Abstract
According to Sander Gilman, the rise of Enlightenment reason brought with it a new imperative — self-improvement:
You can make yourself happy through being able to act in the world. This was mirrored in the rise of modern notions of the citizen as well as the revolutionary potential of the individual […] ‘Sapere Aude!’ wrote Immanuel Kant (1724–1804), ‘“Dare to use your own reason” — is the motto of the Enlightenment.’ The ability to remake one’s self is the heart of the matter. The Enlightenment self-remaking took place in public and was dependent on being ‘seen’ by others as transformed. This extended to the shaping of the body, even within the world of fashion.
(Gilman, 1999, p. 18)
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© 2013 Claire Tanner, JaneMaree Maher and Suzanne Fraser
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Tanner, C., Maher, J., Fraser, S. (2013). Modern Vanity: Consumption, the Body Beautiful and the New Political Subject. In: Vanity: 21st Century Selves. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137308504_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137308504_2
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-32305-0
Online ISBN: 978-1-137-30850-4
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