Neon Wasteland : On Love, Motherhood, and Sex Work in a Rust Belt Town / / Susan Dewey

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910460145403321
• Autore: Dewey Susan
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Berkeley, CA : , : University of California Press, , [2011]; ©2011
• ISBN: 1-283-27756-5; 9786613277565; 0-520-94831-9
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (282 p.)
• Disciplina: 155.3/33
• Soggetti: Femininity; Femininity --Case Studies; Northeastern States - Economic conditions; Northeastern States - Social conditions; Northeastern States --Economic conditions; Northeastern States --Social conditions; Self-perception in women - Northeastern States; Self-perception in women --Northeastern States --Case Studies; Sex oriented businesses - Social aspects - Northeastern States; Sex oriented businesses --Social aspects --Northeastern States --Case studies; Women - Family relationships - Northeastern States; Women - Northeastern States - Social conditions; Women dancers - Northeastern States; Women dancers --Northeastern States --Case studies; Women --Family relationships --Northeastern States --Case studies; Women --Northeastern States --Social conditions --Case studies; Women dancers - Social conditions - Northeastern states; Women - Northeastern States; Gender & Ethnic Studies; Social Sciences; Gender Studies & Sexuality; Electronic books.; Northeastern States Social conditions; Northeastern States Economic conditions
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Frontmatter -- Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Feminized Labor and the Classed Body -- 3. Everyday Survival Strategies -- 4. Being a Good Mother in a "Bad" Profession -- 5. Pseudointimacy and Romantic Love -- 6. Calculating Risks, Surviving Danger -- 7. Body Work and the Feminization of Poverty -- 8. Conclusion -- Notes -- Works Cited -- Index
• Sommario/riassunto: This path-breaking book examines the lives of five topless dancers in the economically devastated "rust belt" of upstate New York. With insight and empathy, Susan Dewey shows how these women negotiate their lives as parents, employees, and family members while working in a profession widely regarded as incompatible with motherhood and fidelity. Neither disparaging nor romanticizing her subjects, Dewey investigates the complicated dynamic of performance, resilience, economic need, and emotional vulnerability that comprises the life of a stripper. An accessibly written text that uses academic theories and methods to make sense of feminized labor, Neon Wasteland shows that sex work is part of the learned process by which some women come to believe that their self-esteem, material worth, and possibilities for life improvement are invested in their bodies.