A decolonial analysis of Lolita dressing practice and fashion in Mainland China

Abstract

Based on ethnographic work performed in Chengdu, China, this article presents a decolonial analysis of Chinese Lolita dressing, criticising the unjustified accusations of catering to paedophilia and escapism. Lolita dressing is a clothing style originating from the Gothic clothing style of rebellious rock music singers in 1990s Japan. Some fashion studies and the mass media tend to place Lolita dressing in the context of a counter-public subculture narrative. However, such a framework is biased due to its Eurocentrism. Eurocentrism appears as origin-centrism in forming two unjustified accusations. The accusation of catering to paedophilia is formed based on its Euro-American etymological origin. The word ‘Lolita’ is inextricably associated with paedophilia in Western culture, which leads the general public, and mass media in particular, immediately to the discussion of Lolita dressing as being an abnormality. The accusation of escapism is based on its Japanese subcultural origin. Japanese Lolita dressing is an intentional refusal of the mainstream expectation of being an adult woman. This directs the discussion of Lolita dressing to youthful escapism from a disappointing reality. These two presumptions are problematic in Chinese Lolita dressing practices. Chinese Lolita dressing practitioners tend to integrate Lolita dresses into their ordinary life instead of using Lolita dresses as a medium to build an imagined identity. For Chinese Lolita dressing practitioners, Lolita dresses are neither abnormal nor counter-public. In short, Chinese Lolita dressing should be positioned as a fashionable clothing category among diverse clothing practices instead of as a subculture or an example of a counter-public rebellion.