Erotic Capital: The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom

by Catherine Hakim

Overview

In 2010, pioneering sociologist Catherine Hakim shocked the world with a provocative new theory: In addition to the three recognized personal assets (economic, cultural, and social capital), each individual has a fourth asset--erotic capital--that he or she can, and should, use to advance within society.

In this bold and controversial book, Hakim explores the applications and significance of erotic capital, challenging the disapproval meted out to women and men who use sex appeal to get ahead in life. Social scientists have paid little serious attention to these modes of personal empowerment, despite overwhelming evidence of their importance. In Erotic Capital, Hakim marshals a trove of research to show that rather than degrading those who employ it, erotic capital represents a powerful and potentially equalizing tool--one that we scorn only to our own detriment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780465027477
Publisher:	Basic Books
Publication date:	09/06/2011
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.30(h) x 1.10(d)
Age Range:	13 - 18 Years

About the Author

Catherine Hakim is a sociologist and Professor at the London School of Economics. An expert on women's employment and family policy and the author of numerous books and more than one hundred papers on social science, she lives in London.

Table of Contents

Illustrations vii

Introduction: Erotic Capital and the Politics of Desire 1

Part I The Fourth Personal Asset and the New Sexual Politics

1 What Is Erotic Capital? 9

2 The Politics of Desire: The Difference Between Men and Women 31

3 Denial: Why Erotic Capital Has Been Suppressed 63

Part II How Erotic Capital Works in Everyday Life

4 The Lifetime Benefits of Erotic Capital 89

5 Modern Romance: How Erotic Capital Changes Relationships 115

6 No Money, No Honey: Selling Erotic Entertainment 135

7 Winner Takes All: The Business Value of Erotic Capital 163

Conclusion: The Power of Erotic Capital 189

Appendix A Measures of Erotic Capital 209

Appendix B Recent Sex Surveys 221

Acknowledgments 225

Notes 227

Bibliography 271

Index 293

Editorial Reviews

This enthusiastic but unpersuasive book succeeds in marrying economics with eros, but suffers from its shallow analysis. Piggybacking on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "social capital," Hakim argues that in addition to our economic and social privilege, our attractiveness (or lack thereof) plays a powerful role in the public as well as private sphere. While readers might expect Hakim's multidisciplinary approach to make surprising connections, her book, aside from its provocative premise, contains no eureka moments. The author, an expert on women's employment and family policy, has a surprisingly thin understanding of feminism's relationship with sexuality. She writes, "Even attractive feminists like Gloria Steinem, who once worked as a bunny in a Playboy club, have never championed women's erotic capital"—without addressing how the sex-positive movement explicitly addressed the positive side of women's sexuality (in and out of the workplace). Some of her reported research is fascinating—say, while attractive women and men are more likely to get hired, attractive women are less likely to be promoted than good-looking men—she rarely investigates the broader ramifications of such behavior. She falls back on such dubious claims as, "Physical attractiveness enhances productivity in management and professional occupations... mainly because attractive and agreeable people are easier to work with, and more persuasive." (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

Publishers Weekly
“This enthusiastic book…succeeds in marrying economics with eros.”

Financial Times (London)
“Poets and novelists have always sensed that sexual attractiveness is a kind of capital…. But few sociologists have studied erotic capital outside the marriage market…. Hakim's concept of erotic capital…offers insight into an age that has, as Philip Larkin once put it, ‘burst into fulfillment's desolate attic.'”

The Observer (London)
“An extremely important new socio-economic concept….Hakim's real argument is that in modern consumer societies the ways we define success (and hence the ingredients needed to achieve it) are becoming more fluid. Intelligence may still be one path do doing well…but there's been an explosion of other routes….In marketing, public relations, television, even the law and banking, being physically attractive is the way to get ahead.”

From the Publisher