The State of Sex: Tourism, Sex and Sin in the New American Heartland

by Barbara Brents, Crystal Jackson, Kathryn Hausbeck

Overview

The State of Sex is a study of Nevada’s brothels that situates the nation's only legal brothel industry in the political economy of contemporary tourism. Nevada is part of the "new American heartland," as its pastimes, people, and politics have become more central to the nation. The rise of a service and leisure economy over the past sixty years has propelled sexuality into the heart of contemporary markets. Yet, neoliberal laws in the United States promote business but limit sexual commerce.

How have Nevada's legal brothels survived, while the rest of the country criminalizes prostitution? How do brothels operate? Who works in them? This book brings social theory on globalizing economies, politics, leisure consumption, and emotional labor in interactive service work together with research on contemporary prostitution and sexual commerce. The authors employ an innovative, multi-method sociological approach, combining historical analysis of how the brothels came to be with over a decade's worth of ethnographic research on the current state of the industry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135280222
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	12/16/2009
Series:	ISSN
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Barbara G. Brents, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Sociology and

Faculty Affiliate in Women’s Studies at the University of Nevada, Las

Vegas.

Crystal A. Jackson, M.A., is a Ph.D. student in the Department of

Sociology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Kathryn Hausbeck, Ph.D., is Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate

College and Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of

Nevada, Las Vegas.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction: The State of Sex 2. Contexts of Sexual Commerce 3. The Making of Nevada Prostitution 4. The Business of Selling Sex 5. Paths to Brothel Work 6. Brothel Labor: Making Fantasies 7. Conclusion: Learning from Nevada

Editorial Reviews

'Drawing upon a decade of qualitative research in Nevada's legalized brothel system, this collaborative effort by Barbara Brents, Crystal Jackson, and Kathryn Hausbeck fills a void in contemporary sociological research on sex work.'

'[O]riginal and very interesting empirical material'

'The State of Sex constitutes a welcome addition to contemporary sociological treatments of commercial sex and a much needed examination of Nevada's burgeoning leisure industry.'
-Elizabeth Bernstein, Columbia University in Contemporary Sociology, vol. 40, no. 3

From the Publisher