Erotic capital is not only a major asset in mating and marriage markets, but can also be important in labour markets, the media, politics, advertising, sports, Dana Kaplan and Eva Illouz disentangle the current cultural politics of heterosexual life, arguing that sex – that messy amalgam of sexual affects and experiences – has increasingly assumed an economic character. Some may opt for plastic surgery to beautify their face or body, while others may consume popular sex advice or attend seduction classes. Beyond particular practices such as these, the authors trace an emerging form of “neoliberal” sexual capital, which is the ability to glean self-appreciation from sexual encounters and to use this self-value to foster employability, as exemplified by Silicon Valley sex parties. The study of collective intimate life—including everything from with whom we “hook up” to whom we marry—has been rather devoid of sociological imagination.

Koshy, Susan (2004). Sexual Naturalization: Asian Americans and Miscegenation. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-8047-4729-5. a b c d e f Hakim, Catherine (2010). "Erotic capital". European Sociological Review. 26 (5): 499–518. doi: 10.1093/esr/jcq014. S2CID 198118608.Theories of Sexual Stratification: Toward an Analytics of the Sexual. Field and a Theory of Sexual Capital*. John Levi Martin. The sociological definition is based on Bourdieu's idea of fields. [1] [10] [11] This definition builds on Bourdieu's concept of capital. [12] Green defines sexual capital as accruing to an individual or group 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 through fitness training, or artificially, through plastic surgery or a makeover, etc. [1] 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. [1] Marilyn Monroe, in 1952. Monroe was considered to be attractive. An ad in 'Ladies' home journal' from 1948. Both the man and the woman are considered attractive (they have a large amount of sexual capital) Howard, Khoa Phan (8 September 2021). "The Creepy White Guy and the Helpless Asian: How Sexual Racism Persists in a Gay Interracial Friendship Group". Social Problems. 70 (2): 361–377. doi: 10.1093/socpro/spab052. Hakim, Catherine (2010). "Erotic capital". European Sociological Review. 26 (5): 499–518. doi: 10.1093/esr/jcq014. S2CID 198118608.

Capital University does not discriminate against students, faculty or staff based on sex in any of its programs or activities, including but not limited to Green, Adam Isaiah (2008). "Health and Sexual Status in an Urban Gay Enclave: An Application of the Stress Process Model". Journal of Health and Social Behavior. American Sociological Association. 49 (4): 436–451. doi: 10.1177/002214650804900405. PMID 19181048. S2CID 32929594. Hakim, Catherine (2011). Erotic Capital: The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom. Basic Books. pp.16–18. ISBN 978-0465027477. Catherine Hakim's theory of erotic capital argues that erotic capital is an important fourth personal asset, alongside economic capital, cultural/ human capital and social capital; that erotic capital is increasingly important in affluent modern societies; that women generally have more erotic capital than men, and that erotic capital has social benefits and privileges that benefit the female gender. [2] This definition of erotic capital has been contested by some sociologists who reject the idea that erotic capital / sexual capital is something individuals possess, like a portable portfolio of resources, with no implicit link to the particular sexual field in which such characteristics are deemed desirable. [15]However, rather than reducing sexual capital to the attractive female body, the authors provide a more contextual understanding of the concept by asking under which socio-historical conditions sexuality has translated into (different forms of) capital for both men and women. The authors present a historical account of sexuality formations that have transformed with a transition from early modern bourgeois societies to today’s neoliberal capitalist societies. In this sense, the authors, despite their Western-oriented perspective, present a compelling alternative to Hakim’s ahistorical conceptualization of sexual capital. More and more, "capital" is deployed for conceptualizing and theorizing around the many aspects of the self that can be leveraged for profit. In What Is Sexual Capital? Dana Kaplan and Eva Illouz take on the titular form of capital to examine how sexuality, as it has historically progressed from traditional religious morals through a more secular modernity and entered the neoliberal era, has become inextricable from capitalist social structures. A second definition is developed by 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 Green's conception of sexual capital, Hakim's erotic capital is an individual capital with no necessary referent to a field. [2] Hamermesh, Daniel S; Biddle, Jeff E (November 1993). "Beauty and the Labor Market". Working Paper Series. doi: 10.3386/w4518.

Green, Adam Isaiah (2008). "The Social Organization of Desire: The Sexual Fields Approach". Sociological Theory. Philadelphia, PA: American Sociological Association. 26: 25–50. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9558.2008.00317.x. S2CID 144338029. Archived from the original on 2013-01-05. Biddle, Jeff E.; Hamermesh, Daniel S. (1 January 1998). "Beauty, Productivity, and Discrimination: Lawyers' Looks and Lucre" (PDF). Journal of Labor Economics. 16 (1): 172–201. doi: 10.1086/209886. ISSN 0734-306X. S2CID 158876583.

Sexual capital can be present in both secular and religious settings. Willey has shown that in an Evangelical youth group, sexual and erotic capital still play a role in partner selection. [14] Young adults often find a romantic interest in their church groups, often by choosing a partner who has sought-after traits, or a desirable personal capital portfolio. [14]Within the Evangelical youth groups studied, sexual capital was displayed as virginal capital, in which an individual was considered more romantically desirable by the group when they had not engaged in sexual activity. [14] Additionally, some studies point out how adolescents may reduce their religious involvement around their sexual debut. [28] Pentecostal adolescents in Cape Town were shown to reduce their church attendance in early adulthood, with some resuming their previous attendance after finding a long-term partner. [28] These studies show some of the effects of religion on influencing sexual behavior norms of a community. While limited studies have been conducted on the effects of sexual and erotic capital within other religious communities, much has been written on how religion has shaped human sexuality.

While Hakim argues that sexual capital can be exchanged and modified by an individual, this is only possible for the average person in certain sociopolitical contexts. An individual is bounded by their society's views on sex, sexuality and social norms. In some cases, like in a neoliberal secular society, individuals have a wider freedom of choice in how they present their sexuality and eroticism. [36] Bay-Cheng argues that in neoliberal societies, an individual's motivation for their behavior, along with the behavior itself, is used to evaluate their sexual capital. [38] See also [ edit ] Because desirability in a sexual field may depend on more than merely sexual attractiveness, Green (2014) develops the concept, capital portfolio, to capture the particular combination of capitals that make an individual or group more desirable than others. Capital portfolios typically involve a combination of sexual capital with economic, cultural and social capitals. [6] As an example, to the extent that women, on average, value financial resources (i.e., economic capital) in their male partners more than sexual capital, and men value sexual capital more than economic capital in their female partners, so one may conclude that heterosexual women and men seek out distinctive capital portfolios that include a different, gendered balance of capitals. [35] [6] Criticism [ edit ] a b c Green, Adam Isaiah (2014). Sexual Fields: Toward a Sociology of Collective Sexual Life. University of Chicago Press. a b c Green, Adam Isaiah (1 January 2013). " 'Erotic capital' and the power of desirability: Why 'honey money' is a bad collective strategy for remedying gender inequality". Sexualities. 16 (1–2): 137–158. doi: 10.1177/1363460712471109. ISSN 1363-4607. S2CID 143070896.It is not nature that determines our ideas about sexuality, but society. Whereas it was religion that regulated sex in the past, today it is the economy. No wonder, then, that »sexual« or »erotic capital« has become a common metaphor in sociology, gender studies, sexology and even in everyday language to describe the motives and consequences of practices to increase sexual attractiveness, for example. Hakim, Catherine (2011). Erotic Capital: The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom. Basic Books. pp. 16–18. ISBN 978-0465027477.