How is the relationship between beauty and the power structures in which we participate articulated? What are its typical mechanisms, at least for what looks at the West and, in particular, Italy? What is happening today in the Digital Age in the narratives on the bodies of girls, boys, of non-binary or trans people, of marginalised groups in societies?
The cosmetics and plastic surgery industry, fast fashion, the diet industry, and pornography make stellar profits while eating disorders and body dysmorphism, fatphobia, and bodyshaming (also defined as ‘gender disorders’ because they affect girls and women between 12 and 25 years old with percentages ranging from 80 to 95 per cent) are increasing exponentially, especially in Italy. To shed some light and try to understand, we decided to take a closer look with the students at this tangle of connections between aesthetics, canon, narration, representation, power, body and politics.
[…]
Originally published as:
C. Diotto, Bellezza e potere. Narrazioni sui nostri corpi, in L. Bertelli, C. Diotto (edited by), La rivoluzione femminista. Modelli teorici e pratiche politiche, Mimesis, Milano 2024, pp. 105-122.
Caterina Diotto 