The Lolita Complex: - Scholarly Commons Home

Taking into consideration the stylistic elements overall, the Child/Doll
image of the Gothloli in its purist, classical form is determined to be
modest, childlike, cute, pretty and aristocratic, and is often referred to as
princess-like. To be Lolita also involves somewhat childish, “princess”
behaviour in relation to activities such as playing dress-ups and attending
dolly tea parties.
It is this endeavour towards innocence by most Lolita participants, *
coupled with the Gothloli’s childlike habits, that leads me to read the
subculture as representative of generations of young women who, for
various reasons, refuse to “grow up”. This is the major statement that I
make in this thesis.
These childlike aspects also suggest for many critics that the Lolita
subculture is infantile and therefore trivial. However, the Lolita
phenomenon should not be considered insignificant, passed off as simply an
endeavour to make a fashion statement, nor investigated as just another
fashion trend. As the most visible expression of most forms of resistant
subculture, in terms of a revolt against institutionalised society, a symptom
of cultural transition and malaise, and a reaction born of crisis, tends to be
its fashion style, so it is with Lolita.
* This is the classic intention of the subculture. I have written “most” as the original, authentic
motivations toward and reputation of the movement have been influenced and tainted by the sex
industry, which has subsumed and debased the Gothloli image. This is explained further and
investigated in Chapter Three.
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