Beauty industry is a term that covers a wide range of products for care and beautification. But the beauty industry is more than the market and economy sector. The beauty industry is a provocative field that calls for interdisciplinary research and theoretical questioning. The beauty industry is perceived and presented as a gendered sector, and it is often associated with the traditional concept/ definitions/ expectations of femininity. On the other hand, many authors with feminist background emphasized the objectifying, destructive and anti-feminist aspect of the beauty industry as a platform for maintaining and creating unrealistic ideals of beauty, false needs and objectification of women. So far, only a handful of advertisers decided to change what gender images they had been promoting and accepted greater responsibility for their marketing communication.
Various products of beauty industry are an integral part of many people's everyday life - for many persons it is a part of the daily routine of creating a public self/persona. At the same time, the last decade has been marked by the emergence of trends suggesting greater awareness of variability of body types and the importance of health as opposed to physical appearance among consumers. As a response to the increasing demand for inclusive products and changing in male-grooming practices, an increasing number of makeup brands advertise beauty products for men. The increasing visibility of the LGBTQIA+ community has also influenced the beauty industry, which is pushing the boundaries of heteronormativity and gender binaries, pointing to new, more inclusive ways of using beauty products.
The purpose of this collection is to bring together authors from different professional backgrounds (including, but not limited to: critical studies, sociology, psychology, marketing, Public Relations, media studies, queer studies, gender studies and health studies), who will critically analyse the following (and other related) topics:
- Gender, cross cultural ideals of beauty represented in beauty industry and media
- Beauty products, gender identities, and everyday beautification practices
- Beauty industry and media: branded communication, advertising and Public Relations
- Inclusive beauty, Self-care, consumerism, intersectionality and feminism/postfeminism
- Influencers, celebrities, beauty norms and “beauty myth“
- Beauty entrepreneurship, gender and social media.
We welcome contributions based on qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methodologies, as well as original essays.
Key Dates:
Submission of Chapter Proposals/Abstracts: 31 December 2023
Notification of acceptance: 1 February 2024
Full chapter submission: 15 September 2024
To submit a proposal please send your abstract to (300 word) to the Volume
Editors:
Marija Geiger Zeman, PhD
Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
marija.geigerzeman@pilar.hr
Michal Chmiel, PhD
Royal Holloway, University of London
Michal.Chmiel@rhul.ac.uk
Mirela Holy, PhD
VERNˈ University
mirela.holy@vern.hr