Erotic Capital

The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom

By: Catherine Hakim

Narrated by: Lisa Cordileone

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.

©2011 Catherine Hakim (P)2012 Gildan Media Corp

Critic reviews

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

“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.’” ( Financial Times, London)

Good Stuff, But Did Gloria Steinem Write This?!

Where does Erotic Capital rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I'd give it an 8.5 out of 10.

What did you like best about this story?

Examples. I've bore witness to a lot of the examples given.

Have you listened to any of Lisa Cordileone’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes. She's a good, eloquent speaker.

What’s the most interesting tidbit you’ve picked up from this book?

Uniforms: how to thwart the threat of erotic capital use. Pure genius.

Any additional comments?

Tone down all the bra-burning battle-cries for the sake of easier digestion.

Worth a Read

The book was solid. It's relatively quick and will provoke discussion. Reviews on Amazon will do the content more justice.

The recording and the narrator are the weak point. Neither is intolerable, but the recording is poorly spliced while the narrator butchers any French words or names, which are surprisingly common.

A surprisingly great book!

How sex really sales seem to have been a taboo subject, especially in academia whereby everyone needs to align their thinking in such a way as to present him/herself as a "fair" person. That said, evolution doesn't care about our feeling. Humans, too, are driven by instinctual desire. This book is a surprisingly good authority on the subject. The author tears apart the fabric of pseudo-academic facade and delve into what really matters when it comes to how sex and eros influence our thinking and decision -- whether or not deliberately -- and how to avoid them. Adding to the lexicon of social understanding, "erotic capital" is another form of capital (in addition to cultural, social, financial and human) that everyone should learn about.

An promising idea and intro to the subject

Anyone who reads this book will likely love parts of it and hate others. I suspect it could be great material for a social science course despite the lack of intext citations (the kindle version does have a bibleography). The core idea is provacative and many important social science theories are introduced and discussed in such a way that could serve as a great introduction to those theorists. the book is perpetually controversial and would likely arouse fantastic discussions while providing a chance for critical consideration of her interpretations of certain studies, some of which sound overgeneralized and oversimplified but may serve as excellent teaching points. I would recomend getting the kindle version with audio to gain access to the bibleography and notes as you will likely want to examine her sources for yourself.
the recording itself had some problems for me and some of the audio editing was sloppy. for those with a kindle fire using the text to speach wouldnt be that much worse than the audiobook version.

Research approach to attractiveness

Honestly, I think erotic capital is something that should be talked about more often. I work in an industry where my looks is what gets my foot in the door, and keeps me in the house, and this book was reinforcing all those concepts I kinda speculated but didn’t think through.
Worth the read.