By Ciel Chaussy
It’s a Friday night and my colleagues and I are getting ready for a busy ‘Red Lips for Hot Tips’ service. Standing in front of the mirror, we admire our freshly applied red lipstick, figure-hugging uniform, and perfectly styled hair… we were ready. We join our male colleagues on the bar, who were also styling well-ironed shirts and freshly groomed hair. That night, us red lip girls received £70 each in tips, and the boys gained £50; this was a successful night’s shift.
Frequently, one of my colleagues, let’s call her Sasha, would make snarky remarks suggesting that the girls and I were being provocative and ‘anti-feminist’ such as we were encouraging men to sexualize us for tips. Sasha never got involved in ‘Red Lips for Hot Tips’ and subsequently would never receive as many tips. Sasha’s snide remarks often got me questioning whether what we were doing was wrong.
Is using beauty for economic and social capital feeding into the hands of patriarchal domination? Is this truly a crime against feminist ideals?
Sociologist Dr. Hakim’s (2010) concept of ‘erotic capital’ can lend a hand in understanding these competing perspectives. Dr. Hakim defines erotic capital as women (and men), exploiting their physical, social, and sexual attractiveness to improve their social and economic capital.
Exploiting my Erotic Capital whilst Serving
In a study titled, ‘Lipstick and Tipping Behavior’, Dr. Hakim’s (2010) theory of erotic capital was applied to servers’ experiences whilst working in a restaurant. The research demonstrated that the those who enhanced their erotic capital had more confidence, ameliorated performance, and subsequently experienced increased customer tipping behavior (Gueguen and Jacob, 2012). What’s more, studies suggest that the color red enhances a male’s attraction to females, and this has shown to result in increased tipping behavior also (Elliot and Niesta, 2008).
These results ring true with my experience whilst serving on a Friday night. By exploiting my erotic capital, I was able to feel more confident and motivated and received a greater number of tips as a result. Upon reflection, my colleague Sasha never seemed to have the confidence, nor the incentive to build the rapport needed with the customers. This perhaps demonstrates that enhancing one’s self-presentation is a powerful tool for improving social and economic capital.
‘Red Lips for Hot Tips’ reflects a wider dichotomy between what women can and cannot do. Sasha is not alone in seeing the idea of erotic capital as a crime against femininity. For instance, many radical feminists, such as Dworkin (1981), argue that women should not use their physical appearance to get ahead as it reinforces misogynistic ideologies and the continuation of female subordination (Green 2013). Moreover, in a recent interview on Good Morning Britain (2014), the panel were quick to judge Dr. Hakim’s (2010) concept of erotic capital. They argued that it was degrading for women to use their physical appearance to get ahead and that it was an invaluable tool for improving social and economic capital.
The central question that has been extracted here is whether women should use their physical appearance to get ahead in life. Of equal importance, why do men never seem to be questioned nor damned for using their looks to get ahead? As I alluded to above, my male colleagues also engaged in exploiting their erotic capital with the intention of receiving higher tips. This perhaps reflects the gender power imbalance; the notion that society demonizes women for exploiting their erotic capital is reproduced and produced by moral codes such as patriarchy and feminist discourse. Dr. Hakim (2011) supports this by arguing that women are bound by moral constraints which are solely perspectives of the mind.
Is ‘Red Lips for Hot Tips’ a Crime against Femininity?
Through my Friday night service experience, it appears that the exploitation of erotic capital can act as a tool, particularly for women, to increase their social and economic position within society. Moreover, sex-positive feminists Bleakley (2014), argues that sexual liberation is central to ameliorating gender inequality, such as women should be able to express their physical appearance how they desire. Thus, women enhancing their physical and social attractiveness should be seen as a tool of empowerment, rather than merely something that should be denied or subjugated. We are bound to a society that serves to enhance the success of men, whilst execrates the success of women. So, I say why not use your erotic capital to advance your social and economic position.
But what do you think? Should we be exploiting our ‘erotic capital’? Or is this merely an act that pushes women firmly back into the hands of male domination?
References:
- Bebber, D and Marsh, S. (2012) Hakim’s law: forgive. Available at: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/hakims-law-forgive-infidelity-g5vh6krpsq8 (Accessed: 19/03/23)
- Bleakley, P. (2014) ‘“500 tokens to go private”: Camgirls, cybersex and feminist entrepreneurship’. Sexuality & Culture, 18(4), pp.892-910.
- Dworkin, A. (1981) Men possessing women. New York: Perigee.
- Elliot, A.J. and Niesta, D. (2008) ‘Romantic red: red enhances men’s attraction to women’. Journal of personality and social psychology, 95(5), p.1150.
- Good Morning Britain. (2018) Should Women Use Their Looks to Get Ahead in Their Success? 23/05/18Available at: Should Women Use Their Looks to Get Ahead in Their Success? | Good Morning Britain – YouTube (Accessed: 06/03/23).
- Green, A.I. (2013) ‘‘Erotic capital’ and the power of desirability: Why ‘honey money’ is a bad collective strategy for remedying gender inequality’. Sexualities, 16(1-2), pp.137-158.
- Guéguen, N. and Jacob, C. (2012) ‘Lipstick and tipping behavior: when red lipstick enhance waitresses tips’. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(4), pp.1333-1335.
- Hakim, C. (2010) ‘Erotic capital’. European sociological review, 26(5), pp.499-518.
- Hakim, C. (2011) Honey money: The power of erotic capital. Penguin UK.
- Lion, S. (2020) Crop women applying red lipstick. Available at: https://www.canva.com/photos/MAEOsplZZ9k-crop-woman-applying-red-lipstick/ (Accessed: 20/03/23).