Name: What Is Sexual Capital?
Price: 10.81 EUR
Availability: InStock
Author: Eva Illouz
ISBN: 9781509552320

Type

Physical Book

Author

Eva Illouz

Dana Kaplan

Publisher

Polity Press

Year

2022

Language

English

Pages

140

Format

Paperback

Dimensions

18.0 x 11.9 x 1.5 cm

Weight

0.18 kg.

ISBN13

9781509552320

Synopsis "What Is Sexual Capital?"

This book does to sex what other sociologists did to culture: it shows that sex, no longer defined by religion, now plays a role in the economy and can yield tangible benefits in the realms of money, status, and occupation. How do people accumulate sexual capital, and what are the returns for investing money, time, knowledge, and energy in establishing and enhancing our sexual selves? Dana Kaplan and Eva Illouz disentangle the current cultural politics of heterosexual life, arguing that sex - that messy amalgam of sexual affects and experiences - has increasingly assumed an economic character. Some may opt for plastic surgery to beautify their face or body, while others may consume popular sex advice or attend seduction classes. Beyond particular practices such as these, the authors trace an emerging form of "neoliberal" sexual capital, which is the ability to glean self-appreciation from sexual encounters and to use this self-value to foster employability, as exemplified by Silicon Valley sex parties. This highly original book will appeal to students and scholars in sociology, anthropology, gender studies, and cultural studies and to anyone interested in the nature of sex and how it is changing today.

Eva Illouz

(Author)

View Author's Page

Eva Illouz, born on April 30, 1961 in Fez, Morocco, is a Franco-Israeli sociologist and writer specialized in the history of emotional life and the impact of capitalism on culture. Currently, she is a professor of sociology and anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and has been a director of studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. Her research focuses on the commodification of emotions and "affective capitalism".

Among her most notable works are "Cold Intimacies: The Making of Emotional Capitalism" (2007), "Why Love Hurts" (2012), and "Happycracy: How the Science and Industry of Happiness Control Our Lives" (2019), the latter co-written with Edgar Cabanas. These works belong to the genre of sociology and have been translated into numerous languages, consolidating her international reputation.

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