Introduction: Media Controversy and the Crisis of the Image

Attwood, Feona; Campbell, Vincent; Hunter, I. Q.; Lockyer, Sharon

doi:10.1057/9781137291998_1

Cited by 3 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…My methodology is interdisciplinary, predominantly drawing from the theoretical disciplines of Feminist Performance Studies, Theatre Studies and Costume Studies. The argument builds upon my feminist performance scholarship on new cabaret and burlesque (Willson 2008a;2008b;2015a;2015b) 1 but with a developed focus on issues of theatrical 'bluing up' (Herrera 2012); theories of 'blue' (Attwood 2002(Attwood , 2013Long Chu 2017;Lordi 2016) and costume appropriation and stereotyping (Maclaurin & Monks 2015: Pennington 2016Barbieri 2017 Hodes andSandoval 2018;Carriger 2018;Delhaye 2019;Chatterjee 2020). Chatterjee's (2020) recent contribution to the critical debate about costume appropriation has set this as an 1 I am also Principal Investigator on an AHRC funded 3 year project 'Fabulous Femininities: Extravagant Costume and Performative Thresholds' which is exploring contemporary burlesque costume cultures.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tricity Vogue’s ‘blueing up’ as sedimented resistance: Extravagant costume and the expanded field of dressing up

Willson

2020

Studies in Costume &Amp; Performance

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My focus in this article is to understand the way theatrical costume is performed in subcultural cabaret spaces, specifically The Blue Lady Sings Back by London-based cabaret singer Tricity Vogue. This show premiered at The Royal Vauxhall Tavern in the area of Vauxhall in South London that already has an embedded history of hedonistic pleasure. With reference to Dorita Hannah’s ‘expanded’ notion of costume as a ‘body-object-event’ and Jasbir Puar’s broader understanding of categories of race, gender and sexuality as events and bodily encounters, I seek to understand the way theatrical feminine costume enfolds dissident and marginalized histories of resistant urban space and site. In this show, Tricity Vogue undertakes multiple costume changes that embody various histories and contexts of cabaret performance: as Bollywood dancer Madhuri Dixit, as a European Marlene Dietrich-like cabaret singer and as a Josephine Baker-esque character in a banana skirt. All of this whilst wearing a blue stocking and blue body paint, effectively ‘blueing’ up. This steps into an uncomfortable territory in what could be seen as cultural appropriation, racial stereotyping and speaking for others. This concern also has currency within the contemporary burlesque community who are acutely self-conscious and politicized as regards this kind of costume and performative appropriation. Sara Ahmed’s conceptualization of feminist killjoys (2017) will be employed to better understand these difficult conversations about dressing up with Aoife Monks’ (2010) discussion of multiple costume changes being used as a strategy for ‘undoing’ stereotypes and rethinking a feminist ‘we’. By also drawing on diva studies, which builds on Lauren Berlant’s concept of ‘diva citizenship’, and postcolonial feminism, I will argue that the costumed cabaret body becomes a medium for women to politicize and reframe pleasure through the costumed spectacle of cabaret’s various erotic and exotic muses.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tricity Vogue’s ‘blueing up’ as sedimented resistance: Extravagant costume and the expanded field of dressing up

Willson

2020

Studies in Costume &Amp; Performance

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“…), it remains difficult to define the boundaries in a robust and consensual fashion. Generally, media content is judged to be offensive when it is too graphic or explicit in style and content (Attwood et al, 2012). Intrusive images of suffering, or racist, classist, or sexist depictions that contribute to stereotyping, or bias and inaccuracy in news reports and documentaries are often reported as offending audiences (Livingstone and Millwood Hargrave, 2009).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Towards a contextual approach: Audiences, television and ‘offensive’ humour

Graefer

Das

2017

European Journal of Cultural Studies

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The fine line between humour and offence has long been of interest for scholars and media outlets alike. While some argue for an avoidance of offence at all costs, others defend the ‘right to offend’ as an essential part of humour. By bringing critical sociological studies in humour into dialogue with feminist writings on affect and the politics of emotion, this article argues for a more nuanced and contextualised understanding of offensive humour. Based on empirical data from an audience study about offensive television content in Britain and Germany, we consider what exactly people do with humorous content they find offensive, not what it does ‘in general’. Such a contextualised approach illustrates the ethical and transformative potential of so-called negative affect. Thus, rather than perceiving offence as an ‘ugly’ feeling with merely negative consequences for society, this article contends that the avoidance of offence can also operate as a strategy for evading responsibility and action, thereby hindering social change.

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“…), it remains difficult to define the boundaries in a robust and consensual fashion. Generally, media content is judged to be offensive when it is too graphic or explicit in style and content (Attwood, Campbell, & Hunter, 2012). Intrusive images of suffering, or racist, classist, or sexist depictions that contribute to stereotyping, or bias and inaccuracy in the media are often reported as offending audiences (Livingstone & Hargrave, 2009).…”

Section: Literature Review: Offense Online Humor and Mediated Protestmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unruly Women and Carnivalesque Countercontrol: Offensive Humor in Mediated Social Protest

Graefer

Kilby

Bore

2018

Journal of Communication Inquiry

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At the Women's March in January 2018, many protest posters featured offensive jokes at the expense of Trump's body and behavior. Such posters were shared widely online, much to the amusement of the movement's supporters. Through a close analysis of posts on Instagram and Twitter, we explore the role of "vulgar" and "offensive" humor in mediated social protest. By highlighting its radical and conservative tendencies, we demonstrate how we can understand these practices of offensive humor as a contemporary expression of "the carnivalesque" that is complexly intertwined with social change.

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Introduction: Media Controversy and the Crisis of the Image

Cited by 3 publications

References 7 publications

Tricity Vogue’s ‘blueing up’ as sedimented resistance: Extravagant costume and the expanded field of dressing up

Tricity Vogue’s ‘blueing up’ as sedimented resistance: Extravagant costume and the expanded field of dressing up

Towards a contextual approach: Audiences, television and ‘offensive’ humour

Unruly Women and Carnivalesque Countercontrol: Offensive Humor in Mediated Social Protest

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