Catherine Hakim: Women should use their 'erotic capital' to get ahead

Women should use their “erotic capital” to get ahead, according to social scientist and author Dr Catherine Hakim.

The author of Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital said the combination of physical and social attractiveness “has economic value, helps you get promoted and helps you do well in your job”.

“The research evidence that I review in my book shows that people who are attractive earn between 10 and 20 per cent more than people who are unattractive,” she told Irish Times journalist Laura Slattery in the latest episode of The Women’s Podcast.

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Hakim and Hannah Beresford, a law and political science student at Trinity College Dublin, had taken part in a debate at the college last week. The motion was: “This house would use its sexuality to get ahead.”

“I don’t think that we should be endorsing something that doesn’t make you any better at doing a particular job. Because this goes beyond just being able to socialise well, it goes beyond just having charm.

“It is about having certain physical attributes. I think that is quite unfair in that it is not necessarily a good measure of how good you will be at something,” Beresford said.

Also on the podcast, Tony award-winning director Garry Hynes talked to guest presenter Bernice Harrison about her production of Big Maggie by John B Keane, #WakingTheFeminists and how her 2014 civil partnership ceremony to Martha O’Neill unexpectedly made headlines.

“Big Maggie is essentially a woman in a loveless marriage, with four children, effectively a victim of the attitude towards women that prevailed in Ireland in the 50s and 60s who, when her husband dies, decides she is going to take charge of her own life and, in particular, charge of her own family and her business. And she does so against the expectations and the beliefs of her own children,” Hynes said.

Big Maggie, starring Aisling O’Sullivan in the title role, will preview on the January 29th and 30th and open on February 1st. It runs until February 20th at the Gaiety Theatre in Dublin.

Later in the podcast, musical guest Mongoose and barber-by-day Dave Judge talked about the month-long celebration of women in music at an unlikely venue in Dublin: Abner Browns barbershop in Rathmines.

The series runs until February 18th and showcases some of the best independent female musicians in Ireland. Mongoose is scheduled to perform on February 11th. Find more details on the Abner Browns Barbershop Facebook page.

The Women’s Podcast question of the week is: What has been making you laugh lately?

Listeners are invited to tweet their answers to the question of the week @ITWomensPodcast, post to our Facebook page or email thewomenspodcast@irishtimes.com.

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