{"title":"Ashley Mears","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eAshley Mears\u003c\/strong\u003e offers insightful explorations into the intricate worlds of beauty, status, and cultural value. Her works, such as \u003cem\u003ePricing Beauty\u003c\/em\u003e and \u003cem\u003eVery Important People\u003c\/em\u003e, examine how aesthetic standards and social hierarchies shape industries and individual experiences.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlending detailed research with compelling narratives, Mears’ books invite readers to consider the broader cultural and economic forces behind seemingly personal choices. Her writing is essential for those interested in education, reference, and the sociological dimensions of contemporary life.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"pricing-beauty-by-ashley-mears-9780520270763","title":"Pricing Beauty","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSociologist Ashley Mears takes us behind the brightly lit runways and glossy advertisements of the fashion industry in this insider's study of the world of modelling. Mears, who worked as a model in New York and London, draws on observations as well as extensive interviews with male and female models, agents, clients, photographers, stylists, and others, to explore the economics and politics—and the arbitrariness—behind the business of glamour.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eExploring a largely hidden arena of cultural production, she shows how the right \"look\" is discovered, developed, and packaged to become a prized commodity. She examines how models sell themselves, how agents promote them, and how clients decide to hire them.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAn original contribution to the sociology of work in the new cultural economy, \u003cem\u003ePricing Beauty\u003c\/em\u003e offers rich, accessible analysis of the invisible ways in which gender, race, and class shape worth in the marketplace.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Unknown","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47464165867756,"sku":"9780520270763","price":41.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780520270763-pricing-beauty.jpg?v=1775039330"},{"product_id":"very-important-people-by-ashley-mears-9780691168654","title":"Very Important People","description":"\u003cdiv class=\"book-description\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eA sociologist and former fashion model takes readers inside the elite global party circuit of 'models and bottles' to reveal how beautiful young women are used to boost the status of men.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMillion-dollar birthday parties, megayachts on the French Riviera, and $40,000 bottles of champagne. In today's New Gilded Age, the world's moneyed classes have taken conspicuous consumption to new extremes. In \u003cem\u003eVery Important People\u003c\/em\u003e, sociologist, author, and former fashion model Ashley Mears takes readers inside the exclusive global nightclub and party circuit—from New York City and the Hamptons to Miami and Saint-Tropez—to reveal the intricate economy of beauty, status, and money that lies behind these spectacular displays of wealth and leisure.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eMears spent eighteen months in this world of 'models and bottles' to write this captivating, sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking narrative. She describes how clubs and restaurants pay promoters to recruit beautiful young women to their venues in order to attract men and get them to spend huge sums in the ritual of bottle service. These \"girls\" enhance the status of the men and enrich club owners, exchanging their bodily capital for as little as free drinks and a chance to party with men who are rich or aspire to be. Though they are priceless assets in the party circuit, these women are regarded as worthless as long-term relationship prospects, and their bodies are constantly assessed against men's money.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA story of extreme gender inequality in a seductive world, \u003cem\u003eVery Important People\u003c\/em\u003e unveils troubling realities behind moneyed leisure in an age of record economic disparity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"NewSouth Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47559114719468,"sku":"9780691168654","price":89.99,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0705\/7784\/8556\/files\/9780691168654-very-important-people.jpg?v=1776929604"}],"url":"https:\/\/bookhero.co.nz\/collections\/ashley-mears.oembed","provider":"Book Hero","version":"1.0","type":"link"}