Lolita Archetype

[Adabella Frierdich]

Lolita" is an English-language term defining a young girl as "precociously seductive."[1] It originates from Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 novel Lolita, which portrays the narrator Humbert's sexual obsession with and victimization of a 12-year-old girl whom he privately calls "Lolita", the Spanish nickname for Dolores (her given name).[2] Unlike Nabokov, however, contemporary writers typically use the term "Lolita" to portray a young girl who attracts adult desire as complicit rather than victimized.[1]

The term's meaning and use in Japanese differs substantially from the English, and has developed instead into a positive synonym for the "sweet and adorable" adolescent girl.[3] The usage stems from the romanticization of Japanese girls' culture, and forms the compounds lolicon and Lolita fashion.

Now I wish to introduce the following idea. Between the age limits of nine and fourteen there occur maidens who, to certain bewitched travelers, twice or many times older than they, reveal their true nature which is not human, but nymphic (that is, demoniac); and these chosen creatures I propose to designate as 'nymphets.'[4]

At no point is Lolita anything but a typical girl of her age and time: tomboyish (she has a tendency not to wash her hair), interested in movies, celebrities, magazines, and soda pop. She does nothing to attract Humbert in any way. She does not dress or make herself up with any thought to attract him.

And in his arms or out, "Lolita" was always the creation of Humbert's craven self... The Siren-like Humbert sings a song of himself, to himself, and titles that self and that song "Lolita". ... To transform Dolores into Lolita, to seal this sad adolescent within his musky self, Humbert must deny her her humanity.[6]

Young girls who attract adult sexual desire are called "Lolitas" when writers imply the young girl is "precociously seductive", and therefore to blame for the adult's desire. This usage reflects the self-justification of Nabokov's narrator Humbert Humbert, but it is far from Nabokov's portrayal of Lolita, which makes clear she is Humbert's victim, not his seductress.[1]

In the marketing of pornography, "Lolita" is used to refer to the sexualized presentation of a young girl, frequently one who has only recently reached the age of consent, appears to be younger than the age of consent, or child exploitation material depicting the sexual abuse of children.[7]

The meaning of the term "Lolita" in Japanese is divergent from Nabokov's novel, and instead stems from the positive idealization and romanticization of girls' culture (shōjo bunka) developed from the Meiji period to the 20th century: an "innocent and ethereal creature, who deserves adoration from others while staying entirely passive".[3] Girls' culture in Japan, reflected in cultural traditions such as the all-female Takarazuka Revue and shōjo manga (girls' comics), was influenced by the traditions of Romanticism. Nabokov's Lolita, first translated to Japanese in 1956, was interpreted by readers primarily as a story of Humbert entering the peaceful and unearthly world of the shōjo, rather than through the lens of perverse desire and abuse.[3]

When discussing Lolita fashion culture, some writers use the term "lolita" or "Lolita" to describe clothing, as in "wearing lolita."[8] Some writers refer to women who wear such clothing as "Lolitas" but with little connection to the Nabokov novel or to sexualized usage of the term:[9]

Actually, there are quite a number of Japanese Lolitas who do not know about the Nabokov novel. I remember explaining it to someone and she was completely disgusted. Lolita is a modest style. Lolitas dress for themselves. It is clothing that reminds us that not everything has to do with trying to attract or please men.

Though I would argue that there is a third category, The Lolita. The Lolita acts as a fetishized liminal space before a girl becomes a woman, and thus ultimately becomes a Madonna or a Whore. At a glance, I think many would argue that the Lolita would fall into the category of the Madonna due to the suggested purity and innocence that accompanies the inherent youth of this archetype. However, upon closer inspection one may notice that the Lolita archetype embodies qualities of both the Madonna and the Whore, thus inspiring a unique sexual desire through the minds of men that is separate from both the Madonna and the Whore. It is important to note that the Lolita is not a real girl, in the same way that the Madonna and the Whore are not real women. They are archetypes created in the minds of men that lack the nuance of humanity in which real women possess.

That feeling of being in your early teens. You\u2019re being preyed on by men far older than yourself. They cat-call you and you\u2019re not sure if you should feel embarrassed or flattered. You\u2019re a virgin but curious. You hardly know what sex is, but you exist within a culture that has made you believe you could harness some sexual control over an older man who has been having sex for longer than you\u2019ve been alive. No longer harnessing the inherent perceived purity of childhood. Too young to be a Madonna or Whore as Freud described, but rather you are a secret third thing\u2026

In the 1920s Sigmund Freud identified a pattern within his male clients sex lives. Many of his clients reported that they were struggling to be sexually attracted to their wives, yet found themselves to be incredibly aroused by sex workers. Freud would go on to coin this phenomenon as The Madonna-Whore Complex, writing \\\"Where such men love they have no desire and where they desire they cannot love,\\\" in 1925. This complex successfully divides a woman\u2019s humanity into two categories that are supposedly unable to overlap, the Madonna and the Whore. A woman is forced into one of these boxes. Pure, motherly, and nurturing. Or tainted, depraved, and sexual. The loved and respected versus the desired, and demeaned.

The Lolita can be characterized by youth, purity, and virginity, but also by sexual curiosity, and sexual deviance. Webster\u2019s dictionary defines Lolita as an English-language term defining a young girl as \\\"precociously seductive.\\\" and therefore is defined by traits attributed to both the Madonna and the Whore. Making the Lolita the third sought after archetype. The Lolita embodies the untouched, virginal purity of the Madonna, though accompanied by the paradoxical sexual seduction of someone seemingly far more experienced. The physical purity of the Madonna, but with the mental impurity of the Whore. This archetype can be seen blatantly within films such as Dolores Haze in both film adaptations of Lolita (1962 and 1997), Angela Hayes in American Beauty (1999), Adrian Forrester in The Crush (1993), and Mathilda in Leon The Professional (1994). The girls within these films are between the ages of 12-16 and all of them are virgins, though despite their sexual inexperience, they are painted as the aggressors, pursuing men much older themselves. Thus placing the men in these scenarios in the \u201Cvictim\u201D role, as they are being \u201Cpreyed\u201D on by these girls, and must resist temptation.

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? like the concept of purity and the virile snake attract the most uncanny attention in this archetype, these men receive hyper-stimulation and magnetic mental clarity that brings the illusion of purification. they feed off of these girls, much like how the mercurial snake harnesses energy in alchemy. as mentioned earlier, lalita is the one who plays, as she plays both through and with us with her lila. lila is of the challenging and playful nature, as opposed to being self-conscious or volitional in intention (as described by tripura sundari in the tripura rahasya stated above).

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