Queering of the Popular: Exploring the Integration of the Queer Expressions in Media and Fashion by Revisiting Stuart Hall’s “Notes on Deconstructing ‘The Popular’”

In his essay “Notes on Deconstructing ‘The Popular’“ (1981), Stuart Hall shares insights on the popular that has seen its share of support and criticism. This essay is revisited to navigate the tension amongst social forces that negotiate to determine the content and cultural products of the masses. By revisiting Hall’s essay, this article aims to explore the workings of the popular, which is perhaps both a site of manipulation and resistance. A specific focus of the article is to look into queer expressions, especially in terms of fashion, which serves as an example through which this article navigates the space of popular culture production in light of Stuart Hall’s understanding of ‘the popular’. The main argument examines how much of the popular today aligns with Stuart Hall’s ideas and if the essentialist homogenisation of the popular is an effective mode of analysis. By referring to the work of Stuart Hall, the aim is to establish that his ideas from 1981 can be revisited to problematise the popular today.