Beauty Industry: Digital Representation of Aesthetic Labour

Student: Mikhailova Kseniia

Supervisor: Margarita Kuleva

Faculty: Saint-Petersburg School of Social Sciences

Educational Programme: Sociology and Social Informatics (Bachelor)

Final Grade: 9

Year of Graduation: 2020

This qualitative study investigates the topic of aesthetic work in the conditions of self-employed digital modernity. On the example of makeup artists, the aesthetic work of a self-employed service worker in an offline and online worlds are considered. Most of the attention is paid to the online aesthetic work of makeup artists: what aesthetic efforts it includes, how it helps in the construction and promotion of a personal brand, and also what aspects of the makeup artist’s aesthetic work are transmitted from offline to the online world. 18 makeup artists from St. Petersburg acted as participants in this study. Semi-structured interviews and their thorough thematic analysis helped to formulate detailed conclusions on how self-employed beauty industry workers represent their aesthetic work through online channels.

Full text (added May 22, 2020)

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