Synopses & Reviews
From its beginnings in Twilight fan-fiction to its record-breaking sales as an e-book and paperback, the story of the erotic romance novel Fifty Shades of Grey and its two sequels is both unusual and fascinating. Having sold over seventy million copies worldwide since 2011, E. L. Jamess lurid series about a sexual ingénue and the powerful young entrepreneur who introduces her to BDSM sex has ingrained itself in our collective consciousness. But why have these particular novelspoorly written and formulaic as they arebecome so popular, especially among women over thirty? In this concise, engaging book, Eva Illouz subjects the Fifty Shades cultural phenomenon to the serious scrutiny it has been begging for. After placing the trilogy in the context of best-seller publishing, she delves into its remarkable appeal, seeking to understand the intense reading pleasure it provides and how that resonates with the structure of relationships between men and women today. Fifty Shades, Illouz argues, is a gothic romance adapted to modern times in which sexuality is both a source of division between men and women and a site to orchestrate their reconciliation. As for the novels notorious depictions of bondage, discipline, and sadomasochism, Illouz shows that these are as much a cultural fantasy as a sexual one, serving as a guide to a happier romantic life. The Fifty Shades trilogy merges romantic fantasy with self-help guidetwo of the most popular genres for female readers. Offering a provocative explanation for the success and popularity of the Fifty Shades of Grey novels, Hard-Core Romance is an insightful look at modern relationships and contemporary womens literature.
Review
andldquo;Breaking ranks with the legions of writers who have exoticized the people, places, things, and activities in this supposedly andlsquo;seedyandrsquo; quarter of the retail sadomasochism economy, Danielle J. Lindemann offers up a lithe and sharp account of life in the dominatrixandrsquo;s jungle and, in the telling, places the reader and the dominatrix side by side. While
Dominatrix is a must-read for anyone interested in sociology, sex, pleasure, pain, or work, this isnandrsquo;t just a book about gender and power. Itandrsquo;s also an occupational study rooted in the venerable tradition of Everett Hughes and his colleagues and protandeacute;gandeacute;s of the Chicago School of Sociology. This is sociologyandmdash;and the exercise of the sociological imaginationandmdash;at its finest.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;In the tradition of the great occupational ethnographies, Danielle J. Lindemann takes us into professional dominatricesandrsquo; worlds and shows us, with graceful and consistently engaging prose, how the women she studied build careers, negotiate with clients, and develop accounts that make sense of their work and of the relationships it entails.
Dominatrix has much to teach us about gender and sexuality.andrdquo;
Review
and#8220;In wonderfully evocative vignettes and provocative analyses, Danielle J. Lindemannand#8217;s stunning ethnographic study of professional dominatrices shows just how much supposed deviance has to tell us about the normal, the ordinary, and the everyday. Theoretically innovative and methodologically perceptive, Lindemannand#8217;s work shows a sociological imagination at its most engaging.and#8221;
Review
“Hard-Core Romance is a wonderfully creative piece of cultural analysis. Writing from a feminist-sociological perspective, Eva Illouz tells us how Fifty Shades of Grey became an international bestseller by providing fantasy resolutions to real-life female dilemmas, and self-help for the douleurs of contemporary heterosexuality. A most timely intervention.”
Review
“A provocative text in its own right, Hard-Core Romance inventively employs the much-maligned Fifty Shades of a Grey to stage a philosophical and sociological conversation about relationship between fantasy, romance, sexuality, and popular literature. In a modern era where competing desires for autonomy and attachment in sexual relationships are lived realities but seldom theorized, Illouz bravely takes on the novels controversial sexual practices, finding in them a meditation on the anxieties and compromises that characterize heterosexual intimacy. This generous and original reading offers the tantalizing prospect that it will unveil the uncertainties and indeterminacies that inhere in the heterosexual compact—a promise that Hard-Core Romance masterfully delivers.”
Review
“[C]ompellingly audacious.”
Review
“[T]he first serious, book-length academic analysis of the Fifty Shades of Grey.”
Review
“Illouz rightly tags the trilogy a species of self-help."
Review
“A reasoned, thoughtful examination of gender relations, womens desires, and the role of passion in contemporary society. . . . Vital and interesting.”
Synopsis
Our lives are full of small tensions, our closest relationships full of struggle: between woman and man, artist and customer, purist and commercialist, professional and clientandmdash;and between the dominant and the submissive.and#160;In Dominatrix, Danielle Lindemann draws on extensive fieldwork and interviews with professional dominatrices in New York City and San Francisco to offer a sophisticated portrait of these unusual professionals, their work, and their clients. Prior research on sex work has focused primarily on prostitutes and most studies of BDSM absorb pro-domme/client relationships without exploring what makes them unique. Lindemann satisfies our curiosity about these paid encounters, shining a light on one of the most secretive and least understood of personal relationships and unthreading a heretofore unexamined patch of our social tapestry. Upending the idea that these erotic laborers engage in simple exchanges and revealing the therapeutic and analytic nature of their work, Lindemann makes a major contribution to cultural studies, anthropology, and queer studies with her analysis of how gender, power, sexuality, and hierarchy shape all of our social experiences.
Synopsis
The Fifty Shades trilogy of erotic romance novels has been a publishing sensation, with over seventy million copies sold worldwide since the first volume appeared in 2011. Clearly, Fifty Shades is a cultural phenomenon worth serious scrutiny, and sociologist Eva Illouz provides it in this short, engaging book. Illouz first places the trilogy in the context of best-seller publishing, then delves into the nature of its appeal. She argues that the Fifty Shades trilogy is neither “mommy porn” nor anti-feminist hackwork. Rather, she shows that it affords intense reading pleasure to many women readers because it resonates with the sociological structure of mens and womens relationships today. Fifty Shades, she argues, is a gothic romance adapted to modern times in which sexuality is a source both of division between men and women and a site to orchestrate their reconciliation. But Illouz also wants to show that BDSM is as much a cultural as a sexual fantasy, for it functions here as a self-help category, a guide to a happier romantic life. In other words, Fifty Shades is genre fiction that weaves together a commentary on the deprived condition of love and sexuality, a romantic fantasy, and self-help instructions on how to improve the readers life.
About the Author
Eva Illouz is professor at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and president of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. She is the author of seven books, most recently Saving the Modern Soul: Therapy, Emotions, and the Culture of Self-Help.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1and#160;Scripting Pain: Power Exchange and the Theatrical Frame
2and#160;All I Really Need to Know I Learned in BDSM Kindergarten: Dominatrix Careersand#160;
3and#160;Will the Real Pro-Domme Please Stand Up: Art, Authenticity, and Pierre Bourdieu
4and#160;Playing Make-Believe: Fantasy and the Boundaries of Commercial Intimacy
5and#160;Whip Therapy
6and#160;and#8220;Is That Any Way to Treat a Lady?and#8221;: (Re)production of Gender on the Dungeon Floor
Conclusion: The Emperorand#8217;s New Leather Thong
Appendix Aand#160;Methods
Appendix Band#160;Getting Collared: Pro-Dommes and the Law
Appendix Cand#160;Historical Context
Appendix Dand#160;Terminology
Appendix Eand#160;Initial Contact E-mail
Appendix Fand#160;Original Interview Schedule
Appendix Gand#160;Final Interview Schedule
Notes
References
Index