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"The Makeover and Other Consumerist Narratives" is an interdisciplinary work in both approach and scope, and reads the construction of feminine desire and identity through what is popularly known as the makeover. Bringing together such diverse areas as film, literature, women's magazines, psychoanalysis, historical analysis and cultural theory, this research is particularly concerned with visual communications media (mostly film and advertising) and spectatorship. Of central import is the relationship of consumerism to feminine identity, desire, and the historical emergence of popular entertainments aimed directly at women. / The narrative of the makeover---so prevalent in women's magazines and advertising---works to effectively orient women's desires in a consumerist direction through product promotion and self-commodification. In addition, the makeover is explored in terms of how it might be seen to provide a model by which to understand the workings of late consumer capitalism as a whole. From an excavation of the official commodity-oriented origins of the makeover in the history of women's magazines, the project then moves through a reading of several print advertisements and the phenomenon of the consumer tie-in, and finally to what I call the "Transformation Film." Questions of narrative, desire and class are key here, especially insofar as these films make explicit the connection between self-transformation, commodity consumption, feminine desire and the promise of identity in consumer culture. / At issue is the peculiar problematic of feminine desire as negotiated by Freudian and Lacanian psychoanalysis, as well as the historical implications of female identity as explainable by Marxian commodity theory. It is only by means of examining the objects which cater to feminine desire that we may be able to understand this "culture of the makeover" and women's identity therein.

According to studies conducted by Mobius and Rosenblat (2003) attractive candidates are seen to be more productive in the workplace and would be rewarded for it by receiving higher remuneration than less attractive candidates who are just as qualified. The focus of this study revolves around suggestions that good looks play a major role in the workplace. In addition, Fryer and Kirby (2005) report that obese people earn less than people of average weight with the same set of skills. This study aims to determine the extent to which good looks play a role in recruitment in the workplace and assess the extent to which looks are important to young managers as opposed to older managers when recruiting employees. It also seeks to identify the extent to which looks play a role between male and female managers when recruiting staff and determine if and to what extent good looks give an interviewee an undue advantage. Lastly, it seeks to determine if and to what extent overweight candidates are discriminated against. The sample is segmented using both male and female managers in Durban as key respondents of the questionnaire. The research aims to determine if good looks play an important role in Durban, not only in recruitment in the workplace, but also in the workplace as a whole. Interesting conclusions were drawn. • 71% of the sample population agreed that good looks are based on one’s physical appearance. • 71% agreed that good looking managers have confidence in themselves. • 63% of respondents agree that managers are more tolerant of good looking people. The response overall proved to be that good looking people certainly do have anunfair advantage in the workplace. / Thesis (MBA)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville, 2010.

Populiariojoje kultūroje nusistovi kūno, kaip kintamos egzistavimo formos, samprata, kuri gali būti formuojama pagal individualius poreikius, taip pat įpareigoja rūpintis kūnu kaip reprezentacijos objektu. Analizuojama populiarioji kultūra kaip vartotojo tapatumo fragmentacijos ir persikonstravimo vieta. Įkvėpimo šaltiniu tapo gilinimasis į kūno vartojimą – „kūno vadybą“ populiariojoje kultūroje. Sukūriau penkis skaitmeninės grafikos darbus pavadinimu „Žaidimų laukas“. Juose vaizduoju modeliuojamą, naujai perkonstruojamą kūną, kurį suvokiau kaip naujų produktų veikimo ir popkultūros nustatytų grožio taisyklių taikymo lauką. Šiame lauke vykstantis žaidimas simbolizuoja manipuliavimą kūnu, taip pat gali būti suprantamas kaip individų tarpusavio sąveikavimas, kuris yra pastebimas popkultūroje vyraujančių grožio etalonų fragmentas. / The body settles as a variable form of existence in popular culture, the concept, which can be shaped according to individual needs, as well as the obligation to take care of the body as a representation of the object. Popular culture analyzed as the consumer identity fragmentation and reconstruction place. A source of inspiration became the research about the use of the body – own body management in popular culture. I created five works in digital graphics technique titled "The Playing Field". Where I reflected the process of modeling, new reconstuction of the body. Which I understand as a place for the new product performance and practises of the beauty rules in pop culture. The game in this context means the manipulation of the body, can also be understood as inter-operation, which is perceptible in popular culture with the dominant beauty standards.

Visuomenėje vyraujantys grožio standartai virsta mėginimu tiražuoti moterų išorę. Mane supa grožis, mano šeimos moterys taip auklėtos, joms tai svarbu. Svarbu ir man, nes siekiu pripažinimo ir slepiuosi. Visada slėpdavausi, užsidengdama kitų žmonių istorijomis, išgyvendama panašius jausmus. Atėjo laikas save apnuoginti. Plaukai man - vienas pagrindinių moteriškumo simbolių ir akcentų. Netekusi jų, netenku dalies savęs. Veidas tampa neatpažįstamas. Tai istorija ne apie ligą, tačiau grožio siekimas kartais tampa liga. Į mano asmeninės istorijos veidus, galite įdėti savo veidą. Ir tai nebe mano, o neegzistuojančio asmens veidas. Reta moteris norėtų platinti savo „negrožį“. Ko realiame gyvenime neįgivendinčiau, savo kūrinyje fabrikinio audimo principu kurdama tiražą, aš skatinu nusiimti savo kaukes. Dvejų studijų metų tyrinėjimo laukas išsikristalizavo į teorinio darbo temą "Žmogaus plaukų panaudojimas šiuolaikiniame mene: nuo ritualo iki koncepcijos". Savo kūrinyje plaukų, kaip medžiagos nenaudojau ir paradoksalu, moters plaukai, virtę simboliu, kinta, kol galiausiai išnyksta. Šį kūrinį sudaro 25 A4 formato žakardinio audimo autoportretai. / Beauty standards, which dominate in the society, turns into effort to circulation of the women appearance. I’m surrounded by the beauty, my family woman was educating like that, and for them it is very important. It is also important for me, because I’m seeking for the appreciation and I’m hiding. I was always hiding using other people’s stories, surviving similar feelings. It is time to denude myself. Hairs for me – one of the basic symbol and accent of femininity. I lose them, I lose a part of myself. Face becomes unrecognizable. It is a story not about disease, but sometimes seeking of the beauty became a disease. Into my personal story of my faces, you can put your face. And it is no longer mine, but it is non-existing persons’ face. Rare women want to propagate her “non-beauty”. What I never unrealized in the real life, in this creation using factory weaving principles and creating circulations, I’m encouraging to take off your masks. The field of two years’ of my research grows into theoretical work – “Human hair using in contemporary art: from ritual to the conception”. I didn’t use hairs as a material in my creation and paradoxically, a women hair became to a symbol, changes, and finally disappears. This work consists of 25 units, A4 format Jacquard weaving self-portraits.

Skönhetsideal är ett område som är aktuellt i dagens samhälle. Skönhet har genom alla tider haft en stor inverkan på framförallt kvinnor. Syftet med vår uppsats är att studera, förstå och förklara åtta unga kvinnors upplevelser och attityder till det rådande skönhetsidealet samt vad det är som påverkar kvinnorna till att de vill eller har genomgått skönhetsförändringar. Uppsatsen har sin utgångspunkt i våra frågeställningar som är följande: (1) Hur upplever unga kvinnor det rådande skönhetsidealet? (2)Vad är drivkrafterna som gör att unga kvinnor genomgår skönhetsförändringar? Undersökningen är en kvalitativ studie baserad på semistrukturerade djupintervjuer med åtta unga kvinnor i Halmstad. Reflexivitet i det moderna samhället, objektifiering och intrycksstyrning, användes som teoretiska perspektiv. Dessa teorier är sociologiska analysverktyg som har använts för att förstå och förklara kvinnors attityder till det rådande skönhetsidealet. Resultatet visade att de unga kvinnornas upplevelser av det rådande skönhetsidealet innebar att man som kvinna ska vara ung, smal, vacker och vältränad. Dagens rådande skönhetsideal visade sig vara det ideal som ansågs vara mest hälsosamt, jämfört med tidigare skönhetsideal. De unga kvinnorna blev i största utsträckning inspirerade av sociala medier när det kommer till skönhet. Kvinnorna var positivt inställda till skönhetsoperationer och plastikkirurgi ansågs vara ett medel för att förbättra utseendet samt stärka kvinnors självkänsla samt självförtroende. / The beauty ideal constitutes a significant part of today's society. Beauty has throughout the time had a great impact on women in particular. The purpose of our paper is to study, understand and explain eight young women's experiences and attitudes towards society’s ideal of beauty, and what it is that makes them want to or go through beauty changes. The study has its starting point in our two questions: (1) How do young women experience the current beauty ideal? (2) What are the driving forces for young women to undergo beauty changes? This study, is a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with eight young women in Halmstad. Our theoretical perspective used are reflexivity of modern society, objectification and impression management. These theories will be the sociological analysis tools in order to understand and explain women's attitudes to the current ideal of beauty. The results indicated that the young women's experiences of the current ideal of beauty meant that the women should be young, slim, beautiful and fit. Today's current ideal of beauty proved to be the ideal that was considered most healthy, comparing to previous beauty ideals. The young women were very inspired by social media when it comes to beauty. The women were positive about cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery was considered out to be a tool to improve the appearance and enhance women's self-esteem and self-confidence.

The purpose of this thesis is to critically analyze masculinity portrayals in film at the turn of the Twenty-First Century. Specifically, the films Fight Club and American Beauty are analyzed to determine how these films define masculinity and render the ideal male. This analysis finds that the portrayal of men in these films closely matches the perception of a masculinity crisis. The films also offer a solution to the crisis that follows the philosophical theories suggested by Friedrich Nietzsche. It is concluded that masculinity is a social construction that needs new ideals and definitions to more accurately fit the environment of American men in the new century. / Department of Telecommunications

This thesis is a phenomenological study that has been carried out via two semi-structured interviews with an -  in conventional ways of categorising - 22 years old white, heterosexual, and middleclass Swedish woman, referred to as “Andrea”. The thesis aims to explore the becomings of Andrea in connection with cosmetic body modifications and her experiences in relation to this of fitting and misfitting, which are related to the dis/ability system. The aim of this thesis has also been to situate her as an embodied female subject in an intersectional context, in addition to her own experiences, as multiple social categorizations intra-act in the creation of dis/ability. The thesis takes its point of departure in Rosi Braidotti’s theorization of nomadic subjectivity and employs her notion of subjectivity as a negotiation between desire and power, with the goal of analysing the affirmative potential of cosmetic body modifications, as well as being critical towards them and their effects. Rosemarie Garland-Thomson’s concepts of fitting/misfitting are used in order to analyse the intra-actions between body and environment as well as how cosmetic body modifications affect the fit and/or misfit of Andrea.  Sara Ahmed’s notion of orientation has been employed in relation to this, with the aim of showing how beauty, whiteness, femininity, and economic wealth are produced and sustained. In the thesis it is analysed how Andrea, in complex ways desires molarity at the same time as she actively resists “fixed” positionings of her. Andrea contributes to a deconstruction of the fixity of molar identity as her resistance disrupts the flow of expected behaviors - something which creates moments of imperceptibility. The thesis furthermore argues that Andrea uses cosmetic body modifications as an affirmative deconstruction of power in addition to it being a force that drives her towards the desired molarity.

The everyday practices of maternity and beauty are important for the enactment of femininity. This dissertation deals with femininities created in the context of changing ideas about “normality” in Soviet Russia during the mid 1930s-1960s and explores a diversity of norms, discourses and rituals. The main sources are women’s magazines, advice books, and interviews with women living now in three different cities of the Russian Federation – Moscow, Saratov (Volga region) and Ufa (capital of Bashkortostan Republic). The results of the research suggest that some parts of the Soviet discourses on maternity and beauty turn out to be similar to those that were characteristic for other European countries of the same historical period. At the same time the interviews show that the modern practices of medical and welfare institutions, the consumption of clothes as well as advice about appearance and childcare were situated in the context of shortages of goods, women’s work outside of home, rhetorics of the “naturalness” of maternity for every woman as well as that of a woman’s particular need to care about looking nice. Together with the home reproduction of many rural/patriarchal rituals of maternity and beauty it led to a contradictory everyday performance of femininity. Fluctuating categories of social status, ethnical belonging, geographical location and generation also contributed to a diversity of femininity constructions. Common sense normativities concerning practices of becoming a mother, caring for a baby and making oneself beautiful suggest that Soviet discourses on maternity and beauty were only partly accepted and reproduced by women. They were also partly rejected and subverted in everyday practices. The analysis of maternity and beauty practices shows that performative femininities were utterly complex. / <p>Boken innehåller en sammanfattning på ryska.</p>

This thesis is an in-depth analysis of beauty ideals in South Korea and India. These two countries have recently turned to skin lightening and cosmetic surgery in order to achieve their new beauty standards. Not only do these two countries share a propensity for those two trends, but they also have an overwhelming majority of the population that identifies with a specific religion; Hinduism in the case of India and Confucianism in the case of South Korea. However, it is not clear that the current beauty ideal in each country aligns with the beauty ideal set out in the respective foundational religion.