IMAGINE a woman as a slagheap. Just when you think her resources have been tapped, underneath there is a rich seam that has not been mined. We women are sitting on a huge pile of erotic capital that we need to exploit, according to a book by a London School of Economics sociologist, Catherine Hakim. Dig it up, ladies, use it, and get ahead in life and in work.

Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital, released in Britain, has been the subject of some uneasy reviews and profiles. Writing in London's Evening Standard recently, Hakim says she coined the term ''erotic capital'' to cover ''a mixture of beauty, social skills, good dress sense, physical fitness, liveliness, sex appeal and sexual competence - a combination that makes some people attractive to colleagues, friends, business contacts and partners. These people smile at the world and the world smiles back and remembers them.''

Christine Lagarde in Paris earlier this year. Credit:Reuters

The poster girl for erotic capital could be IMF chief Christine Lagarde, who is ''stylish and elegant, slim, attractive and charming''. English women, writes Hakim, are a ''marked contrast'', recalling A. A. Gill's famous description of his countrywomen: ''Defensively regarding the world over broken veins and puce, dripping noses, pursing their thin lips over badly shuffled teeth.''

Hakim urges women to harness their erotic capital to stream ahead of competitors, male and female. ''Ugliness has become unacceptable,'' writes Hakim (although she doesn't say to whom). And many young women now think that ''beauty is just as important as education'' when it comes to snaring the best jobs.