‘Look At Moiye!’: Monstrous Feminine as Social Rebellion in Kath & Kim
In: Illuminating the Dark Side: Evil, Women and the Feminine
Author:
Ann-Marie Cook
Ann-Marie Cook
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This paper situates the eponymous lead characters from the Australian comedy series, Kath & Kim, as transgressive figures whose refusal to follow rules governing fashion, language, motherhood and general conduct render them as grotesque, monstrous figures. Rather than frame this monstrousness as a negative projection of the feminine, the paper draws upon Bakhtin’s notion of the carnivalesque and Jane Feuer’s scholarship on unruly sitcom heroines to interpret monstrousness as both a signifier of individualism and a site of rebellion against the materialism, anti-intellectualism and conformity that prevailed during John Howard’s tenure as Prime Minister.