The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom
July 18, 2011
This enthusiastic but unpersuasive book succeeds in marrying economics with eros, but suffers from its shallow analysis. Piggybacking on Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "social capital," Hakim argues that in addition to our economic and social privilege, our attractiveness (or lack thereof) plays a powerful role in the public as well as private sphere. While readers might expect Hakim's multidisciplinary approach to make surprising connections, her book, aside from its provocative premise, contains no eureka moments. The author, an expert on women's employment and family policy, has a surprisingly thin understanding of feminism's relationship with sexuality. She writes, "Even attractive feminists like Gloria Steinem, who once worked as a bunny in a Playboy club, have never championed women's erotic capital"âwithout addressing how the sex-positive movement explicitly addressed the positive side of women's sexuality (in and out of the workplace). Some of her reported research is fascinatingâsay, while attractive women and men are more likely to get hired, attractive women are less likely to be promoted than good-looking menâshe rarely investigates the broader ramifications of such behavior. She falls back on such dubious claims as, "Physical attractiveness enhances productivity in management and professional occupations... mainly because attractive and agreeable people are easier to work with, and more persuasive."