Trying to square two passages from Reihan Salam’s latest column in The Daily.
Passage A
Hakim convincingly argues that women are more richly endowed with erotic capital then men, due in large part to what she calls the “male sex deficit.” Basically, the sexual appetite of men starts quite high and dwindles slowly, if at all. That of women, in contrast, starts at a lower level and tends to drop off steeply after age 30, thus creating a large and growing imbalance over the life cycle. To oversimplify, most men badly want what women have, and this creates an enormous economic opportunity for women.
Passage B
More broadly, as the economic power of women increases, and as male dominance slowly erodes, one can imagine that men will be forced to devote more effort to investing in their erotic capital. In America’s big cities, we’ve already seen an explosion of spending on men’s fashion and grooming as men reach this conclusion. Men who aren’t accustomed to being judged primarily on the basis of their looks will have to get used to it.
No conclusions yet, just letting it percolate. The whole article is a great read, though one wishes Reihan had more space to explore the many ideas he introduces at greater length. I would particularly enjoy reading him in dialogue with Robin Hanson. Someone with money and connections: make this happen!
