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CALL FOR PAPERS NOMADIAS MAGAZINE No. 33 2024.

Special issue sex/dissident: 25 years since the decriminalization of sodomy in Chile, and 51 years since the first homosexual protest.

NOMADÍAS CUIR/QUEER/KUIR. A political/sexual dissident speech to think about the south-south.

For more information, see the following link.

TALKING BODIES: GENDER EMBODIMENT AND CELEBRITY

Authors

  • Carolina Osorio Universidad de Chile

Abstract

This essay connects the concept of the pose with performativity and hegemonic beauty standards through Sylvia Molloy’s “La política de la pose” (2017) and Judith Butler’s concept of performativity in Bodies that matter (1993). The pose, as a cultural and political phenomenon, is very relevant still today. From its description as a political act in Molloy’s text to its connection with dandyism, the pose shows how discourse adheres to people’s bodies and how, over time, becomes a part of them. Discourse materialized in bodies leads us to analyze the relationship between the pose, performativity, and the concept of celebrity, focusing on hegemonically celebrated bodies and the ideals this narrative reproduces. This analysis highlights how body representation can affect public perceptions and personal identities, revealing a deeper implication of the body as discourse and the nature of modern identities.

Keywords:

pose, performativity, discourse of the body, celebrity, dandyism