From mild colonial boy to Jake the Paed: Rolf Harris and Australian celebrity masculinity in the UK

Serisier, Tanya (2020) From mild colonial boy to Jake the Paed: Rolf Harris and Australian celebrity masculinity in the UK. In: Taylor, A. and McIntyre, J. (eds.) Gender and Australian Celebrity Culture. Global Gender. Abingdon, UK: Routledge. ISBN 9781138366220.

Abstract

In this chapter, I revisit the career of Rolf Harris, an iconic ‘Aussie’ celebrity in the United Kingdom who was convicted of child sex offences in 2014. Through media analysis, I argue that the widespread shock that greeted his arrest is best understood in relation to Harris's previous construction as a lovable and harmless white colonial ‘bloke’. The racial and gendered tropes that enabled this identity were recuperated following his arrest through depictions of Harris as possessing a hidden ‘dark side’. This recuperation continues long-standing tendencies to refuse the normality of child sexual abuse, instead projecting it onto a demonised Other.

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