Bigger breasts, bigger salary? Or a feminist nightmare…
DEAR VEXED: I’m thinking about getting a breast augmentation to help me get ahead at work. Should I? Denise, 26, investment banking
AN author and economist called Catherine Hakim has written widely on an idea called erotic capital. It says that you do better at work and in your life if you are more beautiful. She has a book on this theme to be released soon.
So your question, which initially causes something of a raised eyebrow, is also fair.
But – assuming there is something to Hakim’s main theme – I would first of all question the degree to which erotic capital should be defined by breast size. Big breasts are considered a bonus by some, yes. By others, less so. Regardless, their size is beside the point: what you should be doing in a professional environment is to look as sharp as possible. Wear good clothes, nice shoes, try to be slim and fit.
But being prepared to take to the knife for career advancement seems to me to be a grave skewing of priorities. Being attractive can help your career, perhaps. But on the list of other things that can help your career, it should be ranked fairly low. Intelligence, ambition, hard work, good ethics. Focus on these to get ahead in your career. And attractiveness – particularly breast-size – is a massive double-edged sword. It’s asking for sexual attention to get ahead: something in the same sphere as giving sexual favours to the boss for a promotion. Wouldn’t you rather be promoted because you’re really good? I would.
Dr Hakim seems to me to be playing with fire – she may be stating a truism, that beauty has a positive effect on people’s estimations of you and their desire to help you. But she’s also suggesting that in a world in which women are already relentlessly preoccupied with how they look, they should be even more stressed out about it. Yes, Hakim applies the rule to men, too – but, although they’re getting more worried about looks, they’ve got a long way to go in the skin-deep neurosis stakes. And the male ability to get ahead at work has not been a problem, to date – so being told attractiveness can help won’t carry the same stressful meaning. Set an example by showing that women of all breast sizes can thrive at work. [email protected]