Selling Sex on Screen

Elusive and beguiling, the image of the woman whose body may be bought has permeated film culture since the silent era. Selling Sex on Screen, in a rich collection of penetrating studies, demonstrates how pervasive the motif is and how diverse its manifestations within the motion picture and television industries of evolving capitalist societies. -- Russell Campbell, author of Marked Women: Prostitutes and Prostitution in the Cinema
Selling Sex on Screen: From Weimar Cinema to Zombie Porn gathers together a range of fascinating essays that deal in various ways with the buying and selling of sex on screen. Contributors to this highly engaging collection give us fresh and timely insights about the representation of sex and sexuality, making crucial connections between these screen representations and wider historical, social and political issues and debates about power, gender, consumerism and status, making this a must read for anyone interested in the politics of the media. -- Dr. Claire Hines, Senior Lecturer, Southampton Solent University
Given cinema’s persistent need to tame, ridicule, and marginalize more intense expressions of female sexuality, Selling Sex on Screen compels us to question the clichés of redemption attached to prostitution. Ritzenhoff and McAvoy’s collection of essays is compelling—tapping into the shadows of sexual agency to explore how the lived experience and its representation on screen both overlap and create a sense of discord. This is a terrific read for anyone interested in the complexities of unapologetic female characters and the men who struggle to accept their autonomy. -- Dr. Terrie Waddell, author of Eavesdropping: The Psychotherapist in Film and Television (2014)
From Weimar-era street films to zombie porn, this fascinating, provocative, and highly readable volume tracks a neglected figure in film and TV studies: the “marked” woman. Surveying streetwalkers, saloon girls, sex addicts, and strippers, the essays collected by Ritzenhoff and McAvoy chart with nuance and precision the shifting intersections between sex, money, gender, and power on screen in a variety of cultural contexts. Selling Sex on Screen is guaranteed to get readers thinking about the “world’s oldest profession” in new ways, and to put familiar movies and television programs in a fresh and surprising light. -- Ian Olney, author of Euro Horror: Classic European Horror Cinema in Contemporary American Culture, York College