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Erotic Capital
The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom
Description
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.
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.
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Praise
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.”
“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.”