Genevieve Clutario

Genevieve Clutario is an Associate Professor in the Department of American Studies at Wellesley College, specializing in gender and Filipinx history, Asian American Studies, the history of U.S. empire, and transnational feminist approaches to beauty and fashion. Her award-winning scholarship interrogates power dynamics in cultural production under imperial and authoritarian regimes, with a focus on Philippine and trans-Pacific contexts.

Education

• B.A., University of California-Irvine
• M.A., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
• Ph.D., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Clutario's research centers on how beauty, fashion, and feminized power operate within structures of U.S. imperialism and Cold War authoritarianism. She examines beauty pageants, celebrity culture, and fashion as sites where colonial power intersects with resistance, particularly through transnational feminist frameworks that connect Philippine history to Asian American experiences. Her work reveals how cultural practices shape racialized gender identities across imperial boundaries.

Her publications demonstrate consistent engagement with beauty and fashion as political arenas under empire, analyzing Manila Carnival Queen contests, WWII-era Filipina experiences, and Cold War development projects. These works trace how aesthetic regimes reinforce state power while simultaneously enabling subversive agency through feminized cultural practices.

Scientific Awards

• Duke University Press Scholars of Color First Book Award
• Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University First Book Award