From advertising to health education campaigns, sex and sexual imagery now permeate every aspect of culture. Striptease Culture explores this 'sexualization' of contemporary life, relating it to wider changes in post-war society. Divided into three sections, Striptease Culture first traces the development of pornography, following its movement from elite to mass culture and the contemporary fascination with 'porno-chic'. In part two McNair considers popular cultural forms of sexual representation in the media. Moving from backlash elements in straight male culture and changing images of women to the representation of gays in contemporary film and television shows such as Ellen or Queer as Folk , McNair argues that the high profile of sexuality in contemporary culture, rather than evidence of moral decline, is a positive expression of post-war liberalism and the advance of feminism and gay rights, as well as a key contributor to public health education in the era of HIV and AIDS. In part three, McNair turns to the uses of sexuality in contemporary art, examining the artistic 'striptease' of Jeff Koons and others, who have used their own naked bodies in their work.
McNair also considers how feminist and gay artists have employed sexuality in the critique and transformation of patriarchy. In a concluding chapter, McNair considers the implications of the rise of striptease culture for the future of sexual politics.