[ecrea] Film, Fashion & Consumption 7.2 published

Intellect is happy to announce that Film, Fashion & Consumption 7.2 is 
now available! For more information about the special issue, click here 
>> https://bit.ly/2R0Yu00

Special Issue: Representing Style and Female Agency in the 1960s.

*Contents*

_Editorial_

Authors: Katie Milestone And Joan Ormrod
Page Start: 91

_Cool, sunglasses and the modern woman: Icons of the 1960s
_
Authors: Vanessa Brown
Page Start: 97

This article considers the enduring appeal of certain iconic images of 
(sub)urban/e women of the 1960s: Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at 
Tiffany’s (1961); Black Panther Kathleen Cleaver; and ‘Lolita’ as 
depicted in the promotional poster for Kubrick’s 1962 film. These are 
considered in relation to the idea of ‘coolness’, an attribute explored 
as problematic, yet generally desirable. Frequently perceived as a male 
attribute, even a male pathology, this article explores cool 
specifically in relation to iconic images of women, and their potential 
meanings both at the time of their creation and in the present day. It 
demonstrates how connections between coolness and modernity are 
articulated in imagery of women by the wearing of sunglasses, a material 
and embodied practise that allows acts of gazing to be nuanced in a 
variety of ways. At first sight, these images may have multiple, 
ambiguous and apparently contradictory meanings (from ‘nymphet’ to 
patriarchal refuser) but I will argue that viewing them through the use 
of sunglasses and the lens of ‘modern cool’ helps to refocus their power 
and continued, broad appeal as current benchmarks of still desirable, 
modern femininities, and therefore, their presence in a plethora of 
pastiches, consumer products and style discourses.

_From a lady to a lost ‘Prole’: Girls in the city in Polish cinema of 
the 1960s and early 1970s_

Authors: Ewa Mazierska
Page Start: 115

The term ‘girl’ is by no means neutral, but culture-specific. A person 
called a ‘girl’ in one decade or place might not be classified as ‘girl’ 
in another. It is widely assumed that in the 1960s the very concept of 
‘girlhood’ undertook a profound transformation. However, such claims are 
usually directed towards western culture. Much less has been written 
about girls in the countries of state socialism. To make up for this 
gap, this article considers representations of girls in two Polish films 
from the beginning of the 1960s, Niewinni czarodzieje (Innocent 
Sorcerers) (1960), directed by Andrzej Wajda and Do widzenia, do jutra 
(Good Bye, Till Tomorrow) (1960), directed by Jerzy Morgenstern; and two 
from the beginning of the 1970s, Seksolatki (Sex-Teenagers) (1971), 
directed by Zygmunt Hubner and Dziewczyny do wzięcia (Girls to Pick Up) 
(1971), directed by Janusz Kondratiuk – all set in two large Polish 
cities, Warsaw and Gdansk. It examines their appearance, their 
interests, their attitude to sex and their place in the city culture. Of 
special interest is the relationship between girlhood and class.

_‘Who’s the girl with the kissin’ lips?’ Constructions of class, popular 
culture and agentic girlhood in Girl, Princess, Jackie and Bunty in the 
1960s_

Authors: Mel Gibson
Page Start: 131

This article focuses on four British periodicals incorporating or 
dominated by comic strips aimed at girls of different ages: Girl (Hulton 
Press, 1951−64), Princess (Fleetway, 1960−67), Jackie (DC Thomson, 
1964−93) and Bunty (DC Thomson, 1958−2001). It will explore how these 
titles depicted agentic girlhood, class and popular culture. The 
periodicals show varying degrees of engagement with popular culture, 
varying according to adult constructions of girls as vulnerable and in 
need of protection. Some are more permissive and the voice of the girl 
appears within them, in others there is a more paternalistic approach. 
This has an impact, in turn, on the kind of co ntent that they offered.

_1960s surfsploitation films: Sex, the bikini and the active female body_

Authors: Joan Ormrod
Page Start: 147

 From 1959 to 1966, approximately 66 Hollywood films were produced to 
exploit the surfing craze. Surfsploitation, the surf craze of the early 
1960s, crossed music, comics, television, advertising and films. Films, 
especially, focused on the importance of the bikini in their promotion. 
The bikini, a liminal piece of clothing, conceals and yet reveals the 
naked body. The film’s producers emphasized the appeal of the bikini in 
the films’ cross-media promotion, which promised sex but delivered inane 
plots, dependent on comedy, pop music and fantasy for their continuing 
appeal. In the early 1960s the bikini was perceived as an erotic item of 
clothing from Europe. To appeal to American perceptions of the garment, 
in fashion and consumerism it was repackaged as related to sport and fun 
for the female teenage body. Comparing promotional and advertising 
materials of consumer culture with that of the films, this article 
explores how the bikini articulated notions of the active yet passive 
female body in this era on the cusp between the reactionary 1950s and 
the emergence of second-wave feminism of the late 1960s. Although the 
promotion from the films promised sex, they were highly moral. Yet the 
representations of the active female body in the films and their 
promotional materials reveal the debates around female agency for the 
early 1960s, an era when girls had to negotiate the societal demands of 
the reactionary 1950s with the demands placed upon women by second-wave 
feminism of the later 1960s.

_Go-go dancing – femininity, individualism and anxiety in the 1960s_

Authors: Georgina Gregory
Page Start: 165

Mainly performed by young women at nightclubs and discotheques, go-go 
dancing was a high-energy, free-form, dance style of the 1960s. Go-go 
dancers were employed to entertain crowds and to create a ‘cool’ 
ambience, wearing very revealing outfits including mini dresses, 
short-fringed skirts, tank tops, tight shorts and calflength boots. The 
dance style soon reached mainstream media platforms such as the US 
television show Hullabaloo and ABC’s Shindig, where girls could be seen 
suspended in clear plastic cages above the dancefloor. Before the Second 
World War partner dancing was the norm and social dance typically 
involved close physical contact, often as part of traditional courtship 
ritual. Moreover, most of the earlier dances required men to take the 
lead and to physically guide their female partner. A striking 
characteristic of go-go was the fact that girls usually danced alone, 
sometimes placed on podiums and often separate from the crowd. In this 
respect, go-go dancing can be viewed as an extreme extension of a 
growing trend towards solo dancing. The article explains how go-go 
dancing could be seen as reflecting social changes occurring during the 
1960s, a time when gradual loss of faith in traditional sources of 
social guidance – religion, government, marriage – saw the rise of 
greater individualism. Women’s growing emancipation and a move towards 
selfdirection were embodied by go-go dancers, whose free style movements 
and rejection of formal steps metaphorically embody the dilemma of a 
generation of women facing an uncertain future.

_Swinging regions: Young women and club culture in 1960s Manchester_

Authors: Katie Milestone
Page Start: 179

This article examines the opportunities for women to access a ‘Swinging 
Sixties’ life-style in a northern English city. The article is based 
upon interviews with women who actively participated in Manchester’s 
coffee club and discotheque scene in the mid-1960s. I explore the 
gendered dynamics of the cultural north/south divide and the ways in 
which girls in the regions carved out access to the style and experience 
of the ‘Swinging City’, dispelling the popular myth of this being 
exclusively attached to London. The interview data reveals high levels 
of creativity and agency and I examine the ways in which encounters with 
popular culture, notably night clubs, pop music and fashion, impacted on 
the women’s wider life choices and experiences. I also reflect on 
cinematic representations of young women in England in this period and 
the spatially motivated discourses pertinent to the case study.


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------