Crafted assemblage: Young women's 'lifestyle' blogs, consumerism and citizenship in Singapore

Abstract

Blogs categorised in the genres of fashion and lifestyle are often overlooked in discussions of blogging, politics and citizenship. This article examines lifestyle blogs with rich media content, authored by young Singaporean women. It argues through a content analysis and an analysis of the blogs' aesthetic as assemblage that there is a significant relationship between women's consumerism in Singapore and expressions of citizenship. These blogs have a crafted aesthetic that is both parochial (e.g. through their appeal to regional popular culture) and global (e.g. through their focus on particular globally circulated consumer products). As material-supporting inquiry, they also provide a means of examining these young women's views on privacy and consumption, as well as their aspirations. The article concludes by suggesting that to effectively capitalise on such blogs as a means of understanding social life and 'everyday politics', we need to appreciate them not only as being culturally embedded but also as having a particular cultural aesthetic that is created by how bloggers craft and assemble their identities and narratives online. © 2014 International Visual Sociology Association.