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<v Speaker 1>Hello and welcome to the Sociology Show podcast. In this episode,

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<v Speaker 1>doctor Catherine Hackem is going to explain all about erotic capital.

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<v Speaker 1>Now you've probably heard of economic capital or cultural capital,

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<v Speaker 1>maybe even social capital, but what about erotic capital. In

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<v Speaker 1>this episode, Hackem talks all about how important our looks

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<v Speaker 1>are in terms of how we progress in society, how

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<v Speaker 1>we're viewed from others, and how successful we are. So,

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<v Speaker 1>without further ado, let's go over to the episode with

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<v Speaker 1>Dr Catherine Hackem talking all about erotic capital.

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<v Speaker 2>I think and prousion. I drew from a study of

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<v Speaker 2>online dating, whilst the crucial importance of good looks, especially

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<v Speaker 2>for women. This will not surprise young people, but sociology

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<v Speaker 2>has never paid proper attention to the importance of appearance.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh I changed that. I gave it the label erotic capital,

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<v Speaker 2>and I regard it as a fourth personal asset alongside

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<v Speaker 2>the three personal assorts that Bordeaux identified. He called them

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<v Speaker 2>capital and he identified free capitals economics capital sensally money

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<v Speaker 2>and land, human or cultural capital sensally education and saying.

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<v Speaker 2>And then the third one is social capital. Who you

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<v Speaker 2>know instead of what you know? So I seated erotic

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<v Speaker 2>capital as the fourth personal effort that people can use

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<v Speaker 2>in just the same way as the other three. And

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<v Speaker 2>as soon as I published an article describing this fourth

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<v Speaker 2>personal assets of erotic capital, and then also a book

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<v Speaker 2>on the same topic, everyone else piled in saying they

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<v Speaker 2>got their first. The labels multiplied. A whole pile of

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<v Speaker 2>different labels were offered, some of them knew and some

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<v Speaker 2>of them not new. So they include appearance, beauty, attractiveness,

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<v Speaker 2>good looks, body capital, physical capital, physical attractiveness, esthetic capital,

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<v Speaker 2>esthetic labor, emotional labor, effective capital, and in some cases

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<v Speaker 2>sexual capital. I say that erotic capital is multifaceted. It's

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<v Speaker 2>a combination of physical and social attractiveness with six elements.

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<v Speaker 2>So the first is facial beauty, very obviously as you

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<v Speaker 2>see it in photos. A second one is a good body,

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<v Speaker 2>which everybody recognizes is important. The third one is fitness

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<v Speaker 2>and liveliness as displayed in dancing sports. The fourth charm

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<v Speaker 2>and social skills, a positive personality that makes people enjoy

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<v Speaker 2>your company and like to meet you. Another one is

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<v Speaker 2>good dress sense and style, knowing how to present yourself

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<v Speaker 2>in terms of how you were, what codd you wear,

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<v Speaker 2>and so on, And I would also add sex appeal

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<v Speaker 2>the ability to flirt and to make yourself appealing to people.

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<v Speaker 2>In the first article that I published on this, I

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<v Speaker 2>included sexual competence, but I think I now think that

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<v Speaker 2>I made a mistake in that you can't include sexual

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<v Speaker 2>competence firstly, because it can't be measured. All the other

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<v Speaker 2>things can be measured. There's some difficulty about measuring all

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<v Speaker 2>of them, but you can measure them. Sexual competence can't

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<v Speaker 2>be measured because it's too private and it only matters

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<v Speaker 2>in any case to the particular people that you have

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<v Speaker 2>sexual relations with, and tastes differ in that area. So

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<v Speaker 2>it's a combination of visual, physical, esthetic, and social attractiveness

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<v Speaker 2>to other members of your society in your particular culture.

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<v Speaker 2>Young people understand the concept easily. Older people often reject

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<v Speaker 2>the idea out of hand, saying it should not matter

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<v Speaker 2>because they can't compete, of course, And I've also noticed

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<v Speaker 2>that in journalists, the journalists who are commenting on the

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<v Speaker 2>theory of erotic capital, it's the ugly ones and the

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<v Speaker 2>older ones who tend to be very negative about it

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<v Speaker 2>and essentially argue that it shouldn't matter, even if it

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<v Speaker 2>does matter. Well, that's no good. The fact is social

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<v Speaker 2>science sociology looks at how the world works and what

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<v Speaker 2>is real, whether you like it or you don't like it.

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<v Speaker 2>Research those that people who score high on effectiveness earn more,

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<v Speaker 2>are promoted more quickly, have more friends than lovers, are

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<v Speaker 2>assumed to be clever of well as affective. They smile

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<v Speaker 2>at everyone, and the world smiles that. There are three

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<v Speaker 2>reasons why erotic capital matters more today than in the past,

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<v Speaker 2>and why it's becoming increasingly important and valuable. First, new

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<v Speaker 2>technology have made everyone visible. Digital photographs on Facebook and

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<v Speaker 2>newspapers make it possible to see people who remained invisible

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<v Speaker 2>in the past unless you have met them face to face.

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<v Speaker 2>The Internet expands the use of photographs. Everyone can see

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<v Speaker 2>those clooney He has become globally famous well beyond his films. Today,

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<v Speaker 2>film styles, singers and musicians, writers, even politicians need to

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<v Speaker 2>be attractive as well as skilled in their profession because

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<v Speaker 2>their photos will be seen everywhere. People who are beautiful

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<v Speaker 2>have easier access to these occupations, so that helps get

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<v Speaker 2>them in the Second reason is the Western world and

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<v Speaker 2>many other countries are more affluent now, so we value

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<v Speaker 2>and buy luxury such as beauty, courtesy, charming, good manners, knife, clothes,

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<v Speaker 2>pleasant service, good looks. Wealthy countries spend more un luxuries

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<v Speaker 2>than poor countries. Wealthy people spend a lot more on

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<v Speaker 2>luxuries than poor people. Beauty is one of the most

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<v Speaker 2>popular luxuries wealthy men, for example, through beautiful wives, as

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<v Speaker 2>illustrated by Donald Trumk. Thirdly, the workplace of saints. The

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<v Speaker 2>social skills and palms are crucial now in many jobs

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<v Speaker 2>except for manual and laboring jobs. The professional and white

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<v Speaker 2>collar work conservice sector work makes erotic capital more important

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<v Speaker 2>because look good social relationships and smooth social interaction are

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<v Speaker 2>crucial in the workplace. Attractive lawyers and salespeople earn more

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<v Speaker 2>than ugly lawyers and salespeople. Attractive political candidates get more

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<v Speaker 2>votes than ugly candidate. A nice measure of that from

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<v Speaker 2>several studies is they get fifteen percent more votes than

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<v Speaker 2>unattractive candidates. And it's particularly important for young people and

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<v Speaker 2>newcomers to politics, and you get roughly the same figures.

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<v Speaker 2>Also in the labor market, on average, it's around fifteen

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<v Speaker 2>percent more the earnings for people who are attractive rather

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<v Speaker 2>than unattractive, but I say in my book that it's

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<v Speaker 2>between ten percent more and twenty percent more. And of course,

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<v Speaker 2>in certain jobs like being models or whatever, you can

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<v Speaker 2>earn or film stuff, you can earn hundreds of times

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<v Speaker 2>more than people who are not attracted. So this is

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<v Speaker 2>an important element that we have to recognize now in

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<v Speaker 2>a modern world that wasn't as important in the past.

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