Latex and Lingerie: Shopping for Pleasure at Ann Summers Parties (Materializing Culture)

248 Pages·2003·4.07 MB·English

by  Merl Storr

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MATERIALIZING CULTURE
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Series Editors: Paul Gilroy, Michael Herzfeld and Danny Miller
Barbara Bender, Stonehenge: Making Space
Gen Doy, Materializing Art History
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Symbolism
Victor Buchli, An Archaeology of Socialism
Marius Kwint, Christopher Breward and Jeremy Aynsley (eds), Material
Memories: Design and Evocation
Penny Van Esterik, Materializing Thailand
Michael Bull, Sounding Out the City: Personal Stereos and the Management of
Everyday Life
Anne Massey, Hollywood Beyond the Screen: Design and Material Culture
Wendy Joy Darby, Landscape and Identity: Geographies of Nation and Class in
England
Joy Hendry, The Orient Strikes Back: A Global View of Cultural Display
Judy Attfield, Wild Things: The Material Culture of Everyday Life
Daniel Miller (ed.), Car Cultures
Elizabeth Edwards, Raw Histories: Photographs, Anthropology and Museums
David E. Sutton, Remembrance of Repasts: An Anthropology of Food and Memory
Eleana Yalouri, The Acropolis: Global Fame, Local Claim
Elizabeth Hallam and Jenny Hockey, Death, Memory and Material Culture
Sharon Macdonald, Behind the Scenes at the Science Museum
Elaine Lally, At Home With Computers
Susanne Küchler, Malanggan: Art, Memory and Sacrifice
Nicky Gregson and Louise Crewe, Second-Hand Cultures
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Shopping for Pleasure at Ann Summers
MERL STORR
Oxford (cid:127) New York
First published in 2003 by
Berg
Editorial offices:
1st Floor, 81 St Clements Street, Oxford, OX4 1AW, UK
838 Broadway, Third Floor, New York, NY 10003-4812, USA
© Merl Storr 2003
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means
without the written permission of Berg.
Berg is the imprint of Oxford International Publishers Ltd.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Storr, Merl, 1966–
Latex and lingerie : shopping for pleasure at Ann Summers / Merl
Storr. – lst ed.
p. cm. – (Materializing culture series, ISSN 1460-3349)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 1-85973-693-9 (Cloth) – ISBN 1-85973-698-X (Paper)
1.Ann Summers Limited. 2.Direct selling–Great Britain–Case studies.
3.Home-based businesses–Great Britain–Case studies. 4.Lingerie industry–
Great Britain–Case studies. I.Title. II.Series: Materializing culture.
HF5439.L37S86 2003
381'.45687’0820941–dc21
2003004505
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 1859736939 (Cloth)
185973698X (Paper)
Typeset by JS Typesetting Ltd, Wellingborough, Northants.
Printed in the United Kingdom by Biddles Ltd, King’s Lynn.
www.bergpublishers.com
To Nicky and Hazel, with love

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List of Figures ix
Acknowledgements xi
1 Introducing Ann Summers 1
The Ann Summers Party Plan 3
Ann Summers – a typical party plan? 4
Researching Ann Summers 12
Liquorice allsorts 14
‘The No 1 Fun Company’ 21
Personality, skill and emotional labour 22
‘Young mums’ 26
Ann Summers as post-feminist fun 30
Hidden depths 34
About this book 35
2 ‘The Ultimate Girls’ Night In’ 37
Conceptualising Homosociality 39
Male homosociality 39
Female homosociality 47
Ann Summers and Female Homosociality 54
Helping women to serve the interests of men 56
Being one of the girls 62
Lesbophobia 72
Summary and Conclusion 81
3 Objects of Desire 83
Ann Summers Parties for Men? 84
She Likes Men 90
Feeling sexy 90
vii
viii Contents
Men in uniform – ‘hello boys!’ 97
‘All That’s Missing is the Man!’ 103
The penis and the phallus 107
Pass my penis 110
Feel it, believe it! 114
Summary and Conclusion 121
4 Feminine Bodies, Feminine Pleasures 123
The Heterosexual Female Erogenous Body at
Ann Summers Parties 130
Technique and interior zones 133
Technique and exterior zones 145
Erogenous functions 147
The Female Homosocial Body at Ann Summers Parties 149
The homosocial body’s oral pleasures 150
The homosocial body’s vocal pleasures 158
The homosocial body’s tactile pleasures 164
The homosocial body’s visual pleasures 168
Summary and Conclusion 175
5 Classy Lingerie 177
Peeling the Lemon 177
Homosocial Underwear 185
The girls go shopping 187
Luxury/utility 191
Sleaze/respectability 201
Eroticism/domesticity 213
Summary and Conclusion 216
6 Conclusion 219
References 223
Index 231
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1.1 Ann Summers catalogue autumn/winter 1999 5
1.2 Structure of Ann Summers party plan. Shaded levels are
those which are women-only and based on commission
rather than a salary 7
1.3 Profiles of the fifteen interviewees, arranged by length of
time with Ann Summers 15
2.1 The male homosocial-homosexual continuum
(extrapolated from Sedgwick 1985) 45
2.2 The female homosocial-homosexual continuum 50
3.1 Goddess bra, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 94
3.2 Dreammen in Uniform calendar 2000, from the
Ann Summers catalogue Christmas supplement 1999 98
3.3 (L–R) Discovery, Flower Power, Reelfeel, Dynamite and
Light Up Vibrators, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 99
3.4 Jelly Willy Stress Buster, from the Ann Summers
catalogue autumn/winter 1999 106
4.1 Cockerel Pouch, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 134
4.2 (Top R) Bath Massage Ball and (bottom L-R) Climax
Creator, Little Beaver and Vibromatic Ring vibrators,
from the Ann Summers catalogue autumn/winter 1999 137
4.3 (L–R) Jiggle Balls and Heart Throbber, from the
Ann Summers catalogue autumn/winter 1999 138
4.4 Siren dress, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 171
5.1 Wild lingerie set, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 188
5.2 Vamp lingerie set, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 189
ix
x List of Figures
5.3 Fever basque, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 196
5.4 Fur Love Cuffs, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 208
5.5 Bondage Starter Kit, from the Ann Summers catalogue
Christmas supplement 1999 208
5.6 Fifi maid’s outfit, from the Ann Summers catalogue
autumn/winter 1999 215