Jo Swiney

Lolita or the Confessions of a Cultural Icon: the Erotic Girl-child in Western Culture Jo Swiney

This book provides a feminist analysis of how women's bodies are represented in Western culture. It begins with an historical overview of some images in art and literature to demonstrate the interplay between the erotic child and the infantilised woman. Nabokov's Lolita is used to explain the prevalence of the girl-child for two reasons: first, Nabokov's Lolita has come to represent the iconic figure of the girl-child; and, second, Humbert provides an insight into our own desires for the girl-child figure. This dissertation takes this analysis a stage further by examining why women who are slim and youthful are presented as the only desirable females in contemporary popular culture. Finally, the book discusses why we desire this unattainable image. This book will be useful to analysts of body image, as well as professionals in the field of the sociology of women and infantilisation.