Book launch - Seduction: Men, Masculinity and Mediated Intimacy

To mark the publication of her new book, author Rachel O’Neill will be in conversation with Rosalind Gill and Victoria Robinson, discussing her research on the seduction industry in relation to the wider debates about masculinity, intimacy, and sexual politics. This event is being co-hosted by the Department of Sociology and the Centre for Women’s Studies. It will include a drinks reception, and books will be available to purchase. 

About the book: 
Within the so-called ‘seduction community’, the ability to meet and attract women is understood as a skill which heterosexual men can cultivate through practical training and personal development. Though it has been an object of media speculation – and frequent sensationalism – for over a decade, this cultural formation remains poorly understood. 

In the first book-length study of the industry, Rachel O’Neill takes us into the world of seduction seminars, training events, instructional guidebooks and video tutorials. Pushing past established understandings of ‘pickup artists’ as pathetic, pathological or perverse, she examines what makes seduction so compelling for those drawn to participate in this sphere. 

Seduction vividly portrays how the twin rationalities of neoliberalism and postfeminism are reorganising contemporary intimate life, as labour-intensive and profit-orientated modes of sociality consume other forms of being and relating. It is essential reading for students and scholars of gender, sexuality, sociology and cultural studies, as well as anyone who wants to understand the seduction industry’s overarching logics and internal workings.

For further information, see: http://politybooks.com/bookdetail/?isbn=9781509521555

About the participants: 
Rachel O’Neill is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Sociology at the University of York. Her work is concerned with gender, subjectivity, culture and inequality. Seduction is her first book. 

Rosalind Gill is Professor of Cultural and Social Analysis in the Department of Sociology, City, University of London. She is known internationally for her work on postfeminism and neoliberalism, especially as this relates to the constitution of gendered subjectivities. Ros is the author and editor of many books, including Gender and the Media, New Femininities: Postfeminism, Neoliberalism and Subjectivity(edited with Christina Scharff), and most recently Mediated Intimacy: Sex Advice in Media Culture(with Meg-John Barker and Laura Harvey). 

Victoria Robinson is Professor of Women’s Studies and Director of the Centre for Women’s Studies at the University of York. She is responsible for having established one of the first ever degrees in Women’s Studies in the UK, and has played a crucial role in developing a specifically feminist approach to the study of men and masculinities. Vicki’s books include Introducing Gender and Women’s Studies(with Diane Richardson, fifth edition forthcoming), Masculinities in Transition(with Jenny Hockey), Everyday Masculinities and Extreme Sport: Male identity and Rock Climbing, and Mundane Heterosexualities: From Theory to Practices(with Jenny Hockey and Angela Meah). 

Organiser name 
Department of Sociology and Centre for Women’s Studies, University of York