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Accepted Paper:
A for Appearance: Aesthetic Labour and the Work of Image Consultants in a Globalised Delhi
Suchismita Chattopadhyay
(BML Munjal University)
Through an ethnography of image consultants in Delhi, catering to the aspirational youth and the moneyed elite, this paper will demonstrate how an aesthetic and cultural ‘fit’ is fashioned through the work on appearance.
Paper Abstract:
The new economic reforms of 1991 led to the emergence of a consumption-driven economy and a booming service industry, producing new aspirations and sensibilities. Delhi’s new ‘world-class’ spaces of employment, pleasure and consumption demand new modes of belonging. At the level of the workforce in the service industry, belonging is mediated by proficiency in English and soft skills. Similarly, the clients also must demonstrate a knowledge of taste and distinction that goes beyond possessing the monetary means to consume. However, neither of these dispositions and skills are naturally given. To nourish the aspirations of belonging to a globalised economy, grooming schools have become very popular in Delhi. They range from English lessons to finishing schools to image managers. This paper is concerned with the curation of the perfect image hinging on the labour of appearance. Through an ethnography of image consultants in Delhi, catering to the aspirational youth and the moneyed elite, this paper will demonstrate how an aesthetic and cultural ‘fit’ is fashioned through the work on appearance. Since appearance is intangible and abstract, I invoke a specific category of the ‘ungroomed other’ derived from the field to argue how appearance and taste that are ostensibly ‘global’ and ‘urbane’ are mediated by the aesthetics of caste and class.