Description
Book SynopsisOur bodies reveal the values, priorities, anxieties, and material realities of the society in which we are situated, and in contemporary consumer societies, human bodies both reflect the defining characteristics of our time and carry the markers of social hierarchies based on categories such as gender, race, and class.
Consuming Bodies: Body Commodification and Embodiment in Late Capitalist Societies explores the ways our bodies are increasingly commodified, from before birth to after death, through both long-standing forms of commodification (captive labor, sex work, and spectator sports) and newer forms (commercial surrogacy, the thriving trade in human biomaterials, female genital âœrejuvenationâ surgery, global romance tourism, and green burial practices, among others). As this diverse range of topics demonstrates, body commodification reaches increasingly into every realm of our lives, from our most intimate experiences to encounters with pop culture, the âœbeautyâ
