0000000000431557
AUTHOR
Bo Lönnqvist
Fashion and eroticism : men´s underwear in the context of eroticism
What is the process when historically obviously neutral things are becoming loaded with mental meanings, associations and qualities, getting a new turn of expression? The article deals with the changing of men’s underwear from garments of pure utility to high fashionable, visible things. The context in which the change has taken place, the language which supports the new meanings, the forms, colours and use of the “unmentionable” are studied from an ethnological viewpoint. The author emphasises the aspects of new adaptations of the meaning of fashion in relation to changing gender roles, new ideals of the body and new mechanisms in consumer culture. peerReviewed
Fashion and Eroticism Men's Underwear in the Context of Eroticism
What is the process when historically obviously neutral things are becoming loaded with mental meanings, associations and qualities, getting a new turn of expression? The article deals with the changing of men’s underwear from garments of pure utility to high fashionable, visible things. The context in which the change has taken place, the language which supports the new meanings, the forms, colours and use of the “unmentionable” are studied from an ethnological viewpoint. The author emphasises the aspects of new adaptations of the meaning of fashion in relation to changing gender roles, new ideals of the body and new mechanisms in consumer culture.
Main Concepts and Research Traditions Commentary
The main questions in European ethnology today are: (1) Why do people behave in a certain manner? (2) How do they interpret and describe their world? (3) What are they looking for? These questions entail assessing tradition and culture. Tradition comprises more and more cultural patterns which are not visible, so we now have the broader but problematic mentality beside the concept of tradition. Passing phenomena may be expressions of a specific ideology and situation, seeming like tradition without being so in the conventional sense. Today's mixture of cultural patterns of short duration requires new methods of conceptual analysis. Subcultures come and go in quick succession. Information te…