Synopses & Reviews
The State of Sex is a study of Nevadaa (TM)s legal brothels, situating the nationa (TM)s only legal brothel industry in the political economy of contemporary tourist economies. Nevada has become the new American heartland, as its economy, people, and politics are becoming more central to the nation. The rise of a leisure economy over the last 60 years has reorganized the U.S. economy so that service and tourism industries are central to contemporary markets. Sexual commerce plays a key role in this new leisure economy. Yet in the rest of the country, laws both limit sexuality and promote business. How have Nevadaa (TM)s legal brothels survived while the rest of the country criminalizes prostitution?
The book brings sociological 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 a multi-method sociological approach, combining historical analysis of how the brothels came to be with over a decadea (TM)s worth of ethnographic research on the current state of the industry.
The book argues that Nevadaa (TM)s shift to an urban tourist-based economy shaped the legal sale of sex in rural counties. An inside look at the industry shows how the practices within it, the contours of the labor market that feed it, and in the nature of work within it are integrally related to a leisure consumer economy. We may never look at prostitution in the same way again. Nevadaa (TM)s model of legal prostitution offers a site for examination and reflection as local and federal governments, communities, sex workers, and activists struggle to understand the state of sex today
Synopsis
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.