Nothing less than perfect: female celebrity, ageing and hyper-scrutiny in the gossip industry

Fairclough, K

Abstract

From Perez Hilton to Lainey Lui, the figure of the gossip blogger no longer exists
solely on the periphery of celebrity culture. The ‘bitchy’ personas that celebrity gossip bloggers espouse are now firmly embedded within mainstream media. Gossip blogs
regularly feature posts that scrutinise female celebrities in terms of how well, or not,
they age. Much of this scrutiny is centred on narratives of cosmetic surgery. This article will examine such narratives and discuss the ways in which the construction of the
ageing female celebrity and the state of endless transformation that is so revered in
neo-liberal and post-feminist cultures operates in the gossip industry, suggesting that
the notion of continual self-maintenance through consumption has become a necessity
in a society that rewards continual corporeal change

Citation

Fairclough, K. (2012). Nothing less than perfect: female celebrity, ageing and hyper-scrutiny in the gossip industry. Celebrity Studies, 3(1), 90-103. https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2012.644723

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2012
• Deposit Date: May 15, 2012
• Journal: Celebrity Studies
• Print ISSN: 1939-2397
• Publisher: Routledge
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 3
• Issue: 1
• Pages: 90-103
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2012.644723
• Keywords: celebrity; ageing; post-feminism; gossip industry; blogging; cosmetic; surgery
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19392397.2012.644723