Shifting beauties: white women's aesthetics and the post-apartheid erosion of segregated spaces in Johannesburg, S.A.
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Date
2009-07-17T10:45:56Z
Authors
Dean, Melissa J.
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Abstract
Abstract
This thesis presents research concerning shifting aesthetic sensibilities and meaning
among young White women in Johannesburg South Africa. It examines the ways in
which the post-apartheid erosion of racially segregated spaces within the city (and
within the larger national and international media that influences the culture of the
city) are impacting and altering notions of desirable and acceptable “White” beauty
and fashion. In opposition to the notion that Black South African culture is becoming
increasingly White-identified, and to the conflation of middle class culture with
Whiteness, this research found that female beauty and fashion in Johannesburg are
becoming increasingly oriented towards a Black-identified aesthetic.