Striptease Culture: Sex, Media and the Democratisation of Desire
Author(s): Brian McNair (Author)
Publisher: Routledge
Publication Date: February 21, 2002
Language: English
Print length: 256 pages
ISBN-10: 0415237335
ISBN-13: 9780415237338
Book Description
From advertising to health education campaigns, sex and sexual imagery now permeate every aspect of culture. Striptease Culture explores the ‘sexualization’ of contemporary life, relating it to wider changes in post-war society.
Striptease Culture is divided in to three sections:
* Part one – traces the development of pornography, following its movement from elite to mass culture and the contemporary fascination with ‘porno-chic’ * Part two – considers popular cultural forms of sexual representation in the media, moving from backlash elements in straight male culture and changing images of women, to the representation of gays in contemporary film and television * Part three – looks at the use of sexuality in contemporary art, examinging the artistic ‘striptease’ of Jeff Koons, and others who have used their own naked bodies in their work.
Also considering how feminist and gay artists have employed sexuality in the critique and transformation of patriarchy, the high profile of sexuality as a key contributor to public health education in the era of HIV and AIDS, and the implications of the rise of striptease culture for the future of sexual poltics, Brian McNair has produced an excellent book in the study of gender, sexuality and contemporary culture.
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
A British academic and a journalist, McNair is optimistic about the increasing sexualization of culture and the media. Going forward from his Mediated Sex, he reports that the presentation of diverse kinds of sex in the media is a “barometer and a catalyst” for democracy in capitalist cultures because it makes the society open to many realities. McNair uses (but does not limit himself to) the usual examples of gender-bending in society, films, television, magazines, art, and the “pornosphere,” both British and American. Among his subjects are Stonewall, Monica Lewinsky, Robert Mapplethorpe, Deep Throat, Sex in the City, The Full Monty, Sade, and Brett Easton Ellis. Some examples are given thought-provoking historical analysis, while others are just mentioned. Part of his analysis shows how advanced capitalist countries arrived at this point. Another strand looks at “striptease culture,” where ordinary people bare themselves physically or emotionally on the Internet or on confessional or reality television. All of these things make capitalism and the social order more inclusive and thus more stable, argues McNair. This is a provocative thesis, intelligently argued. Suitable for media studies, gender studies, popular culture, academic, and large public library collections. J. Dunham, John Jay Coll., CUNY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Review
‘With his excellent analysis of Striptease Culture Brian McNair has explored a contemporary social and cultural trend of immense importance. A wide range of scholars owe him a debt of gratitude…an enviable well written and accesible book’ –Keith Tester, University of Portsmouth
About the Author
Brian McNair is Reader in Film and Media Studies at the University of Stirling, and a member of the Stirling Media Research Institute. His books include Mediated Sex (1996), The Sociology of Journalism (1998) and Journalism and Democracy (Routledge, 2000).
Wow! eBook
