Lifestyle Media and the Formation of the Self 1st ed. 2011 Edition

‘A well-written, up-to-date dissection of lifestyle media and makeover culture. Raisborough’s book is a compelling read for all students of contemporary media culture.’ – Rosalind Gill, Professor of Social and Cultural Analysis, King’s College London, UK

‘Jayne Raisborough’s analysis of lifestyle media and the roles it plays in forming selves is powerful and compelling. With clarity and great insight she outlines the complex relations between self-transformation, neo liberalism and lifestyle media that now infiltrate almost every aspect of contemporary life. Most importantly, her finely nuanced observations show how class, gender and sexuality are dealt with in this new world of compulsory ‘self-authorship’. Deploying an array of fascinating examples from ‘clutter porn’ to the ‘living autopsy’ to ‘addiction discourse’ Raisborough demonstrates, beautifully, that lifestyle media is far from benign entertainment and indeed that the ‘viable selves’ it creates are accompanied by symbolic and psychic violence.’ – Meredith Jones, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia