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Book Cover
E-book
Author Mears, Ashley, 1980- author.

Title Very important people : status and beauty in the global party circuit / Ashley Mears
Published Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2020]
©2020

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Description 1 online resource (xv, 300 pages) : illustrations
Contents We Are the Cool People -- Daytime -- The Potlatch -- Trafficking at Model Camp -- Who Runs the Girls? -- Started from the Bottom -- Closure
Summary "A 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 Million-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 Very Important People, 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. Mears 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. A story of extreme gender inequality in a seductive world, Very Important People unveils troubling realities behind moneyed leisure in an age of record economic disparity"-- Provided by publisher
Analysis DJ
DJs
Primates of Park Avenue
Rich Kids Instagram
Theory of the Leisure Class
Thorstein Veblen
VIP area
VIP lifestyle
Wednesday Martin
anthropology
banker bros
bouncers
business men
club promoter
club promoters
club scene
conspicuous consumption
girl capital
inequality
sexism
sexual exploitation
sexual trafficking
super rich
toxic masculinity
trafficking women
urban nightlife
velvet rope
Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index
Notes Description based on online resource; title from resource home page (JSTOR, viewed August 21, 2020)
Subject Young women -- Social life and customs
Socialites.
Businessmen -- Social life and customs
Social status.
Rich people.
Subculture.
social status.
SOCIAL SCIENCE / Social Classes
Rich people.
Social status.
Socialites.
Subculture.
Young women -- Social life and customs.
Form Electronic book
LC no. 2019050390
ISBN 0691189897
9780691189895