The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

For the Gothloli, this special private world is that of childhood, her
childhood, either the one she had or the one she desired, but one that she is
now in charge of. Whether she collects actual dolls or not, she is a collector
of dolly things as she accumulates her own doll-like wardrobe and
accessories. You could even say that the seeking out and befriending of
other Gothloli is a form of collecting dolls, albeit living ones.
Although Susan Pearce does not discuss Lolita behaviour specifically,
the Gothloli’s gathering of dolls or doll-like things, in her terms, “is the kind
of collecting which supports the role of woman as little girl and is linked
with qualities like innocence, trust and a certain kind of charm”. 101 Indeed
she contends that there is “a clear link between childlike collecting and
childhood itself”. 102 These keywords are also apt in describing the Gothloli’s
little-girl/woman-child image, or style, as one of immense charm and
intentionally innocent, connected with the notion of safety in relation to the
desire to escape to a childhood haven, an area of trust.
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