Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Love. Appropriation. Music. Baby

Love. Appropriation. Music. Baby

Matlow, Rachel

Paperback

General Music

ISBN10: 3836434776
ISBN13: 9783836434775
Publisher: Vdm Verlag
Published: Nov 5 2007
Pages: 96
Weight: 0.37
Height: 0.20 Width: 6.69 Depth: 9.61
Language: English
With the release of her debut solo album, 2004's Love. Angel. Music. Baby., No-Doubt front-woman Gwen Stefani turned to the street fashions of Tokyo's Harajuku district for her inspiration. The platinum-blonde Stefani promoted herself by being constantly surrounded with an entourage of four voiceless Asian women, dubbed her Harajuku Girls. They were on her CD cover, she dedicated a track to them, they performed in her videos, and they danced on her Harajuku Lovers live tour. Stefani even re-named them, Love, Angel, Music, and Baby after her new record and clothing line, L.A.M.B.. This study examines how the Harajuku Girls function as Stefani's human accessories - silent, sexed-up, submissive, school-girl muses sent to save her from her dull whiteness. I introduce Stefani as an intertextual celebrity who appropriates, absorbs and cross-references cultural texts and ethnicities in order to market and brand herself as a distinct entity in the worlds of music and fashion. This book questions: - How has Stefani appropriated Harajuku culture in ways that reinforce Orientalist ideas of Asian women? - How has Stefani used Harajuku culture in order to reinforce her whiteness and distinguish herself as a distinct celebrity brand? - How we may compare the transcultural differences between Harajuku appropriation of American culture and Stefani's appropriation of it? - What are the political and cultural implications of Stefani's ethnic signifiers? The book is directed towards academic scholars in Communications, media professionals, and popular culture enthusiasts alike.

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