Erotic Capital
Encyclopedia
Sexual capital or erotic capital is a form of social worthiness granted to an individual
, as a result of his or her sexual attractiveness to the majority of his or her social group. As with other forms of capital
, sexual capital is convertible, and may be useful in acquiring other forms of capital, including social capital
and economic capital
.
, and predicts that people invest rationally in exhibiting their sex appeal when they can expect a return on their investments. This he defines as a form of health capital which is itself a form of individual capital
.
’s idea of “fields”.
This definition builds on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of capital. Green defines "erotic capital" as accruing to an individual due to the quality and quantity of attributes that he or she possesses which elicit an erotic response in another, including physical appearance, affect
and sociocultural styles. Some of these attributes may be immutable, such as an individual's race or height
, while others may be acquired artificially through fitness training, plastic surgery
, a makeover
, etc. There is no single hegemonic form of erotic (sexual) capital. On the contrary, currencies of capital are quite variable, acquiring a hegemonic status in relation to the erotic preferences of highly specialized social groups that distinguish one sexual field
from another. Importantly, this means that erotic capital is best conceived as a property of the field, and not an individual form of capital
A second definition is developed by Catherine Hakim
, treating erotic capital as the fourth personal asset. This definition is a multifaceted combination of physical and social attractiveness that goes well beyond sexual attractiveness that is the focus of the 'fields' perspective. Unlike the former conception of erotic capital, Hakim's erotic capital is an individual capital with no necessary referent to a field
, politics
, advertising
, sport
s, the arts
, and in everyday social interaction
, and includes:
Catherine Hakim's theory of Erotic Capital argues that erotic capital is a valuable fourth personal asset, alongside economic capital, cultural/human capital and social capital; that erotic capital is increasingly important in affluent modern societies; and that women generally have more erotic capital than men because they work harder at it.
Adam Isaiah Green finds that sexual capital may be related to both sexual and mental health, as when individuals with low erotic capital show diminished ability to talk about or negotiate condom use with a partner possessing greater erotic capital, and develop negative emotional states as a consequence of feeling unattractive.
In broader theoretical terms, sexual capital is important for social theory insofar as it is one among other types of capital
, including social capital
, symbolic capital
, and cultural capital
which influence the status accorded individual members of the larger society. Sexual capital is convertible to other forms of capital, as when actors parlay erotic capital into financial capital or social capital (e.g. Marilyn Monroe
), or when attractive employees get raises and social connections from bringing in more customers by virtue of their looks.
By contrast, Green finds a more complex relationship of erotic capital to race whereby some black men are afforded high sexual status in the context of a gay sexual field in New York City precisely because they appeal to the racialized fantasies of some white gay men.
Susan Koshy argues that Asian women have gained “sexual capital” in the West through glamorous accounts of western male – Asian female sexual relationships in the media and arts. James Farrer argues that white men living in China have enhanced "sexual capital" arising out of associations of whiteness with modernity, sexual openness and mobility.
. Groes-Green argues that sexual capital and other forms of bodily power become important resources among disenfranchised young men in Southern Africa when their access to economic capital
and jobs is diminished. Groes-Green further argues that the emergence of sexual capital is linked to gender
relations, e.g. when poor young men build sexual capital by grooming their looks and improving sexual performance in order to satisfy female partners and in competition with middle class
peers and older so-called 'sugar-daddies'. Thus sexual capital reinforces masculinity
in the face of male disempowerment, and it often develops as a response to conflict between hegemonic and subordinated masculinities.
Individual capital
Individual capital, also known as human capital, comprises inalienable or personal traits of persons, tied to their bodies and available only through their own free will, such as skill, creativity, enterprise, courage, capacity for moral example, non-communicable wisdom, invention or empathy,...
, as a result of his or her sexual attractiveness to the majority of his or her social group. As with other forms of capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
, sexual capital is convertible, and may be useful in acquiring other forms of capital, including social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
and economic capital
Economic capital
-Finance and Economics:In financial services firms, economic capital can be thought of as the capital level shareholders would choose in absence of capital regulation....
.
Economic
The first more economic-related definition is based on the “human capital” theory of Gary BeckerGary Becker
Gary Stanley Becker is an American economist. He is a professor of economics, sociology at the University of Chicago and a professor at the Booth School of Business. He was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 1992, and received the United States' Presidential Medal of Freedom...
, and predicts that people invest rationally in exhibiting their sex appeal when they can expect a return on their investments. This he defines as a form of health capital which is itself a form of individual capital
Individual capital
Individual capital, also known as human capital, comprises inalienable or personal traits of persons, tied to their bodies and available only through their own free will, such as skill, creativity, enterprise, courage, capacity for moral example, non-communicable wisdom, invention or empathy,...
.
Sociology
The sociological definition is based on the Pierre BourdieuPierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, and philosopher.Starting from the role of economic capital for social positioning, Bourdieu pioneered investigative frameworks and terminologies such as cultural, social, and symbolic capital, and the concepts of habitus, field or location,...
’s idea of “fields”.
This definition builds on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of capital. Green defines "erotic capital" as accruing to an individual due to the quality and quantity of attributes that he or she possesses which elicit an erotic response in another, including physical appearance, affect
Affect (psychology)
Affect refers to the experience of feeling or emotion. Affect is a key part of the process of an organism's interaction with stimuli. The word also refers sometimes to affect display, which is "a facial, vocal, or gestural behavior that serves as an indicator of affect" .The affective domain...
and sociocultural styles. Some of these attributes may be immutable, such as an individual's race or height
Height
Height is the measurement of vertical distance, but has two meanings in common use. It can either indicate how "tall" something is, or how "high up" it is. For example "The height of the building is 50 m" or "The height of the airplane is 10,000 m"...
, while others may be acquired artificially through fitness training, plastic surgery
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery is a medical specialty concerned with the correction or restoration of form and function. Though cosmetic or aesthetic surgery is the best-known kind of plastic surgery, most plastic surgery is not cosmetic: plastic surgery includes many types of reconstructive surgery, hand...
, a makeover
Makeover
A makeover is a term applied to changing one's appearance, sometimes through cosmetics. Makeovers can range from something as simple as a new haircut, to the use of cosmetic surgery, to the extreme of the implantation of dental veneers, eye-color-changing contact lenses, and the use of...
, etc. There is no single hegemonic form of erotic (sexual) capital. On the contrary, currencies of capital are quite variable, acquiring a hegemonic status in relation to the erotic preferences of highly specialized social groups that distinguish one sexual field
Sexual field
A sexual field is an arena of social life whereby individuals compete for sexual status. The term builds on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of field and has been defined as a "set of interlocking institutions" and an "institutionalized matrix of relations" that confers status upon sexual actors based...
from another. Importantly, this means that erotic capital is best conceived as a property of the field, and not an individual form of capital
A second definition is developed by Catherine Hakim
Catherine Hakim
Catherine Hakim is a British sociologist and former civil servant. She is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Centre for Policy Studies. Her research is focused on labour market topics, women's issues and research methods. She is known for developing the preference theory and criticism of...
, treating erotic capital as the fourth personal asset. This definition is a multifaceted combination of physical and social attractiveness that goes well beyond sexual attractiveness that is the focus of the 'fields' perspective. Unlike the former conception of erotic capital, Hakim's erotic capital is an individual capital with no necessary referent to a field
Importance
Catherine Hakim suggests that erotic capital matters beyond the sexual field, and beyond private relationships. She has shown that erotic capital is important in the mediaMass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
, politics
Politics
Politics is a process by which groups of people make collective decisions. The term is generally applied to the art or science of running governmental or state affairs, including behavior within civil governments, but also applies to institutions, fields, and special interest groups such as the...
, advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
, sport
Sport
A Sport is all forms of physical activity which, through casual or organised participation, aim to use, maintain or improve physical fitness and provide entertainment to participants. Sport may be competitive, where a winner or winners can be identified by objective means, and may require a degree...
s, the arts
The arts
The arts are a vast subdivision of culture, composed of many creative endeavors and disciplines. It is a broader term than "art", which as a description of a field usually means only the visual arts. The arts encompass visual arts, literary arts and the performing arts – music, theatre, dance and...
, and in everyday social interaction
Interpersonal relationship
An interpersonal relationship is an association between two or more people that may range from fleeting to enduring. This association may be based on limerence, love, solidarity, regular business interactions, or some other type of social commitment. Interpersonal relationships are formed in the...
, and includes:
- BeautyPhysical attractivenessPhysical attractiveness refers to a person's physical traits which are perceived to be aesthetically pleasing or beautiful. The term often implies sexual attractiveness or desirability, but can also be distinct from the two; for example, humans may regard the young as attractive for various...
- Sexual attractivenessSexual attractionSexual attractiveness or sex appeal refers to an individual's ability to attract the sexual or erotic interest of another person, and is a factor in sexual selection or mate choice. The attraction can be to the physical or other qualities or traits of a person, or to such qualities in the context...
- Social attractiveness
- Vivaciousness
- Presentation
- SexualityHuman sexualityHuman sexuality is the awareness of gender differences, and the capacity to have erotic experiences and responses. Human sexuality can also be described as the way someone is sexually attracted to another person whether it is to opposite sexes , to the same sex , to either sexes , or not being...
- FertilityFertilityFertility is the natural capability of producing offsprings. As a measure, "fertility rate" is the number of children born per couple, person or population. Fertility differs from fecundity, which is defined as the potential for reproduction...
Catherine Hakim's theory of Erotic Capital argues that erotic capital is a valuable fourth personal asset, alongside economic capital, cultural/human capital and social capital; that erotic capital is increasingly important in affluent modern societies; and that women generally have more erotic capital than men because they work harder at it.
Adam Isaiah Green finds that sexual capital may be related to both sexual and mental health, as when individuals with low erotic capital show diminished ability to talk about or negotiate condom use with a partner possessing greater erotic capital, and develop negative emotional states as a consequence of feeling unattractive.
In broader theoretical terms, sexual capital is important for social theory insofar as it is one among other types of capital
Capital (economics)
In economics, capital, capital goods, or real capital refers to already-produced durable goods used in production of goods or services. The capital goods are not significantly consumed, though they may depreciate in the production process...
, including social capital
Social capital
Social capital is a sociological concept, which refers to connections within and between social networks. The concept of social capital highlights the value of social relations and the role of cooperation and confidence to get collective or economic results. The term social capital is frequently...
, symbolic capital
Symbolic capital
In sociology and anthropology, symbolic capital can be referred to as the resources available to an individual on the basis of honor, prestige or recognition, and functions as an authoritative embodiment of cultural value...
, and cultural capital
Cultural capital
The term cultural capital refers to non-financial social assets; they may be educational or intellectual, which might promote social mobility beyond economic means....
which influence the status accorded individual members of the larger society. Sexual capital is convertible to other forms of capital, as when actors parlay erotic capital into financial capital or social capital (e.g. Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe was an American actress, singer, model and showgirl who became a major sex symbol, starring in a number of commercially successful motion pictures during the 1950s....
), or when attractive employees get raises and social connections from bringing in more customers by virtue of their looks.
Race
Several studies suggest that sexual capital is closely associated with race or racial stereotypes of sexual attractiveness. Gonzales and Rolison argue that regardless of income US white men enjoy higher levels of “sexual capital” than black men, black women and white women, allowing them more sexual opportunities and more latitude for sexual experimentation.By contrast, Green finds a more complex relationship of erotic capital to race whereby some black men are afforded high sexual status in the context of a gay sexual field in New York City precisely because they appeal to the racialized fantasies of some white gay men.
Susan Koshy argues that Asian women have gained “sexual capital” in the West through glamorous accounts of western male – Asian female sexual relationships in the media and arts. James Farrer argues that white men living in China have enhanced "sexual capital" arising out of associations of whiteness with modernity, sexual openness and mobility.
Class and gender
Scholars suggest that sexual capital is closely tied to social classSocial class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
. Groes-Green argues that sexual capital and other forms of bodily power become important resources among disenfranchised young men in Southern Africa when their access to economic capital
Economic capital
-Finance and Economics:In financial services firms, economic capital can be thought of as the capital level shareholders would choose in absence of capital regulation....
and jobs is diminished. Groes-Green further argues that the emergence of sexual capital is linked to gender
Gender
Gender is a range of characteristics used to distinguish between males and females, particularly in the cases of men and women and the masculine and feminine attributes assigned to them. Depending on the context, the discriminating characteristics vary from sex to social role to gender identity...
relations, e.g. when poor young men build sexual capital by grooming their looks and improving sexual performance in order to satisfy female partners and in competition with middle class
Middle class
The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....
peers and older so-called 'sugar-daddies'. Thus sexual capital reinforces masculinity
Masculinity
Masculinity is possessing qualities or characteristics considered typical of or appropriate to a man. The term can be used to describe any human, animal or object that has the quality of being masculine...
in the face of male disempowerment, and it often develops as a response to conflict between hegemonic and subordinated masculinities.
External links
- Have you got erotic capital? Prospect Magazine