Selling Oneself: Social Skill and Social Disqualification
Knowing how to sell oneself is presented as being a necessary social skill. This injunction is analyzed in modern management manuals akin to so many contemporary moral codes. In order to understand how this spirit of commodification has managed to take hold so self-evidently, the article identifies the various ways in which individuals sell themselves: a metaphorical sale, where values are sacrificed for the sake of self-interest; a leasing activity, which is the basis of the employment contract; and a genuine sale, involving an individual or a part of a person, as is true in the case of organ sales. Prostitution is then analyzed as an exaggerated condensation of these various dimensions, despite the fact that it is entirely consistent with contemporary standards for selling oneself.