There is a new book on gender inequality that addresses the topics of money and sex It's "Money, Sex and Power" by Azzurra Rinaldi
In the international public debate, a reassuring yet misleading narrative continues to circulate: “women are everywhere now,” “equality has been achieved,” “quotas are no longer needed,” and so on. The data, however, tell us a very different story: no country in the world has achieved real equality of opportunity between women and men. Inequalities remain structural and run through the entire life cycle: lower wages, weaker pensions, careers interrupted by unpaid care work, reduced access to credit, occupational segregation in less valued sectors, and still marginal representation in top political and business roles. It is from this context that the new book by Azzurra Rinaldi, Money, Sex and Power (Rizzoli), emerges, a work that combines economic analysis, feminist thought, and political proposal.
Money as a structure of exclusion in Money, Sex and Power
The first axis of the book is money. Azzurra Rinaldi traces the long history of women’s economic exclusion, showing how marriage itself was, for centuries, a contract of wealth transfer rather than a romantic choice. Even when laws changed, the author argues, the cultural and economic legacies of that system continue to produce tangible effects. The rhetoric of romantic love has often concealed the economic dimension of relationships, leaving many women without tools for financial autonomy.
Female bodies and sexuality as a political and social space
The second chapter addresses female sexuality and sex, one of the most controversial topics in today’s public debate. The author examines sex work as an economic and social phenomenon involving millions of people - mostly women - yet still largely discussed in moral terms rather than as an issue of rights and self-determination. At the center of the reflection is the female body as a political space: historically regulated, controlled, and defined by external norms rather than by women’s own subjectivities. Even consent and desire are interpreted as elements within a power structure, not as neutral or purely private dimensions.
Power and gender inequality in contemporary society
The third axis is power, which runs through all the other themes. The gender pay gap, political representation, control over the body and sexuality: everything points back to who makes decisions and who is excluded from them. Azzurra Rinaldi challenges the still deeply rooted idea that women are less suited to power, showing how this belief is the result of a long cultural construction. The goal is not simply women’s access to existing structures, but the transformation of the very ways in which power is exercised.
Money, Sex and Power: a book on feminist economics and social change
Money, Sex and Power is a programmatic work in that it does not merely describe inequalities, but proposes tools to address them: financial education, redistribution, mutualism, and cooperative forms of economic organization. The underlying idea is that inequality is not destiny, but a constructed system and therefore one that can be changed.