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hope will lead to greater recognition and higher-prestige jobs, but that very few models ever successfully attain such recognition, with the rest gradually aging out of the industry, sometimes while in debt to their modeling agencies, or switching to more lucrative but less prestigious commercial modeling.
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is about "how fashion insiders create aesthetic value," it also examines "the organization of markets, the process of cultural production, and reproduction of inequalities." Mears found that most fashion models operate against their short-term economic interests by accepting low-paying jobs that they
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In addition to her own publications, Mears is regularly cited by print and web media on issues in culture, markets, and work, such as why many models come from one region of the United States, how celebrity scandals affect the reputation of popular hotels and nightspots, whether fashion modeling is
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analyzes the elite global party circuit as "a complex world of exchange and exploitation" in which club owners, promoters, and attractive women negotiate relationships and status in a social world of "gendered and racialized hierarchies". Mears found that men, particularly promoters, played a large
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identifies the industry's idiosyncratic beauty standards as a major obstacle to success for models, not only in preferring "size-zero" body types, but in preferring white women above other women even within the "size-zero" category. Like other "ethnic" models, Mears was specifically advised not to
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at the age of 23 to pursue a Ph.D. in sociology. In New York she was again scouted for modeling jobs, and decided to focus her graduate research on the culture and economics of the modeling industry. She falsified her age, claiming to be younger, to get modeling jobs, then conducted a covert
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mention her Korean heritage at castings. Mears concluded that industry insiders were not simply reflecting social preferences, but were actively producing beauty images designed to reproduce what sociologist Laura
Grindstaff, in her review for
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of women in the workplace. In 2022, Mears was promoted to full professor of sociology at Boston
University. In 2024, she began an appointment as Professor and Chair of Cultural Sociology and New Media at the
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criticized this conclusion, suggesting that "Mears's attempts to make the numbers support her critique of the fashion industry for its whiteness reveal more about her wish to expose it than anything else."
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197:, Georgia. To supplement her regular job at a movie theater, she entered a modeling contest, won agency representation, and then started modeling part-time at the age of 16. Mears attended the
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role in determining the value of women's beauty in the elite party scene, but that women were also willing participants seeking to achieve their own aspirations. Writing for
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study by taking notes and interviewing fellow models, scouts, and agents while working as a model in New York and London, including multiple appearances on the runway at
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but continued her modeling work by spending summers working overseas. After completing her undergraduate education, she spent a year modeling in Asia, then moved to
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was "probably too complex for the average reader" but praised the book as "a well-researched, well-written, and thorough study of the industry."
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research on women recruited by promoters to attend VIP parties and nightlife events. That research was the basis for her 2020 book
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for exploring the nuances of social relationships "without passing predictable moral judgement".
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173:. She is currently Professor and Chair of Cultural Sociology and New Media at the
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1043:"A Mixed Bag of Publicity for NYC's Standard Hotel After Elevator Spat"
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Very
Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Party Circuit
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Very
Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Party Circuit
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Very
Important People: Status and Beauty in the Global Party Circuit
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Pricing Beauty: The
Production of Value in Fashion Modeling Markets
495:"Conversations: Ashley Mears Talks about the Ethnography of Desire"
86:
Pricing Beauty: The
Production of Value in Fashion Modeling Markets
1169:"Faculty Research Fellow Ashley Mears Promoted to Full Professor"
1076:"Model life: to call it indentured servitude is no exaggeration"
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756:"Fashion industry gets an insider's look in 'Pricing Beauty'"
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in 2009, Mears became an assistant professor of sociology at
530:"The Life Of A Fashion Model: Grueling, Not Glitzy"
238:. Sociologist Heather Laine Talley, writing in the
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787:Grindstaff, Laura (March 20, 2013). "Book Review:
327:, whether "sexbots" will replace spouses, and the
1173:Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies
505:Section on Organizations, Occupations, and Work.
862:"Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model"
169:is an American writer, sociologist, and former
1262:Academic staff of the University of Amsterdam
789:Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model
657:Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model
346:Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model
232:Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model
179:Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model
139:Pricing Beauty: The Making of a Fashion Model
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1135:Bennett-Smith, Meredith (April 18, 2017).
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1277:21st-century American non-fiction writers
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393:"A former model delves into the industry"
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536:(Interview). Interviewed by Neal Conan.
1297:Female models from Georgia (U.S. state)
959:"Very Important People by Ashley Mears"
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348:(University of California Press, 2011)
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474:from the original on September 3, 2018
441:from the original on September 3, 2018
427:Heyman, Stephen (September 21, 2011).
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405:from the original on September 3, 2018
1179:from the original on December 9, 2022
1010:"The Midwest, Home of the Supermodel"
989:from the original on December 9, 2022
688:Copeland, Libby (September 7, 2011).
391:Giacobbe, Alyssa (January 15, 2012).
7:
1107:Rossman, Gabriel (August 16, 2018).
893:Mears, Ashley (September 20, 2014).
828:Shteir, Rachel (December 11, 2011).
721:Schama, Chloë (September 18, 2011).
575:from the original on October 1, 2016
528:Mears, Ashley (September 28, 2011).
460:Lamb, Christina (December 4, 2011).
434:T: The New York Times Style Magazine
1252:21st-century American women writers
1137:"The case for being grumpy at work"
1074:Hackman, Rose (February 19, 2015).
754:Causey, Adera (November 20, 2011).
361:(Princeton University Press, 2020)
1282:American women non-fiction writers
14:
1302:American people of Korean descent
1292:Writers from Georgia (U.S. state)
1207:. October 6, 2023. Archived from
835:The Chronicle of Higher Education
503:American Sociological Association
265:The Chronicle of Higher Education
1008:Khazan, Olga (August 13, 2015).
690:"America's Next Top Sociologist"
1041:Sneed, Tierney (May 13, 2014).
655:Talley, Heather Laine (2012). "
493:Vallas, Steven (May 30, 2016).
16:American writer and sociologist
929:Bloch, Alice (July 31, 2020).
236:University of California Press
1:
936:The Times Literary Supplement
662:American Journal of Sociology
565:"Models of the World, Unite!"
312:The Times Literary Supplement
241:American Journal of Sociology
222:After earning her Ph.D. from
1267:University of Georgia alumni
1048:U.S. News & World Report
957:Pryke, Sam (April 8, 2021).
761:Chattanooga Times Free Press
1287:American women sociologists
282:Mears has also written for
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1272:New York University alumni
302:Princeton University Press
1257:Boston University faculty
830:"Taking Beauty's Measure"
300:, which was published by
288:about her research after
177:. Mears is the author of
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28:
1247:American women academics
807:10.1177/0891243212461302
563:Krueger, Alyson (2012).
189:Early life and education
1204:University of Amsterdam
964:The Sociological Review
334:University of Amsterdam
292:, including her covert
175:University of Amsterdam
118:University of Amsterdam
1109:"Of Wives and Widgets"
594:Mears, Ashley (2009).
130:Culture, markets, work
44:Professor of Sociology
1242:American sociologists
974:10.51428/tsr.isgh1821
895:"Who Runs the Girls?"
538:National Public Radio
317:Very Important People
315:, Alice Bloch lauded
306:Very Important People
234:was published by the
212:New York Fashion Week
199:University of Georgia
62:University of Georgia
794:Gender & Society
659:. By Ashley Mears".
325:indentured servitude
259:Gender & Society
870:. October 3, 2011.
600:New York University
569:NYU Alumni Magazine
429:"A Model Professor"
244:, noted that while
230:. In 2011 her book
224:New York University
193:Mears grew up near
74:New York University
53:Academic background
900:The New York Times
534:Talk of the Nation
285:The New York Times
1211:on March 16, 2024
1175:. April 8, 2022.
931:"The Cost of Fun"
867:Publishers Weekly
630:Boston University
272:Publishers Weekly
228:Boston University
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35:Mears in 2020
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1213:. Retrieved
1209:the original
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1081:The Guardian
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106:Institutions
88: (2009)
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23:Ashley Mears
1183:December 8,
993:December 8,
942:December 8,
275:noted that
1231:Categories
373:References
98:Discipline
69:Alma mater
1215:March 16,
983:238051152
815:145512781
608:865546083
598:(Ph.D.).
467:The Times
101:Sociology
58:Education
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195:Atlanta
149:Website
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218:Career
81:Thesis
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695:Slate
41:Title
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