Chapter 8: In Flo Jo Fashion; The Cultural Appropriation of Sportswomen’s Apparel

Malin, Leelanee K.

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-45477-7_9

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

References 3 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…lululemon and Lorna Jane) are well known for their premium price of clothing with leggings often selling for over 80USD (Horton et al, 2016; Lipson et al, 2020). Scholars have also examined the exclusionary and discriminatory practices of the activewear industry against women of colour (Azzarito, 2009; Malin, 2021), veiled Muslim women (Hwang and Kim, 2020), women in some Arab countries (Saied and Creedon, 2021), and large, ‘fat’, or plus-sized women (Hauff and Green, 2021).…”

Section: Conceptual Framing and Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Postfeminism, consumption and activewear: Examining women consumers’ relationship with the postfeminine ideal

Brice

Thorpe

Wheaton

et al. 2022

Journal of Consumer Culture

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Activewear (clothing designed specifically for fitness and functional movement) has become a hugely popular fashion style for women around the world. Scholars have critiqued the activewear industry for reproducing postfeminist and neoliberal discourses, with advertising and marketing primarily featuring heteronormative women’s bodies (thin, toned, white, young), with a strong emphasis on consumption and choice. In this article, we contribute to the literature on activewear and feminist consumption practices to examine how women consumers of activewear clothing understand and respond to postfeminist discourses inherent in the industry. In so doing, we speak to how the often-critiqued idealised femininity is ‘taken-up’ and interrogated by women activewear consumers. Specifically, we draw upon focus groups and interviews conducted with women from New Zealand, examining how some women are complicit in the production of particular femininities, while others are critical of the industry partaking in an array of everyday ‘acts of resistance’ against (and within) the industry. We conclude with a brief discussion of some of the women-led changes occurring within the activewear market. Ultimately, this article highlights the complexities and attitudes of some women activewear consumers and their contribution (and challenges) to the production of femininity within society.

show abstract