraces the sensual spectacle of being gorgeous, but not without acknowledging the violence of imposing a restrictive ideal¡±.

She celebrates a range of ¡°artists and artistes¡± who exemplify ¡°women¡¯s movement in visual culture from being sex objects to self-determined art objects¡±.

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The book takes in Tracey Emin and Lady Gaga; recent burlesque performers who parody and exaggerate every aspect of traditional feminine glamour; sculptures by Karla Black that use ¡°a distinctly ¡®girly¡¯ palette of eyeshadow, lip gloss, nail varnish and powder-pink pigment¡±; and even a performance piece by Israeli artist Sigalit Landau where a hula hoop made of barbed wire spins around a young woman¡¯s waist.

In the course of her research, Dr Willson also went to see a show called ¡°Naked Girls Reading Fairy Tales¡±, part of ¡°the world¡¯s most salacious and magical literary salon¡±.

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Although Dr Willson hates the ¡°pornification¡± of contemporary culture and omnipresent images of naked women, she does not accept the view (associated with feminist critics such as Laura Mulvey) that ¡°¡®the gaze¡¯ and objectification are all negative. No, it¡¯s not necessarily negative. I¡¯m trying to put a positive spin on objectification. I¡¯m saying that women can use it in a positive way¡­Stereotypes have to be challenged, critiqued and exploded in order for people to start thinking about them.¡±

Dr Willson asks in Being Gorgeous: ¡°What happens if visual pleasure becomes a shared politicised narrative?¡±

She continues: ¡°If we dispense with academic feminist assumptions regarding the ¡®politics¡¯ of the gaze and allow ourselves to be pulled into the whirligig of vibrant colour, lip gloss, carousel horses and false eyelashes, what happens then?¡±

matthew.reisz@tesglobal.com