The Nineteenth-Century prostitute: how the sexual ‘other’ reclaimed power through deliberate dressing
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Hollie Geary-Jones Paper CCD21.pdf
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Abstract
The paper argues that nineteenth-century prostitutes reclaimed power through deliberate dressing. It explores how the dominant social body in England relied on clothing as a means of identification. As the public gaze formed identity, dress supposedly betrayed class status and moral standing. The paper argues that clothing served as a preventative social tool as it was used to identify sexual ‘Others’. Exploring the social obsession with sexual categorization, it reviews the clothing stereotypes used to identify prostitutes. To escape condemnation, prostitutes avoided typecasts and assumed the guise of ‘moral’ women. By misinforming the public gaze, they evaded the confines of their ‘deviant’ status. Constructing their own identity through deliberate dressing, they reclaimed power from the dominant social body. Able to move undetected through ‘moral’ hierarchies, they threatened the stability of the social order. To explore how stereotypes became embedded in cultural ideology; the paper draws upon streetwalker depictions from Oliver Twist (1838) by Charles Dickens and Mary Barton (1848) by Elizabeth Gaskell. It examines how fashion journals and ‘moral’ commentators also perpetuated typecasts. Although stereotypes pertaining to prostitutes have been identified by scholars, they have overlooked how streetwalkers exploited this practice. Ultimately, the paper demonstrates how clothing stereotypes have been used by sexual ‘Others’ to subvert identity. It reveals how individuals can disrupt the power of the dominant social body through deliberate dressing. Although this study focuses on nineteenth-century prostitutes, the argument can be applied to any era. As dress is used to construct identity, the process of stereotyping can be manipulated for personal gain.Citation
Geary-Jones, H. (2022). The Nineteenth-Century prostitute: How the sexual ‘other’ reclaimed power through deliberate dressing. In A. Boultwood (Ed.), Culture Costume & Dress: The Body Politic: Dress, Identity and Power, Proceedings of the Third International Conference, 5th-7th May 2021, Birmingham City University, England, UK. Dress in Context Publishing.Publisher
Dress in Context PublishingType
Conference ContributionISBN
9781739881900Collections
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