Victorian habits such as shaving with straight razors, riding penny farthings, exchanging calling cards, and using fountain pens to write letters in florid prose sealed by wax. Gothic fashion sometimes incorporates Neo-Victorian style. Neo-Victorianism is embraced in, but also quite distinguished from, the Lolita, Aristocrat and Madam fashions popular in Japan, and which are becoming more noticeable in Europe. Social conservatives Neo-Victorian aesthetics are also popular in the United States and United Kingdom among cultural conservatives and social conservatives. Books such as The Benevolence of Manners: Recapturing the Lost Art of Gracious Victorian Living call for a return to Victorian morality. The term Neo-Victorian is also commonly used in a derogatory way towards social conservatives. The cultural social attitudes and conventions that many associate with the Victorian era are inaccurate. In fact, many of the things that seem commonplace in modern life began in the Victorian era, such as sponsorship, sensational journalism and popular merchandise. Research In September 2007, The University of Exeter explored the phenomenon in a major international conference titled Neo-Victorianism: The Politics and Aesthetics of Appropriation. Academic studies include Neo-Victorianism: The Victorians in the Twenty-First Century, 1999–2009. Other foundational texts of neo-Victorian criticism are Kucich and Sadoff (2000), Kaplan (2007), Kohlke (2008-), Munford and Young (2009), Mitchell (2010), Davies (2012), Whelehan (2012), Kleinecke-Bates (2014), Böhm-Schnitker and Gruss (2014), Tomaiuolo (2018), and others. In popular culture and literature Neo-Victorianism can also be seen in the growing steampunk genre of speculative fiction and in music performers such as Emilie Autumn. Neo-Victorianism is also popular with, and in many ways prefigured by, those who are interested in Victoriana and historical reenactment. Neo-Victorian details appear in The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, in which Neo-Victorians are one of the main groups of protagonists. Carnival Diablo is a Neo-Victorian circus sideshow that has been touring North America for 20 years. Unhallowed Metropolis is a roleplaying game based in a Neo-Victorian setting. See also Hipster (contemporary subculture) Victorian architecture Victorian house Victorian morality Victoriana References Further reading Chrisman, Sarah Waisted Curves: My Transformation Into A Victorian Lady 2010. Aegis & Owl Press Neo-Victorian Studies (peer-reviewed web journal) Primorac, Antonija. Neo-Victorianism on Screen. Postfeminism and Contemporary Adaptations of Victorian Women. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2017. Heilmann, Ann; Llewellyn, Mark. Neo-Victorianism : the Victorians in the twenty-first century, 1999-2009. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Special issue on neo-Victorianism. LIT: Literature Interpretation Theory. 20 (1–2) Tomaiuolo, Saverio. Neo-Victorian