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The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

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Taking into consideration the stylistic elements overall, the Child/Doll<br />

image of the Gothloli in its purist, classical form is determined to be<br />

modest, childlike, cute, pretty and aristocratic, and is often referred to as<br />

princess-like. To be <strong>Lolita</strong> also involves somewhat childish, “princess”<br />

behaviour in relation to activities such as playing dress-ups and attending<br />

dolly tea parties.<br />

It is this endeavour towards innocence by most <strong>Lolita</strong> participants, *<br />

coupled with the Gothloli’s childlike habits, that leads me to read the<br />

subculture as representative of generations of young women who, for<br />

various reasons, refuse to “grow up”. This is the major statement that I<br />

make in this thesis.<br />

<strong>The</strong>se childlike aspects also suggest for many critics that the <strong>Lolita</strong><br />

subculture is infantile and therefore trivial. However, the <strong>Lolita</strong><br />

phenomenon should not be considered insignificant, passed off as simply an<br />

endeavour to make a fashion statement, nor investigated as just another<br />

fashion trend. As the most visible expression of most forms of resistant<br />

subculture, in terms of a revolt against institutionalised society, a symptom<br />

of cultural transition and malaise, and a reaction born of crisis, tends to be<br />

its fashion style, so it is with <strong>Lolita</strong>.<br />

* This is the classic intention of the subculture. I have written “most” as the original, authentic<br />

motivations toward and reputation of the movement have been influenced and tainted by the sex<br />

industry, which has subsumed and debased the Gothloli image. This is explained further and<br />

investigated in Chapter Three.<br />

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