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. Singh, Devendra (1995). "Female judgment of male attractiveness and desirability for relationships: Role of waist-to-hip ratio and financial status". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 69 (6): 1089–1101. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.69.6.1089. ISSN 1939-1315. PMID 8531056. Bay-Cheng, Laina Y. (1 October 2015). "The Agency Line: A Neoliberal Metric for Appraising Young Women's Sexuality". Sex Roles. 73 (7): 279–291. doi: 10.1007/s11199-015-0452-6. ISSN 1573-2762. S2CID 143647756. Lucidly the book analyses how little sexuality has to do with us and how much it has to do with society.« Silke Weber, DIE ZEIT

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, 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. The term erotic capital was first used by British sociologist Catherine Hakim in the early 2000s. Hakim defined it as separate from and building upon French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu's concepts of economic, cultural, and social capital. She says erotic capital is independent of class origin and enables social mobility, and argues that this makes erotic capital socially subversive, which results in the prevailing power structures devaluing and trying to suppress it. [3] In the manosphere, the parallel term sexual market value or its abbreviation SMV is often used. [4] Definition [ edit ] Economic [ edit ] Social attractiveness ("grace, charm, social skills in interaction, the ability to make people like you, feel at ease and happy, want to know you and, where relevant, desire you" [13]) a b Fresnoza-Flot, A.; Liu-Farrer, G. (2022). Tangled Mobilities: Places, Affects, and Personhood Across Social Spheres in Asian Migration. Worlds in Motion. Berghahn Books. p.30. ISBN 978-1-80073-567-5 . Retrieved 20 October 2023.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.

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. 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. Theories of Sexual Stratification: Toward an Analytics of the Sexual. Field and a Theory of Sexual Capital*. John Levi Martin. Accordingly, I argue that this typology renders the book an invaluable resource that gender/sex(uality) scholars can use to guide their future research. Through its class-based perspective, the book would be also helpful for those interested in the political economy of sex(uality), while it would be an invaluable resource for sociologists who study the embeddedness of economic and social relations into each other with a gendered focus. Illouz and Kaplan note an interesting realisation: the current discussion on sexual identities overlooks an important problem – namely the fact that the ability to benefit from sexual capital unequally distributed across society. Self-employed, creative professions in particular are subject to the performance pressure of sexual capital. A theory, therefore, that every freelance artist should engage with for their own benefit!« Sarah Pines, Die literarische Welt

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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. Research with female sex workers (FSW) shows that communitarian social capital is associated with increased condom use and lower prevalence of sexually a b Burchardt, Marian (2011). "Challenging Pentecostal moralism: erotic geographies, religion and sexual practices among township youth in Cape Town". Culture, Health & Sexuality. 13 (6): 669–683. doi: 10.1080/13691058.2011.566356. ISSN 1369-1058. JSTOR 41148834. PMID 21462006. S2CID 27232949. Elaborating on the concept of sexual capital, she uses little-known newspapers and periodicals, letters, testimonios, court cases, short stories, 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.

For more, see Green, Adam Isaiah (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. S2CID 143070896.Michael, Robert T. (2004). "Sexual Capital: An extension of Grossman's concept of health capital". Journal of Health Economics. 23 (4): 643–652. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2004.04.003. PMID 15587691. Hamermesh, Daniel S; Biddle, Jeff E (November 1993). "Beauty and the Labor Market". Working Paper Series. doi: 10.3386/w4518. a b c d e f Green, Adam Isaiah (2008). "The Social Organization of Desire: The Sexual Fields Approach". Sociological Theory. Philadelphia: American Sociological Association. 26: 25–50. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9558.2008.00317.x. S2CID 144338029. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. 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. 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.

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 a b Weber, Shannon (2015), "Lesbian communities", The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality, American Cancer Society, pp.649–719, doi: 10.1002/9781118896877.wbiehs266, ISBN 9781118896877 It discusses how the women develop and mobilize their sexual capital, using their bodies and sexual practices to constitute themselves as eroticGreen, 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. Hamermesh, Daniel S; Meng, Xin; Zhang, Junsen (1 July 2002). "Dress for success—does primping pay?" (PDF). Labour Economics. 9 (3): 361–373. doi: 10.1016/S0927-5371(02)00014-3. ISSN 0927-5371. Martin, John Levi; George, Matt (2006). "Theories of Sexual Stratification: Toward an Analytics of the Sexual Field and a Theory of Sexual Capital". Sociological Theory. 24 (2): 107–132. doi: 10.1111/j.0735-2751.2006.00284.x. S2CID 144177617. Archived from the original on 5 January 2013. Callander, Denton; Holt, Martin; Newman, Christy E. (1 February 2016). " 'Not everyone's gonna like me': Accounting for race and racism in sex and dating web services for gay and bisexual men". Ethnicities. 16 (1): 3–21. doi: 10.1177/1468796815581428. ISSN 1468-7968. S2CID 147130084.