This research paper examines the implications of a feminist appropriation of the fetish and the use of the theory of abjection, as a disruption of phallocentric binary labelling and its notion of idealised femininity. The paper is divided into two sections. The first section includes an analysis of Emily Apter's articles 'Fetishism and Visual Seduction in Mary Kelly's Interim' and an analysis of Janine Antoni's installation 'Gnaw' which form a contextualisation of the issues on which my own visual research is based. These issues revolve around the creation of multiple subject positions for women as both artist and spectator, the recuperation of the seductive image without creating the same power relations apparent in the male gaze and the deployment of an abstract visual femininity to scopically seduce the viewer. In section two, part one, Praveen Adams' article 'The art of analysis: Mary Kelly's Interim and the discourse of the analyst is examined. In this article Adams uses Lacan's theory of discourse to hypothesise that the space of production in Interim is an analogue to the space of production in pyschoanalysis. Part two consists of an examination of the application of the same structural analysis to Antoni's 'Gnaw' and my own 'Compulsive Beauty,' and explores the possibility of a new contextual analysis of feminist art / Master of Arts (Hons)

This research paper examines the implications of a feminist appropriation of the fetish and the use of the theory of abjection, as a disruption of phallocentric binary labelling and its notion of idealised femininity. The paper is divided into two sections. The first section includes an analysis of Emily Apter's articles 'Fetishism and Visual Seduction in Mary Kelly's Interim' and an analysis of Janine Antoni's installation 'Gnaw' which form a contextualisation of the issues on which my own visual research is based. These issues revolve around the creation of multiple subject positions for women as both artist and spectator, the recuperation of the seductive image without creating the same power relations apparent in the male gaze and the deployment of an abstract visual femininity to scopically seduce the viewer. In section two, part one, Praveen Adams' article 'The art of analysis: Mary Kelly's Interim and the discourse of the analyst is examined. In this article Adams uses Lacan's theory of discourse to hypothesise that the space of production in Interim is an analogue to the space of production in pyschoanalysis. Part two consists of an examination of the application of the same structural analysis to Antoni's 'Gnaw' and my own 'Compulsive Beauty,' and explores the possibility of a new contextual analysis of feminist art / Master of Arts (Hons)

This thesis presents qualitative exploratory research findings on the phenomenon of feederism. Feederism, also referred to as "erotic weight gain," involves people who are sexually aroused by gaining weight (called "feedees" or "gainers") or encouraging others to gain weight (called "feeders" or "encouragers"). Sometimes feederism is practiced within relationships and sometimes it is practiced alone. Respondents emphasize the importance that fantasy plays within feederism. The experiences and understandings of 30 respondents are considered in an attempt to examine how those who are interested in feederism might be stigmatized and how they may cope with having this stigma.

This thesis presents qualitative exploratory research findings on the phenomenon of feederism. Feederism, also referred to as "erotic weight gain," involves people who are sexually aroused by gaining weight (called "feedees" or "gainers") or encouraging others to gain weight (called "feeders" or "encouragers"). Sometimes feederism is practiced within relationships and sometimes it is practiced alone. Respondents emphasize the importance that fantasy plays within feederism. The experiences and understandings of 30 respondents are considered in an attempt to examine how those who are interested in feederism might be stigmatized and how they may cope with having this stigma.

Church of Kicks is an art installation that deals with product fetish, consumer behavior, and influential power of brands. Using the basketball sneaker consumer subculture as the main subject of focus the exhibit shows how excessive advertising and publication feeds into object idolization, which can lead to extreme, chaotic, and sometimes violent buying behavior. Given its almost identical characteristics with religion in terms of structure and the degree of influence on individuals, consumer culture is religion. By identifying the entities and methods that take part in raising hype and exploiting the extremes of a brand’s cult following, the exhibit makes an attempt to stimulate consumer self-reflection on their own product fetishes and the degree to which they are willing to go to satisfy the urge to fulfill a material obsession.

A tese trata da relação dos jovens com o consumo e parte da constatação de que a adolescência surge a partir da metade do século XX, como categoria diferenciada da infância e da idade adulta e simultaneamente como consumidora por excelência, tornando-se alvo principal da mídia e da indústria do marketing. Analisa o lugar que no social se recorta para o adolescente e sua relação particular com os objetos de consumo – entendendo que esse grupo parece estar predominantemente mais ligado ao delivery, ao self-service e à vida nos shopping centers do que a compromissos políticos, culturais e sociais. Parte da equivocidade da expressão “o que consome o adolescente” e centra a discussão naquilo que o consome. Tomando a Psicanálise como base conceitual, o tema foi abordado a partir da relação do sujeito ao objeto, passando pela sua constituição na relação com o Outro originário, em que o conceito do das Ding remete à mais precoce inscrição do objeto na relação ao outro materno. Analisa o papel da sublimação, como um dos destinos das moções pulsionais originariamente dirigidas ao objeto primordial, pois o processo sublimatório é um modo de haver-se com a falta e buscar outros destinos para as pulsões. A frouxidão na operação simbólica da castração dificultaria este processo, produzindo no adolescente a ancoragem numa inibição. Tal dificuldade pode colocar em jogo uma série de artifícios, dentre eles aquele que elege objetos-fetiche para dar conta imaginariamente de algo que não poderia faltar: o falo imaginário. Conclui-se, na tese, que a aderência ao objeto-fetiche pode se oferecer como possibilidade de trânsito em torno da operação de castração, na relação do adolescente ao falo materno, e que os objetos de consumo tomam forma privilegiada no lugar de auxiliares no encobrimento desta hiância. A pesquisa teórica mostra ainda que, na experiência adolescente, algumas modalidades de recusa da ausência do falo materno entram em vigor, denotando certo funcionamento fetichista, imiscuído na neurose, o que parece convocar o adolescente a fazer uma tentativa de positivação do falo, através de objetos de escolha e compartilhamento coletivo. Finalmente, aponta-se que tal forma de positivação estaria numa relação direta com a dificuldade de inscrição simbólica da diferença dos sexos, ou seja, da operação de castração e da aceitação da ausência do falo; aponta-se ainda que o objeto fetiche ocuparia uma função ortopédica que falha na sua intenção, pois necessita ser reiterado sistematicamente, assim como o objeto precisa ser substituído indefinidamente. / The thesis deals with the relation of young people with consumption and comes from the observation that adolescence has its origins in the middle of the twentieth century, as a category different from childhood and from adulthood and simultaneously as consumer by excellence, becoming the media and marketing industry main target. It analyses the place that in the social is reserved for the adolescent and his/her particular relation with the consumption objects – understanding that this group seems to be predominantly more connected with the delivery, with the self-service and with the life in the shopping malls than with political, cultural and social commitments. It comes from the equivocity of the expression “what consumes the adolescent” and focuses the discussion in what consumes him/her. Taking psychoanalysis as conceptual basis, the theme was approached beginning with the relation of the subject with the object, passing through his constitution in relation to the originary Other, in which the concept of das Ding refers to the earliest inscription of the object in the relation with the maternal other. It analyses the role of sublimation, as one of the destinies of the drive motions originally directed towards the primordial object, as the sublimatory process is a means of dealing with the lack and of searching for other destinies to the drives. The looseness in the castration symbolic operation would make this process more difficult, producing in the adolescent the anchorage in an inhibition. Such a difficulty may bring to play a series of artifacts, among them the one that elects fetish objects to imaginarily deal with something that could not lack: the imaginary phallus. It is concluded, in the thesis, that the adherence to the fetish object may be offered as a possibility of going around the castration operation, in the relation between the adolescent and the maternal phallus, and that the objects of consumption assume a privileged form as assistants in covering this lack. The theoretical research still shows that, in the adolescent experience, some modalities of refusal of the absence of the maternal phallus come into force, denoting a certain fetishist functioning, tamped in the neurosis, what seems to invoke the adolescent to make a trial of positivating the phallus, through objects of choice and collective sharing. Finally, it is pointed out that such a way of positivation would be in direct relation with the difficulty of a symbolic inscription of the sexual difference, that is, of the castration operation and the acceptance of the absence of the phallus; it is still pointed out that the fetish object would take an orthopedic function that fails in its intention, as it needs to be systematically reiterated, as well as the object needs to be indefinitely substituted.

A tese trata da relação dos jovens com o consumo e parte da constatação de que a adolescência surge a partir da metade do século XX, como categoria diferenciada da infância e da idade adulta e simultaneamente como consumidora por excelência, tornando-se alvo principal da mídia e da indústria do marketing. Analisa o lugar que no social se recorta para o adolescente e sua relação particular com os objetos de consumo – entendendo que esse grupo parece estar predominantemente mais ligado ao delivery, ao self-service e à vida nos shopping centers do que a compromissos políticos, culturais e sociais. Parte da equivocidade da expressão “o que consome o adolescente” e centra a discussão naquilo que o consome. Tomando a Psicanálise como base conceitual, o tema foi abordado a partir da relação do sujeito ao objeto, passando pela sua constituição na relação com o Outro originário, em que o conceito do das Ding remete à mais precoce inscrição do objeto na relação ao outro materno. Analisa o papel da sublimação, como um dos destinos das moções pulsionais originariamente dirigidas ao objeto primordial, pois o processo sublimatório é um modo de haver-se com a falta e buscar outros destinos para as pulsões. A frouxidão na operação simbólica da castração dificultaria este processo, produzindo no adolescente a ancoragem numa inibição. Tal dificuldade pode colocar em jogo uma série de artifícios, dentre eles aquele que elege objetos-fetiche para dar conta imaginariamente de algo que não poderia faltar: o falo imaginário. Conclui-se, na tese, que a aderência ao objeto-fetiche pode se oferecer como possibilidade de trânsito em torno da operação de castração, na relação do adolescente ao falo materno, e que os objetos de consumo tomam forma privilegiada no lugar de auxiliares no encobrimento desta hiância. A pesquisa teórica mostra ainda que, na experiência adolescente, algumas modalidades de recusa da ausência do falo materno entram em vigor, denotando certo funcionamento fetichista, imiscuído na neurose, o que parece convocar o adolescente a fazer uma tentativa de positivação do falo, através de objetos de escolha e compartilhamento coletivo. Finalmente, aponta-se que tal forma de positivação estaria numa relação direta com a dificuldade de inscrição simbólica da diferença dos sexos, ou seja, da operação de castração e da aceitação da ausência do falo; aponta-se ainda que o objeto fetiche ocuparia uma função ortopédica que falha na sua intenção, pois necessita ser reiterado sistematicamente, assim como o objeto precisa ser substituído indefinidamente. / The thesis deals with the relation of young people with consumption and comes from the observation that adolescence has its origins in the middle of the twentieth century, as a category different from childhood and from adulthood and simultaneously as consumer by excellence, becoming the media and marketing industry main target. It analyses the place that in the social is reserved for the adolescent and his/her particular relation with the consumption objects – understanding that this group seems to be predominantly more connected with the delivery, with the self-service and with the life in the shopping malls than with political, cultural and social commitments. It comes from the equivocity of the expression “what consumes the adolescent” and focuses the discussion in what consumes him/her. Taking psychoanalysis as conceptual basis, the theme was approached beginning with the relation of the subject with the object, passing through his constitution in relation to the originary Other, in which the concept of das Ding refers to the earliest inscription of the object in the relation with the maternal other. It analyses the role of sublimation, as one of the destinies of the drive motions originally directed towards the primordial object, as the sublimatory process is a means of dealing with the lack and of searching for other destinies to the drives. The looseness in the castration symbolic operation would make this process more difficult, producing in the adolescent the anchorage in an inhibition. Such a difficulty may bring to play a series of artifacts, among them the one that elects fetish objects to imaginarily deal with something that could not lack: the imaginary phallus. It is concluded, in the thesis, that the adherence to the fetish object may be offered as a possibility of going around the castration operation, in the relation between the adolescent and the maternal phallus, and that the objects of consumption assume a privileged form as assistants in covering this lack. The theoretical research still shows that, in the adolescent experience, some modalities of refusal of the absence of the maternal phallus come into force, denoting a certain fetishist functioning, tamped in the neurosis, what seems to invoke the adolescent to make a trial of positivating the phallus, through objects of choice and collective sharing. Finally, it is pointed out that such a way of positivation would be in direct relation with the difficulty of a symbolic inscription of the sexual difference, that is, of the castration operation and the acceptance of the absence of the phallus; it is still pointed out that the fetish object would take an orthopedic function that fails in its intention, as it needs to be systematically reiterated, as well as the object needs to be indefinitely substituted.

A tese trata da relação dos jovens com o consumo e parte da constatação de que a adolescência surge a partir da metade do século XX, como categoria diferenciada da infância e da idade adulta e simultaneamente como consumidora por excelência, tornando-se alvo principal da mídia e da indústria do marketing. Analisa o lugar que no social se recorta para o adolescente e sua relação particular com os objetos de consumo – entendendo que esse grupo parece estar predominantemente mais ligado ao delivery, ao self-service e à vida nos shopping centers do que a compromissos políticos, culturais e sociais. Parte da equivocidade da expressão “o que consome o adolescente” e centra a discussão naquilo que o consome. Tomando a Psicanálise como base conceitual, o tema foi abordado a partir da relação do sujeito ao objeto, passando pela sua constituição na relação com o Outro originário, em que o conceito do das Ding remete à mais precoce inscrição do objeto na relação ao outro materno. Analisa o papel da sublimação, como um dos destinos das moções pulsionais originariamente dirigidas ao objeto primordial, pois o processo sublimatório é um modo de haver-se com a falta e buscar outros destinos para as pulsões. A frouxidão na operação simbólica da castração dificultaria este processo, produzindo no adolescente a ancoragem numa inibição. Tal dificuldade pode colocar em jogo uma série de artifícios, dentre eles aquele que elege objetos-fetiche para dar conta imaginariamente de algo que não poderia faltar: o falo imaginário. Conclui-se, na tese, que a aderência ao objeto-fetiche pode se oferecer como possibilidade de trânsito em torno da operação de castração, na relação do adolescente ao falo materno, e que os objetos de consumo tomam forma privilegiada no lugar de auxiliares no encobrimento desta hiância. A pesquisa teórica mostra ainda que, na experiência adolescente, algumas modalidades de recusa da ausência do falo materno entram em vigor, denotando certo funcionamento fetichista, imiscuído na neurose, o que parece convocar o adolescente a fazer uma tentativa de positivação do falo, através de objetos de escolha e compartilhamento coletivo. Finalmente, aponta-se que tal forma de positivação estaria numa relação direta com a dificuldade de inscrição simbólica da diferença dos sexos, ou seja, da operação de castração e da aceitação da ausência do falo; aponta-se ainda que o objeto fetiche ocuparia uma função ortopédica que falha na sua intenção, pois necessita ser reiterado sistematicamente, assim como o objeto precisa ser substituído indefinidamente. / The thesis deals with the relation of young people with consumption and comes from the observation that adolescence has its origins in the middle of the twentieth century, as a category different from childhood and from adulthood and simultaneously as consumer by excellence, becoming the media and marketing industry main target. It analyses the place that in the social is reserved for the adolescent and his/her particular relation with the consumption objects – understanding that this group seems to be predominantly more connected with the delivery, with the self-service and with the life in the shopping malls than with political, cultural and social commitments. It comes from the equivocity of the expression “what consumes the adolescent” and focuses the discussion in what consumes him/her. Taking psychoanalysis as conceptual basis, the theme was approached beginning with the relation of the subject with the object, passing through his constitution in relation to the originary Other, in which the concept of das Ding refers to the earliest inscription of the object in the relation with the maternal other. It analyses the role of sublimation, as one of the destinies of the drive motions originally directed towards the primordial object, as the sublimatory process is a means of dealing with the lack and of searching for other destinies to the drives. The looseness in the castration symbolic operation would make this process more difficult, producing in the adolescent the anchorage in an inhibition. Such a difficulty may bring to play a series of artifacts, among them the one that elects fetish objects to imaginarily deal with something that could not lack: the imaginary phallus. It is concluded, in the thesis, that the adherence to the fetish object may be offered as a possibility of going around the castration operation, in the relation between the adolescent and the maternal phallus, and that the objects of consumption assume a privileged form as assistants in covering this lack. The theoretical research still shows that, in the adolescent experience, some modalities of refusal of the absence of the maternal phallus come into force, denoting a certain fetishist functioning, tamped in the neurosis, what seems to invoke the adolescent to make a trial of positivating the phallus, through objects of choice and collective sharing. Finally, it is pointed out that such a way of positivation would be in direct relation with the difficulty of a symbolic inscription of the sexual difference, that is, of the castration operation and the acceptance of the absence of the phallus; it is still pointed out that the fetish object would take an orthopedic function that fails in its intention, as it needs to be systematically reiterated, as well as the object needs to be indefinitely substituted.

Spectral Evidence is a collection of poems that instigates a variety of omens, signs, divinations, and folktales to explore the concept of wish fulfillment. They arise in obedience to the compulsion to repeat past dramas brought on by failed love, the nostalgia of childhood, the damning legacy of language, the restriction of gender roles, death, etc. In order to quell these anxieties, the speaker looks beyond the self to both history and mythology, often invented mythologies as an attempt to control or recast the story-to give shape to the obscurities of life by creating a system of belief in order to forge meaning or confuse oneself into believing. In many ways this collection is all about belief or in wanting to believe. Through language, God is written into existence. God is the name of the blanket we put over the mystery to give it shape. Here, in this collection, God is an ant's egg. a cherry pit, a colony of white moths, a severed hand, the color red, a little bird. This collection explores these vehicles of meaning, the words that provide the shell of meaning, and the power of invention in hopes to gain control over what is deemed uncontrollable. While the speaker may be casting omens as "pre-ordained" entities outside of her power, it is her convictions in these signs that her own psychological and associative link between their meaning and their appearance that she conjures and creates because the existing systems of language, religion, and belief do not serve her. This creation is what is powerful. It is healing. It is birth. It is not involuntary wish fulfillment. It is the deliberative satisfaction of desire-on of the most insurrectionary acts a woman can execute.

Propomos discutir a relação da composição significante do discurso publicitário atual com a escritura do discurso capitalista, iluminando a forma pela qual balizadores sintáticos como os slogans encontram-se com balizadores do desejo no laço social perverso do capitalismo. Na relação que o discurso publicitário estabelece entre identidade e mercadoria, a existência de um mais além do objeto de consumo, como (de)forma ou estetização do objeto a/mais valia, indicia uma coincidência entre a construção fetichizada do corpo totalizante da mercadoria - correlativa da construção da totalidade fictícia do Outro - e a composição da imagem de unidade dos sujeitos como alguém que se faz por si e de si mesmo. Situando-nos frente a uma alteração histórica da relação do sujeito com a língua (campo do Outro), elaboramos que a cadeia de significantes foi transfigurada em cadeia de objetos de consumo, evidenciando uma relação obscura entre a ideologia do eu autônomo atualizada no consumo e a economia desejante dada através do que chamamos de língua-objeto, enquanto realização de um simbólico que oculta sua dimensão simbólica. Partindo da Psicanálise e da Análise do Discurso pêcheuxtiana, analisamos o tema de campanha \"Brastemp You\" e o slogan \"Seja autêntico\" e apreendemos um funcionamento intersubjetivo pautado pelo reconhecimento do saber gozar que o semblante fetichista engendra numa correlação gozo auto erótico e mercadológico. A exigência do gozar em público, que alavanca o funcionamento da línguaobjeto, sugere que, assim como o esteio do Outro é sua fabricação como a na fantasia, o esteio da unidade imaginária dos sujeitos como \"auto ente\" é o funcionamento intersubjetivo creditado como subjacente à língua-objeto. Logo, a conversão da fala \"me brastempzar\" em fala culturalmente reconhecida \"autenticidade pessoal\" é dependente de um desvio pelo Outro, tesouro dos objetos de consumo, simbolicamente presente no semelhante, parceiro do semblante, em função do valor de gozo do objeto. Uma vez a fanstasmagoria fetichista reescrita no discurso dos sujeitos, o diálogo se mostra como testagem da eficácia do semblante de saber gozar e como busca por comprovação do sonho de unidade aí enclausurado. Concluímos que, obstruído o potencial desejante pela correlação gozo auto erótico e mercadológico, a política de exaltação do eu, materializada no discurso publicitário, desvela uma nova forma de assujeitamento regida pela administração do gozo, na qual se realiza a união da utopia do desejo (gozar sem entraves) à Lei (parcialidade de gozo) de forma comprometida com o gozo do Outro do capitalismo que, paramentado no consumo, se promove no registro da infinitude. Isso conduz os sujeitos a um (des)nortear a si mesmos e entre si como instrumentos de \"satisfação garantida\" do Outro do capitalismo, desconhecendo que o semblante de saber fetichista apresenta-se como um saber sabido e compartilhado acerca de como completar o Outro e a si mesmos que comporta a negação do que é dado como certo: o gozo sem limites e o cumprimento dos ideais de liberdade e autonomia. A celebração móvel e consumista aí instalada promove a potência imaginária do sujeito que representa a abdicação do direito aos avatares do desejo em seu valor singular e político. / We propose to discuss the relationship between the significant composition of present-day advertising discourse and the capitalist discourse, shedding light on the issue of how syntactic organizers as like the slogans meet desire organizers in the perverse social loop of capitalism. In the relation between identity and merchandise established by the advertising discourse, the existence of a further-of-the-object, as a form of aestheticization of the object a/surplus, indicates a coincidence between the fetishized construction of the totalizing body of the merchandise --- a correlate of the construction of the fictitious totality of the Other --- and the construction of the image of unity in subjects, as if each one was made by himself and from himself. Facing a historical change in the relation of the subject with the language (field of the Other), we elaborate that the chain of significants has been transfigured to a chain of consumption objects, bringing evidence to an obscure relationship between the ideology of the autonomous self actualized in consumption and the desiring economy given by what we call language-object, as a realization of a symbolism which hides its symbolic dimension. Starting with Psychoanalysis and Pêcheuxtian Discourse Analysis, we analyze the campaign theme \"Brastemp You\" and the slogan \"Seja Autêntico\" (\"Be Authentic\"), and apprehend an inter-subjective operation based on the recognition of the enjoyment knowledge engendered by the fetishist semblance in a correlation between self-erotic enjoy and marketing enjoy. The requirement to enjoy in public, which leverages the operation of the language-object, suggests that, just as the support of the Other is its fabrication as a in fantasy, so the support of the imaginary unity of subjects as \"self entities\" is the inter-subjective operation understood as underlying the language-object. Thus, the conversion of the saying \"brastempize me\" in the culturally recognized saying \"personal authenticity\" depends on a detour through the Other, treasure of all consumption objects, symbolically present in the peers of the semblance, in function of the enjoy value of the object. Once the fetishist phantasmagoria is rewritten in the discourse of the subjects, then dialogue presents itself as an efficacy test of the enjoyment knowledge semblance and as a search for proof of the dream of unity enclosed in it. We conclude that, being the desiring potential obstructed by the correlation of self-erotic enjoy and marketing enjoy, the policy of the exaltation of the \"I\", implemented in the advertising discourse, unveils a new form of subjectivation regulated by the administration of enjoy, in which a meeting of the utopia of desire (to enjoy without obstacles) with the Law (partiality of the enjoy) is realized in a manner committed with the enjoy of the Other of capitalism which, adorned in the consumption, develops itself in the register of infinitude. That leads subjects to (mis)guide themselves and among each other as instruments of \"guaranteed satisfaction\" of the Other of capitalism, unaware that the fetishist knowledge semblance presents itself as a known and shared knowledge of how to complete the Other and themselves which accommodates the denial of what is taken for granted: enjoy without limits and the fulfillment of the ideals of liberty and autonomy. This mobile and consumerist celebration promotes the imaginary power of the subject who represents the abdication of the right to the avatars of desire in its singular and political value.