Cole’s from Newcastle

Franklin, Alex

Abstract

In this paper the complex interweaving of beauty, class, power and powerlessness that is Cheryl Cole will be explored. Cole - UK TV’s The X-Factor judge, ex-WAG of Chelsea and England footballer Ashley Cole, celebrated Geordie, sometime singer, fulltime “style icon” and possessor of aspirational hair - represents a prime example of a hegemonic performance of femininity that is being normalised and presented as desirable by the mass media in the UK and beyond.

The paper will argue that Cole’s combination of skeletal clothes horse, nurturing Geordie aphorist, and smiling victim of Simon Cowell’s media-Svengali presents an ambivalent feminine performance, beguiling in appearance but ultimately damaging in its enactment.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: The 2012 National Confernce of the National Popular Culture & American Culture Association
• Start Date: Apr 11, 2012
• End Date: Apr 14, 2012
• Peer Reviewed: Not Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: beauty, femininity, performance, power, Cheryl Cole
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1435902
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : The 2012 National Confernce of the National Popular Culture & American Culture Association