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The Infantilization of the Postmodern Adult and the Figure of Kidult

Author

Listed:
  • Jacopo BERNARDINI

    (Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Political Sciences, Università degli Studi di Perugia (Italy).)

Abstract

Being young today is no longer a transitory stage, but rather a choice of life, well established and brutally promoted by the media system. While the classic paradigms of adulthood and maturation could interpret such infantile behavior as a symptom of deviance, such behavior has become a model to follow, an ideal of fun and being carefree, present in a wide variety of contexts of society. The contemporary adult follows a sort of thoughtful immaturity, a conscious escape from the responsibilities of an anachronistic model of life. If an ideal of maturity remains, it does not find behavioral compensations in a society where childish attitudes and adolescent life models are constantly promoted by the media and tolerated by institutions.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacopo BERNARDINI, 2014. "The Infantilization of the Postmodern Adult and the Figure of Kidult," Postmodern Openings, Editura Lumen, Department of Economics, vol. 5(2), pages 39-55, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:lum:rev3rl:v:5:y:2014:i:2:p:39-55
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Adulthood; kidult; Infantilization; adult; youthful; immaturity; postmodern; postmodernity;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • A23 - General Economics and Teaching - - Economic Education and Teaching of Economics - - - Graduate

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