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Temporarily Yours: Intimacy, Authenticity, and the Commerce of Sex (Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture) Illustrated Edition

by Elizabeth Bernstein (Author)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 23 ratings
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Generations of social thinkers have assumed that access to legitimate paid employment and a decline in the ‘double standard’ would eliminate the reasons behind women’s participation in prostitution. Yet in both the developing world and in postindustrial cities of the West, sexual commerce has continued to flourish, diversifying along technological, spatial, and social lines. In this deeply engaging and theoretically provocative study, Elizabeth Bernstein examines the social features that undergird the expansion and diversification of commercialized sex, demonstrating the ways that postindustrial economic and cultural formations have spawned rapid and unforeseen changes in the forms, meanings, and spatial organization of sexual labor.

Drawing upon dynamic and innovative research with sex workers, their clients, and state actors, Bernstein argues that in cities such as San Francisco, Stockholm, and Amstersdam, the nature of what is purchased in commercial sexual encounters is also new. Rather than the expedient exchange of cash for sexual relations, what sex workers are increasingly paid to offer their clients is an erotic experience premised upon the performance of authentic interpersonal connection. As such, contemporary sex markets are emblematic of a cultural moment in which the boundaries between intimacy and commerce—and between public life and private—have been radically redrawn. Not simply a compelling exploration of the changing landscape of sex-work, Temporarily Yours ultimately lays bare the intimate intersections of political economy, desire, and culture.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0226044580
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0226044583
  3. Edition
    Illustrated
  4. Publisher
    University of Chicago Press
  5. Publication date
    November 1, 2007
  6. Part of series
    Worlds of Desire: The Chicago Series on Sexuality, Gender, and Culture
  7. Language
    English
  8. Dimensions
    8.89 x 6.13 x 0.67 inches
  9. Print length
    291 pages
  10. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is an ambitious book—highly readable, compelling, and original. Bernstein’s claim is that the character and organization of sex work has shifted between the modern industrial to late-capitalist periods. Whereas the signature form of sex work used to be the non-white streetwalker working in largely marginal neighborhoods, today, she reveals, sex work is largely private, relying heavily on the Internet, and provided by someone that is as often white and middle-class as non-white and poor."

-- Steven Seidman, author of Beyond the Closet Published On: 2006-09-26


“An analysis of contemporary sexual commerce that combines a sharp ethnographic eye with a trenchant theoretical mind. Whether you are a jaded prostitution scholar tired of debates that seem forever to re-chew the same contentious old cud, or someone who has never read a book on prostitution before, this wide-ranging study will both orient and challenge you.”
-- Don Kulick, author of Travesti: Sex, Gender, and Culture among Brazilian Transgendered Prostitutes Published On: 2007-06-12

“Combining bold claims about changes in the global sexual economy with deep empathy for sex workers themselves, Elizabeth Bernstein uses perceptive ethnography in San Francisco, Stockholm, and Amsterdam to illuminate contemporary change and variation in the sale of sexual services. We begin to see that in the world of commercial sex new forms of intimacy are emerging.”

-- Viviana A. Zelizer, Lloyd Cotsen ‘50 Professor of Sociology, Princeton University, author of The Purchase of Intimacy Published On: 2007-06-12


“Elizabeth Bernstein’s Temporarily Yours is a first-rate piece of sociological investigation that reads like a novel. We will never look at commercial sex in the same way again.”--Kristin Luker, University of California, Berkeley, author of When Sex Goes to School
-- Kristin Luker Published On: 2007-08-21

"A fascinating combination of 'macro' analysis (i.e., the political economy of prostitution) and 'micro' insights into a certain form of sex work--i.e., the kind that occurs indoors between middle-class/upper-class men and lower-to-middle class women." -- A.M Cesario and L. Chancer ― Qualitative Sociology

"This rich and multidimensional book looks at how individual practices and cultural contexts are shaped by economic structures. . . . I hope Temporarily Yours finds a wide audience among those interested in labor, emotions, gender, sexuality, urbanizm, and globalization. And public policy experts as well. Temporarily Yours is a terrific book. That it could be written and published today marks the coming of age of sociological work on sexuality and the maturation, too, of gender studies." -- Arlene Stein ― Culture and the Media

"Elizabeth Bernstein's Temporarily Yours succeeds wonderfully (and seems to have aimed) at providing insights into the 'big' political economic picture as well as some women's and men's 'micro' experiences of sex work.... Perhaps she is at her best when turning, as few books before hers have done...to men and why they turn to prostitution." ― Qualitative Sociology

About the Author


Elizabeth Bernstein is assistant professor of sociology at Barnard College, Columbia University, and coeditor of Regulating Sex: The Politics of Intimacy and Identity.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ University of Chicago Press; Illustrated edition (November 1, 2007)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 291 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0226044580
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0226044583
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.89 x 6.13 x 0.67 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 23 ratings

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Elizabeth Bernstein

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4.2 out of 5 stars
23 global ratings

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Top reviews from the United States

  • Nicolette Gullickson
    5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely worth your time
    Reviewed in the United States on November 6, 2015
    Verified Purchase
    I'm reading this book for my Master of Sexuality Studies program and it is the most accessible book we've read all semester. It is eloquently written, without all the unnecessary academic jargon. It's also a fascinating look at the San Francisco sex industry.
    2 people found this helpful
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  • Amy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful read
    Reviewed in the United States on February 5, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    Very insightful into the way we view the selling of sex. Really makes one think about the social constructs of the industry and question what we think we know about it.
    One person found this helpful
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  • JP
    5.0 out of 5 stars Good
    Reviewed in the United States on January 25, 2019
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    Just perfect
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  • John P. Anderson
    1.0 out of 5 stars Almost Nothing About Intimacy, Authenticity or Contemporary Sexual Commerce...
    Reviewed in the United States on August 3, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    I had high expectations, but I am pretty disappointed with this book... even after giving it a second try, a year after I originally ordered it. There is some historical information about the commerce of sex in San Francisco, Amsterdam and Stockholm, but almost nothing in terms of intimacy and authenticity in the pay-to-play world... nor much of anything about the contemporary state of this business.

    It is pretty clear that this author knows almost nothing about the real issues related intimacy and authenticity in this context. And why would she? From a male perspective, you need to have had these types of relationships with women who are selling themselves to various extents before you can write about the topic.

    Obviously, as a woman she has can not do that and apparently she has done nothing more than interview some women who are on the service side of the business and mainly serving the general public at that (gee, lot's of potential for real intimacy and authenticity there... not!). There are some big differences between Eastern European women working in the red light districts of Amsterdam and the American girls with "daddy issues" who want to give you a "dollar dance." She does not even begin to scratch the surface of the topic she purports to write about.
    7 people found this helpful
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  • Eduardo Ceja
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on November 27, 2016
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    New Book
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  • Alan Fairley
    5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
    Reviewed in the United States on July 21, 2015
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    intelligent and compassionate
    One person found this helpful
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  • Know Nothing
    5.0 out of 5 stars Understanding a Not-So-Underground Trade
    Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2008
    Elizabeth Bernstein's ethnography *Temporarily Yours* is arguably the most illuminating account of the domestic sex trade to be published in the last decade. In it Bernstein shows how large-scale transformations to the U.S. political economy have affected prostitution work in urban areas. Her argument is that a large segment of sex work in America has "gone indoors" as the country's economy has shifted from an industrial to a postindustrial structure. With more and more people working in the service economy and thinking of paid sex not as a stigmatized vice but as a flexible, leisurely activity that fits nicely into their schedules, the world of prostitution has expanded beyond its streetwalking stereotype to include Internet-savvy, upwardly mobile, high-end escorts.

    Bernstein's book is especially relevant given the media's fascination with the lives of escorts over the past year, ever since Eliot Spitzer was fingered in a federal prostitution ring bust. Now we have brothel prostitutes on *Tyra*, Showtime's *Secret Diary of a Call Girl*, and a host of news programs on the subject (Bernstein was featured in MSNBC's *Dirty Money*).

    Before you get caught up in the hype, though, I urge you to read *Temporarily Yours*. Bernstein's even-handed analysis avoids sensationalizing the work of escorts by showing how what they do is part and parcel of well-established social structures and economic practices. In addition, excerpts from her interviews with prostitutes and johns illuminate the very real, even mundane, decisions that go into purchasing and selling sex. Bernstein's genius as an ethnographer lies in her ability to present her subjects in a way that makes us see their struggles as our own: caring for a dependent or wanting to succeed in running a small business; finding an intimate companion during a busy work week or enjoying safe, no-strings attached sex.

    In addition to these highlights, *Temporarily Yours* includes a fascinating chapter on prostitution and the law in the United States and Europe, as well as a section critiquing so-called "John Schools" (where johns are penalized for purchasing sex and made to sit through a traffic school-type reeducation program) in San Francisco. All in all, then, Bernstein's study is smart, comprehensive, and endlessly generative of new questions and ideas. In its broadest interpretation, *Temporarily Yours* uses the domestic sex trade to offer up a mirror to our own conceptions of love, pleasure, risk, and work in our postindustrial age.
    22 people found this helpful
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  • John Alex Vogle
    5.0 out of 5 stars Temporarily Yours Could Be Yours Permanently.
    Reviewed in the United States on June 20, 2022
    Verified Purchase
    An interesting delve into the world and business of sex. Excellent statistics & views of other countries regarding our oldest profession.
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Top reviews from other countries

  • NM
    5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for Sex Industry Researchers
    Reviewed in Canada on January 3, 2014
    Verified Purchase
    A must read for anyone researching sex work or the broader sex industry, particularly in North America (though there is also comparative information for Amsterdam).
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