Is erotic capital your key to success?

Have you put your makeup on today? Are you flaunting those curves? Have you left those soft curls to dance on your cheeks as you pout your blood-red lips?   

You get the picture.

That’s disgusting, some would say. That’s sexists, the feminist would argue. And then some would simply give the all-knowing half smile.

Women and men for centuries knew that looking good was important, yet some like me couldn’t bother with putting make-up in the morning if it meant a few extra minutes of sleep.  

But I was jolted out of my slumber last night when the News-night presenter suddenly asked, is erotic capital an important factor in workplace success? 

The question was prompted by a study done by an LSE sociologist Dr Catherine Hakim last year whose book Honey Money was published recently.

I missed the buzz around the study then. (Thank god for that, as last year I had put on at least 10kgs and was trotting like a duck in webbed feet to work until a week before Zoya was born.) Now in a better place, I decided to browse through the book for some light reading.

I admit I was a little curious especially after Hakim said the study concluded that beauty and sex appeal have become more important personal assets often just as important as educational qualifications.  

Erotic capital was a term coined by Hakim in 2010- a combination of physical and social attractiveness which makes some men and women agreeable company to colleagues, attractive to all members of their society and especially to the opposite sex.   

It’s the newest addition to the other capitals that we all should possess – economic, cultural and social and applies to both men & women in the workplace.

Hakim identifies six elements of erotic capital: beauty, sexual attractiveness, social graces, liveliness, social presentation and sexual performance. And in some countries the seventh, she says is fertility.

So I asked my friends and colleagues if erotic capital is their key to success.

Jane, a trendy young brunette, blushed for two minutes before she whispered ‘I hope so. I’m not that intelligent but I have been told I’m cute.’ She is fresh out of college and has found herself a retail job in her first interview.

Kevin told me he didn’t believe in this ‘rubbish’. ‘I’m a charmer and though I’m not the traditional sexy bloke, I’m a charmer’, he repeated. Kevin has a good sense of humour and is easy going and helpful which makes him very popular with his colleagues.

‘I’m a great people's person. Most people don’t like to talk much with ugly people. Its helps to look good and its important to dress well and look pretty,’ said Alana who confessed that she spend 45 minutes on makeup and hair every morning. ‘I pick up my outfit the night before, so I know exactly what accessories-bag, shoes, jewellery- I need with it. Gives more time in the morning to do make-up’, she explains. 

‘I think all this is disgusting. I’m very well educated and have a lot of experience. Why do I need to flaunt my looks, I have brains,’ said Mandy, a senior consultant in a law firm.

George believes that beauty is a thing that women fuss over. ‘Men don’t care much as along as they look clean and manly they are happy’. Manly, he said, was not getting caught in tight jeans and shocking pink shirt!

Mannford says that ‘being handsome is half the job done; for the other half you need to dress well and talk well-be intelligent and mysterious. And of course, be rich, that’s the biggest attraction!’

Since a year that ‘erotic capital’ made headline, men magazines too have capitalized on it. Men’s Health magazine gives tips to Increase your 'Erotic Capital' to attract the hottest women. There has been no dearth of such articles in women magazines for centuries.

And unfortunately some who don’t fit in cosmetically have suffered in the workplace.

A month ago, a young sales assistant Melanie Stark at Harrods was made to quit because she refused to wear full make-up. The two-page "ladies" dress code at Harrods stipulates: "Full makeup at all time: base, blusher, full eyes (not too heavy), lipstick, lip liner and gloss are worn at all time and maintained discreetly (please take into account the store display lighting which has a 'washing out' effect)."

Abercrombie & Fitch in Saville Row was accused of "hiding" a sales assistant in a stockroom because her prosthetic arm did not fit with its "look policy". In 2009 a tribunal awarded her £8,000 for unlawful harassment.

Although I believe that no one should be able to tell you to wear make-up (or grow an arm), I don’t see any harm is looking good, flaunting your looks, being sociable, intelligent and interesting. But what does sexual performance and fertility have to do with workplace success?

I asked Dan if he was more popular since our daughter's birth. He gave me the look (stop asking idiotic questions!) I'm the wife so I know how to nag till I get my answers, but he only blurted out, 'I think Zoya is more popular now than you & I'. That I agree. 

Even though Hakim’s book explains this using several examples across different global cultures, I don’t think it still justifies including these two elements but the anecdotes are interesting.

So with erotic capital being the buzz word of this decade, has Hakim convinced me enough to finally indulge in full make-up & hair every morning?

Over my sleep? Hell no!