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1981
Volume 11, Issue 1
  • ISSN: 2046-6692
  • E-ISSN: 2046-6706

Abstract

This article seeks to define and analyse the emergence of the term ‘Disney adult’, a pejorative term used by critics to describe adult fans of the Walt Disney Company. In reading the Disney adult as a kitsch-man, I draw attention to how critics play a role in the ultimate dismissal of a fandom that is attributed with excess sentimentality, feminized consumption and ornamentation, and aesthetic deviance. Additionally, I demonstrate how both mid-twentieth-century kitsch scholars and contemporary popular culture critics conflate aesthetic taste with the personal ethics of fans. In doing so, I demonstrate the politics of consumption and how discrimination can operate within fandoms not only based on gender, but also age.

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/content/journals/10.1386/jfs_00068_1
2023-09-06
2024-11-12
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/content/journals/10.1386/jfs_00068_1
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  • Article Type: Article
Keyword(s): aesthetic taste; cheugy; cosplay; kitsch; millennial fans; millennials; nostalgia
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