Books by Annamari Huovinen
In recent years the Finnish political Ⴁeld has been in a state of Ⴂux. This research is intereste... more In recent years the Finnish political Ⴁeld has been in a state of Ⴂux. This research is interested in examining how these changes impact the formation of political citizenship. Political citizenship is understood as an intersectionally constructed identity and studied in the context of election advertising. According to intersectionality theory, identity is constructed situationally in the intersection of different cultural, discursive categories. The general purpose of the study is to take part in the discussion concerning the discursive conditions of possibility with which political citizenship is deႡned. Thus it is possible to picture the boundaries that shape the negotiation on what kind of values and attitudes our society is based, or on which we would like it to be based. This research belongs to the Ⴁeld of media and cultural studies and takes part in the discussion on political citizenship. The empirical materials show how the public and private are mixed, and how they jointly determine the norms of a proper citizen. The research question is: Through what kind of categorizations of gender, family status, ethnic group, and age is political citizenship deႡned? Political citizenship is also approached from the view of gender research. The empirical materials consist of election advertising brochures from two elections: the European parliamentary elections in 2009 and the Finnish national parliamentary elections in 2011. The materials are organized and interpreted by using member categorization analysis and qualitative matrices.
Papers by Annamari Huovinen
Journal of Marketing Management, Jul 24, 2015
While research on consumer identity projects has begun to include marginalized consumers, we neve... more While research on consumer identity projects has begun to include marginalized consumers, we nevertheless lack insight of the ways in which socio-historical understandings of gendered identity are (re)constructed in the context of consumer resistance and in relation to the market. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, we draw on Butler’s notion of performative identity formation and combine this with Bourdieu’s notion of capital as identity resource, first to explore performative identity construction of fatshion bloggers embedded in the normative understandings of gendered identity, of adopting and negotiating the dominant cultural discourses of fashion, and second, to consider the subversion of such discourses and resistant acts as these are enabled by normativity. We establish two performative identity tactics that highlight normativity as a resource for resistance.
This article examines the practices of constructing gender in the media by elaborating on one spe... more This article examines the practices of constructing gender in the media by elaborating on one specific journalistic work process: the cover photography of the Finnish Prime Minister for a weekly news magazine. We draw from gender theory and Goffman’s concept of social performance in asking how gender is constructed in journalistic work. Women leaders must both prove their capability as politicians and manifest their femininity. Our case study explicates how this double discourse emerges in the photographic studio and how journalists struggle with two parallel scripts they try to follow: one of journalistic neutrality, and another of feminine beauty. The metaphor of two scripts follows Goffman’s idea of social performance with actors performing frontstage and backstage roles. Our ethnographic account shows that journalistic work processes can be ambiguous. We argue that gendered media discourses affect journalistic work in ways not visible in media representations. Thus, to understand these mechanisms, a more ethnographic approach is needed in media research.
Journalismikritiikin vuosikirja 2010
Joko tunnet tämän tutkijan? Esseitä akateemisesta …
Conference Presentations by Annamari Huovinen
In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight peopl... more In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight people (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) and their stigmatization in our weight-obsessed society. The empowerment of marginalised groups on various social media sites has also been studied (Ciszek 2013), as well as online community interaction having positive effect on self-image negotiation (Tiidenberg 2014). However, within marginalized consumer groups, fashion and identity from a gender point of view is still an under-researched area (e.g. Downing Peters 2014). Plus-sized women have traditionally been viewed as ‘othered’, displaced, and non-hegemonic objects, as subjects without power. Often, plus-sized women are seen as forming a homogeneous group without paying attention to intra-group diversity.
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Ylipainoisten ihmisten marginalisointi (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) ja heidän leimaamisensa ... more Ylipainoisten ihmisten marginalisointi (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) ja heidän leimaamisensa painoa hysteerisesti vahtivassa kulttuurissamme on saanut paljon huomiota sukupuolentutkimuksessa. Marginaaliryhmien voimautumista eri sosiaalisen median foorumeilla on toisaalta myös tutkittu (Ciszek 2013), kuten myös online-yhteisöjen myönteisiä vaikutuksia yksilön identiteetin rakentumiselle (Tiidenberg 2014). Marginaalisten kuluttajaryhmien osalta muoti ja identiteetti ovat kuitenkin sukupuolentutkimuksen näkökulmasta edelleen vähän tutkittu alue (mm. Downing Peters 2014). Ylipainoisiin naisiin on länsimaisessa kulttuurissa usein suhtauduttu toisina, syrjien ja ei-hegemonisina objekteina. Usein ylipainoiset naiset on myös nähty yhtenä yhdenmukaisena ryhmänä ottamatta huomioon ryhmän sisäistä diversiteettiä.
Tutkimuksemme lukeutuu sukupuolentutkimuksen alaan ja nojaa toisaalta Butlerin ajatuksiin sukupuolen käsitteen purkamisesta vastarinnan muotona ja toisaalta Bourdieun ymmärrykseen pääoman eri muodoista. Tarkastelemme esitelmässämme fatshionistojen, isokokoisten muotibloggarien, identiteetin rakentumista. Fatshionistat (nimitys, jota he käyttävät itse itsestään; johdettu sanoista fat ja fashionista) kokevat olevansa marginalisoituja muotibloggaajien keskuudessa ja lisäksi laajemmin syrjittyjä länsimaisen kauneusihanteen mittapuulla. Väitämme, että muoti ja siihen liittyvä tietämys ovat sosiaalista ja kulttuurista pääomaa, jota voidaan käyttää oman identiteetin positioimiseen edustavasti ja siten hyväksyttävämmän sosiaalisen roolin saavuttamiseen yhteisössä ja yhteiskunnassa.
Tutkimuksemme empiirinen aineisto koostuu kahdestatoista fatshion-muotiblogista. Blogeja on analysoitu kriittisen diskurssianalyysin näkökulmasta tarkastellen sekä blogien verbaalista että visuaalista sisältöä. Aineiston tarkastelu on paljastanut erilaisia diskursiivisia käytäntöjä, joita fatshionistat käyttävät. He erottavat itsensä muista muotibloggareista tuoden esiin ison kokonsa, mutta samalla pyrkivät samastumaan valtavirtabloggareihin esimerkiksi toistamalla muotikuvastolle tyypillisiä representaatioita ilmeineen, asentoineen ja asusteineen. Analyysin perusteella toteamme, että muodin ahdasta naiskuvaa vastaan ilmaisemastaan vastarinnasta huolimatta fatshionistat vahvistavat naisen perinteisiä representaatioita ja toimivat samalla portinvartijoina määrittäen hyväksyttävän naiseuden rajoja fatosfäärissä.
In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight peopl... more In gender studies considerable attention has been paid to the marginalisation of overweight people (Sujata Moorti & Karen Ross 2005) and their stigmatization in our weight-obsessed society. The empowerment of marginalised groups on various social media sites has also been studied (Ciszek 2013), as well as online community interaction having positive effect on self-image negotiation (Tiidenberg 2014). However, within marginalized consumer groups, fashion and identity from a gender point of view is still an under-researched area (e.g. Downing Peters 2014). Plus-sized women have traditionally been viewed as ‘othered’, displaced, and non-hegemonic objects, as subjects without power. Often, plus-sized women are seen as forming a homogeneous group without paying attention to intra-group diversity.
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the Butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Keywords:
Fashion blogs, fatshionista, identity, gender, social capital, plus-size
Uploads
Books by Annamari Huovinen
Papers by Annamari Huovinen
Conference Presentations by Annamari Huovinen
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Tutkimuksemme lukeutuu sukupuolentutkimuksen alaan ja nojaa toisaalta Butlerin ajatuksiin sukupuolen käsitteen purkamisesta vastarinnan muotona ja toisaalta Bourdieun ymmärrykseen pääoman eri muodoista. Tarkastelemme esitelmässämme fatshionistojen, isokokoisten muotibloggarien, identiteetin rakentumista. Fatshionistat (nimitys, jota he käyttävät itse itsestään; johdettu sanoista fat ja fashionista) kokevat olevansa marginalisoituja muotibloggaajien keskuudessa ja lisäksi laajemmin syrjittyjä länsimaisen kauneusihanteen mittapuulla. Väitämme, että muoti ja siihen liittyvä tietämys ovat sosiaalista ja kulttuurista pääomaa, jota voidaan käyttää oman identiteetin positioimiseen edustavasti ja siten hyväksyttävämmän sosiaalisen roolin saavuttamiseen yhteisössä ja yhteiskunnassa.
Tutkimuksemme empiirinen aineisto koostuu kahdestatoista fatshion-muotiblogista. Blogeja on analysoitu kriittisen diskurssianalyysin näkökulmasta tarkastellen sekä blogien verbaalista että visuaalista sisältöä. Aineiston tarkastelu on paljastanut erilaisia diskursiivisia käytäntöjä, joita fatshionistat käyttävät. He erottavat itsensä muista muotibloggareista tuoden esiin ison kokonsa, mutta samalla pyrkivät samastumaan valtavirtabloggareihin esimerkiksi toistamalla muotikuvastolle tyypillisiä representaatioita ilmeineen, asentoineen ja asusteineen. Analyysin perusteella toteamme, että muodin ahdasta naiskuvaa vastaan ilmaisemastaan vastarinnasta huolimatta fatshionistat vahvistavat naisen perinteisiä representaatioita ja toimivat samalla portinvartijoina määrittäen hyväksyttävän naiseuden rajoja fatosfäärissä.
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the Butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Keywords:
Fashion blogs, fatshionista, identity, gender, social capital, plus-size
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Tutkimuksemme lukeutuu sukupuolentutkimuksen alaan ja nojaa toisaalta Butlerin ajatuksiin sukupuolen käsitteen purkamisesta vastarinnan muotona ja toisaalta Bourdieun ymmärrykseen pääoman eri muodoista. Tarkastelemme esitelmässämme fatshionistojen, isokokoisten muotibloggarien, identiteetin rakentumista. Fatshionistat (nimitys, jota he käyttävät itse itsestään; johdettu sanoista fat ja fashionista) kokevat olevansa marginalisoituja muotibloggaajien keskuudessa ja lisäksi laajemmin syrjittyjä länsimaisen kauneusihanteen mittapuulla. Väitämme, että muoti ja siihen liittyvä tietämys ovat sosiaalista ja kulttuurista pääomaa, jota voidaan käyttää oman identiteetin positioimiseen edustavasti ja siten hyväksyttävämmän sosiaalisen roolin saavuttamiseen yhteisössä ja yhteiskunnassa.
Tutkimuksemme empiirinen aineisto koostuu kahdestatoista fatshion-muotiblogista. Blogeja on analysoitu kriittisen diskurssianalyysin näkökulmasta tarkastellen sekä blogien verbaalista että visuaalista sisältöä. Aineiston tarkastelu on paljastanut erilaisia diskursiivisia käytäntöjä, joita fatshionistat käyttävät. He erottavat itsensä muista muotibloggareista tuoden esiin ison kokonsa, mutta samalla pyrkivät samastumaan valtavirtabloggareihin esimerkiksi toistamalla muotikuvastolle tyypillisiä representaatioita ilmeineen, asentoineen ja asusteineen. Analyysin perusteella toteamme, että muodin ahdasta naiskuvaa vastaan ilmaisemastaan vastarinnasta huolimatta fatshionistat vahvistavat naisen perinteisiä representaatioita ja toimivat samalla portinvartijoina määrittäen hyväksyttävän naiseuden rajoja fatosfäärissä.
Drawing on the gender studies literature, particularly the Butlerian notion of undoing gender as resistance, as well as research on identity and self-presentation in social media (e.g. van Dijck 2013), this paper examines identity construction and the struggles of fatshionistas; fatshionistas are plus-sized fashion bloggers, marginalized among fashion bloggers generally but also within the wider norms of Western beauty ideals. Using Bourdieu’s conceptualisation of different types of capital, we argue that fashion and knowledge thereof is a form of social and cultural capital that can be used to position oneself favourably, thereby attaining a more acceptable social role in our society.
The empirical materials of the study consist of twenty fatshion blogs. These blogs form a representative selection of active blogs belonging to what has been called the fatosphere (Scaraboto & Fischer 2013). The authors also consulted Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest using the #fatshionista hashtag to further establish and validate the self-representations resorted to by the fatshionistas. The methods used to analyse both the visual and verbal meanings in the blogs are based on the tradition of critical discourse analysis. CDA allows the examination of culturally diverse material and helps uncover the underlying power positions and struggles affecting the complex mechanisms of identity construction.
A careful analysis of the empirical material revealed different discursive practices employed by the fatshion bloggers in their identity construction: on the one hand, they separate themselves from other fashion bloggers, but on the other hand seek similarity with and acceptance by mainstream fashionistas. The discursive strategies include, for example, separation from the mainstream by reference to the group as fatshionistas instead of fashionistas, thus underlying a difference based on size, yet similarity-seeking by way of visually mimicking and reproducing assumptions and representations associated with fashion that contribute to the narrow female representations. The analysis shows that in their resistance, the fatshionista bloggers nevertheless conform to the traditional representations of women, and thereby effectively act as social gatekeepers controlling the norms of acceptable femininity in the fatosphere. At the same time, by using this strategy the fatshionistas fail to promote equality for all overweight individuals.
Keywords:
Fashion blogs, fatshionista, identity, gender, social capital, plus-size