• Fashion & Textile Research Journal
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.33-41
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• 2015

It analyzes the expressive characteristics of the third wave feminism revealed in the fashion photographs and examines the feminine image affected by the third wave feminism. For the research purposes, both literature review and case study were conducted together. Through the analysis on the expressive characteristics of the fashion photographs based on the characteristics of the third wave feminism, the followings are definitions of the feminine image affected by the third wave feminism. First, as the 'Female image with sexual freedom', it escapes from the passive viewpoint and expresses liberation and rights of women as the subject of the power rather than subordination using sexuality of women actively. Second, as the 'Female image with multiple aspects', it pursues an independent and strong image, challenges and threatens the man power. Third, as the 'Multicultural female image', it reduces a gap among colored races and many other cultures, seeks after rights and freedom independently escaping from the dual oppression, Fourth, as the 'Queer female image', it disorganizes dichotomous gender identity actively and pursues diverse gender identities. So, it shows that the third wave feminism expressed by the various media cultures influences the feminine image in a society at large creating a new image of a woman through exchanging and communicating with its recipients.

• Cross-Cultural Studies
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• v.40
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• pp.111-131
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• 2015

An unusual success engendering loyalty among cult fans in the United States, Mamoru Oshii's 1995 cyberpunk anime, Ghost in the Shell (GITS) revolves around a female cyborg assassin named Motoko Kusanagi, a.k.a. "the Major." When the news came out last year that Scarlett Johansson was offered 10 million dollars for the role of the Major in the live action remake of GITS, the frustrated fans accused DreamWorks of "whitewashing" the classic Japanimation and turning it into a PG-13 film. While it would be premature to judge a film yet to be released, it appears timely to revisit the core achievement of Oshii's film untranslatable into the Hollywood formula. That is, unlike ultimately heteronormative and humanist sci-fi films produced in Hollywood, such as the Matrix trilogy or Cloud Atlas, GITS defies a Hollywoodization by evoking much bafflement in relation to its queer, posthuman characters and settings. This essay homes in on Major Kusanagi's body in order to update prior criticism from the perspectives of posthumanism and queer theory. If the Major's voluptuous cyborg body has been read as a liberating or as a commodified feminine body, latest critical work of posthumanism and queer theory causes us to move beyond the moralistic binaries of human/non-human and male/female. This deconstruction of binaries leads to a radical rethinking of "reality" and "identity" in an image-saturated, hypermediated age. Viewed from this perspective, Major Kusanagi's body can be better understood less as a reflection of "real" women than as an embodiment of our anxieties on the loss of self and interiority in the SNS-dominated society. As is warned by many posthumanist and queer critics, queer and posthuman components are too often used to reinforce the human. I argue that the Major's hybrid body is neither a mere amalgam of human and machine nor a superficial postmodern blurring of boundaries. Rather, the compelling combination of individuality, animality, and technology embodied in the Major redefines the human as always, already posthuman. This ethical act of revision-its shifting focus from oppressive humanism to a queer coexistence-evinces the lasting power of GITS.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.29 no.5
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• pp.651-664
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• 2021

The purpose of this study is to first examine the relationship between appearance-enhancing beauty practices and feminism, and secondly, to analyze public images of contemporary women using this paradigm. Through the lens of this relationship, we present a literature review and empirical research focusing on the evolution of public image trends among girl groups, with special attention to the Refund Sisters, a South Korean supergroup currently drawing mainstream attention as female icons. The scope of analysis includes girl groups dating from the 1990's to the year 2020 and photos of the Refund Sisters. Our results indicate that firstly, free sexual expression is evident based on active use of sexuality; images contain bold demonstrations of females desire, expressions previously considered taboo. Secondly, we note deviations from more standardized female images, unique adornment of outward appearance, and rejection of normative female images through freer forms of self-presentation. Lastly, there is greater cultural and racial diversity, rejection of modern race and gender binaries, and increased representation of queer identities. However, the relationship between appearance-enhancing beauty practices and feminism is sometimes considered paradoxical, with some arguing that beautifying one's outward appearance is a compulsory strategy and that it should be rejected in order to resist aesthetic pressure.