經濟學人：美貌之人更有市場

2013-07-30 13:51

Pretty people still get the best deals in the market, from labour to love

外貌標致的人仍然最有市場，不論是找工作還是找情人

Beauty Pays: Why Attractive People are More Successful. By Daniel Hamermesh. Princeton University Press; 216 pages; $24.95 and ￡16.95. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

《美貌買單》：為何有魅力的人更加成功，丹尼爾?漢姆梅斯著，普林斯頓大學出版社，216頁，24.59美圓(16.95歐元),點擊Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk購買.

The Beauty Bias: The Injustice of Appearance in Life and Law. By Deborah Rhode. Oxford University Press USA; 272 pages; $17.95 and ￡15.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

《美貌的偏見》：生活與法律中外貌的不公, 黛博拉?羅得著,美國牛津大學出版社；272頁；17.95美圓(15.99歐元),點擊 Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk購買.

Honey Money: The Power of Erotic Capital. By Catherine Hakim. Allen Lane; 304 pages; ￡20. To be published in America in September as “Erotic Capital: The Power of Attraction in the Boardroom and the Bedroom” by Basic Books; $26. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk

《甜蜜的金錢》:魅力資本的力量, 凱瑟琳?哈金著,304頁,20歐元,9月將在美國由基礎圖書公司出版:魅力資本:會議室與臥室中美貌的吸引力;26美圓,點擊Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk購買.

FRANCE looked back this week at the 1911 theft of the Mona Lisa from the walls of the Louvre. It was one of the most startling art heists in history, but the emotions it still arouses go beyond that. Stealing Leonardo da Vinci’s painting was like stealing beauty itself. And beauty has lost none of its power to bewitch, bother and get its own way, as three new books on the economic advantages of good looks confirm.

本周，法國回顧了1911年盧浮宮墻上的《蒙娜麗莎》被盜的事件。那是史上最令人吃驚的藝術品盜竊案之一，曾引起群眾強烈的情感反應，不過這些情感已超越了盜竊本身。盜竊列奧納多?達?芬奇的畫作，無異于盜竊美本身。不過，正如三本關于美貌所帶來的經濟優勢的書所證明，美并未失卻一絲一毫迷惑世人、擾亂世人和為所欲為的力量。

Physically attractive women and men earn more than average-looking ones, and very plain people earn less. In the labour market as a whole (though not, for example, in astrophysics), looks have a bigger impact on earnings than education, though intelligence—mercifully enough— is valued more highly still.

外貌出眾的男男女女能比相貌平庸之人賺更多的錢，長相相當普通的人則賺得更少。在勞動力市場上，整體而言，相貌對收入的影響要大于受教育程度，雖然智商仍然被認為價值更高——這已是萬幸了。

Beauty is naturally rewarded in jobs where physical attractiveness would seem to matter, such as prostitution, entertainment, customer service and so on. But it also yields rewards in unexpected fields. Homely NFL quarterbacks earn less than their comelier counterparts, despite identical yards passed and years in the league. Not everything comes easier: good-looking women seeking high-flying jobs in particularly male fields may be stymied by the “bimbo effect” until they prove their competence and commitment. But the importance of beauty in the labour market is far more pervasive than one might think.

在一些相貌似乎事關緊要的職業類型里，如妓女、娛樂業、客戶服務等，美貌理所當然可以賺取報酬。但是在一些意想不到的領域里，美貌竟也能夠帶來回報。在美國橄欖球聯盟里，同為四分衛，即使傳球的碼數、在聯盟中的資歷完全一樣，長相平凡者還是比外貌出眾者收入更少。但并非長得好看就能事事順利：外貌出眾的女性在由男性主導的職業領域里尋求志向遠大的工作時，“胸大無腦效應”便可能會從中作梗，直至她們證明自己能力出眾以及全心投入工作。但出眾的外貌在勞動力市場上的重要性要比想象中來得更為普遍。

The same is true in other markets. Women have traditionally traded looks for economic support in marriage. A Chinese study confirms that the husbands of unappealing women earn about 10% less than those of their dishier counterparts. Attractive people also have an easier time getting a loan than plain folks, even as they are less likely to pay it back. They receive milder prison sentences and higher damages in simulated legal proceedings. In America more people say they have felt discriminated against for their appearance than because of their age, race or ethnicity. Pretty people, it seems, have all the luck. These books attempt to explain why that is, and what, if anything, should be done about it.

在其他方面，情況相同。傳統上，在婚姻中，女性就用外貌來換取經濟支援。一個中國的研究證明，妻子長相平凡的丈夫比妻子漂亮的丈夫要少賺10%。即便外貌出眾者還款的可能性更低，他們在申請貸款時也比長相平凡者更容易。在模擬法律訴訟中，外貌出眾者受到的服刑判決會更輕，也能獲得更高的賠償金。在美國，相比起年齡、種族或民族，更多的人說他們因長相而受到的歧視。漂亮的人似乎運氣很好。這幾本書嘗試解釋這個現象以及能對此做些什么（如果真的要做的話）。

Daniel Hamermesh, an economist at the University of Texas, has long written about “pulchronomics”. In “Beauty Pays” he reckons that, over a lifetime and assuming today’s mean wages, a handsome worker in America might on average make $230,000 more than a very plain one. There is evidence that attractive workers bring in more business, so it often makes sense for firms to hire them. Whether rewarding them accordingly—and paying their less attractive peers more stingily—is good for society is another matter.

德州大學的一位經濟學家丹尼爾?漢姆梅斯一直在寫關于“pulchronomics”。他在《美貌買單》一書中指出，假若以如今的最低工資計算，在美國一個外貌出眾的人一生之中比一個長相平凡的人平均多賺230，000美圓。也有證據表明外貌出眾的員工能夠招攬更多生意，所以聘用他們對公司而言經常也是很有意義的。但是，給予他們相應的回報并支付其同僚更為刻薄的薪水是否對社會有益，那就是另一回事了。

In examining the case for legal protection for the ugly, Mr Hamermesh relies to a degree on the work of Deborah Rhode, a law professor at Stanford University and author of “The Beauty Bias”. Ms Rhode clearly struggles to see why any woman would willingly embrace fashion (particularly high heels). She is outraged that virtually all females consider their looks as key to their self-image. She cites a survey in which over half of young women said they would prefer to be hit by a truck than be fat. Her indignation is mostly moral. Billions of dollars are now spent on cosmetic surgery—up to 90% of it by women—at a time when almost a fifth of Americans lack basic health care. The more women focus on improving their looks, Ms Rhode argues, the less they think about others.

在調查為長相丑陋的人提供法律保護的個案時，丹尼爾?漢姆梅斯在很大程度上參考了哈佛大學法學教授以及《美貌的偏見》的作者黛博拉?羅得所作的研究。黛博拉?羅得顯然極力探究為何所有女人都心甘情愿地追逐潮流（尤其是高跟鞋）。幾乎所有女人都認為外表對她們的個人形象無比重要，對此她感到憤怒。她作了一個調查，發現超過一半的受訪女性說她們寧愿被火車撞也不要變胖。黛博拉?羅得的憤怒大體是合乎道德的。如今，數十億美圓被花費在整容手術上，其中90%的消費者是女性，但同時，卻約有五分之一的美國人缺乏基本醫療保障。黛博拉?羅得認為，女性越是關注如何改善其外表，就會越少為他人著想。

Discriminating against people on the grounds of personal appearance should be banned, she says. It limits a person’s right to equal opportunity, reinforces the subordination of groups where unappealing characteristics, including obesity, are concentrated (ie, the poor, some ethnic minorities), and restricts self-expression. Yet because ugliness is harder to define than race or sex, some argue that anti-discrimination laws are impossible to maintain. And anyway, say employers, appearance is often relevant to the job at hand.

她說，因為外表而歧視他人的行為應該被禁止。這種行為不但限制了個人享受平等機遇的權利和表達的自由；在一個人會因外表的缺陷（包括肥胖）而被關注的團體（如窮人、少數民族）里，這種行為還加強了個人對集體的服從。但是，因為外貌與種族、性別不同，是美是丑更難界定，有人則認為反外貌歧視的法律不可能維持。但不管怎樣，雇主們說，外表經常與手頭上的工作有關。

Ms Rhode sees the hurdles, but argues that they can be dealt with. In places where “lookism” is already prohibited (eg, Washington, DC), such statutes have not provoked a flood of frivolous cases, she says. Occasionally beauty is essential to a business (ie, modelling, but not air-hostessing). But concerns about an employee’s effectiveness often reflect the biases of employers, not customers. Laws influence attitudes over time, she says, by denying those with prejudices the opportunity to indulge them.

羅得女士看出了其中的障礙，但認為這些障礙可以被跨越。她說，在“相貌歧視”已經被禁止的地方（如華盛頓），這種法規也沒有惹起如潮般荒唐可笑的案件。有時，美貌對某些職業而言至關重要（如模特，但空姐就并非如此）。但是對員工工作效率的考慮經常只能反映雇主而非客戶的偏好。這項法律斷絕了對相貌丑陋心存偏見的人縱容這些偏見的機會，隨著時間的推移，法律會影響人們的態度，她說道。

“Honey Money”, Catherine Hakim’s provocative book, is a different kettle of fish. Where Mr Hamermesh and Ms Rhode see discrimination, she sees an opportunity for women to enhance their power “in the bedroom and the boardroom”. She argues that “erotic capital” is an underrated class of personal asset, to set beside economic capital (what you have), human capital (what you know) and social capital (who you know). Ms Hakim attempts to quantify a complex mix of physical and social assets, consisting of beauty, sex appeal, self-presentation, social skills, liveliness and sexual competence. Like other sorts of capital, the erotic kind is important for success; but unlike others it is largely independent of birth and class. It is especially valuable for poor people, young people, the newly arrived and the otherwise unqualified. In heterosexual settings it belongs primarily to women.

凱瑟琳?哈金挑起爭議的著作《甜蜜的金錢》則有截然不同的觀點。在漢姆梅斯女士和羅得女士看到歧視的地方，她卻看到了女性在臥室和會議室中增強自身力量的機遇。她認為與經濟資本（你所擁有的）、人力資本（你所知道的）和社會資本（你所知道的）相比，“魅力資本”是一種被低估了的個人資產。哈金女士嘗試去量化一個人有形資產和社會資產的復雜組合，其中包括美貌、性感、自我表現、社會技能、活力和性能力。魅力資本之于成功的重要性，與其他類型的資本相當；但與其他類型的資本不同的是，魅力資本在很大程度上與出身和階級無關。對于窮人、年輕人、初來乍到者或不合格的人而言，魅力資本尤其重要。在異性戀的環境里，魅力資本主要屬于女性。

Ms Hakim suggests that women have more erotic capital than men to start with, mainly because they have had to work at it for centuries. But women have the erotic upper hand for another reason: the male “sexual deficit”. Despite the fact that both sexes are more sexually active than ever before, from the age of about 30 women’s libido tends to fall off while men’s does not. Because women have less interest in sex than men, it is, to put it crudely, a seller’s market. In the power dynamic of couples, controlling access to sex is more important than earning more money, says Ms Hakim. It is the woman’s main bargaining chip, as most still earn less than their partners. Feminists who want women to throw away their femininity are overlooking a powerful asset, Ms Hakim argues.

哈金女士之所以認為女人一開始比男人有更多的魅力資本，是因為在過去幾個世紀里，她們已經在這方面作出了巨大努力。但女性在魅力方面占優勢的另一個原因在于：男性的“性感赤字”。盡管事實上兩性在性愛方面都比以前要積極，而且在30歲以后，女性的性欲趨于下降，男性則不然。因為女性在性愛方面的興趣要少與男性，所以簡言之，這是一個賣方市場。對于精力旺盛的夫婦而言，控制進行性生活比賺錢更為重要，哈金女士說道。因為大部分女性的收入仍然低于其另一半，故魅力就成了她們的主要籌碼。哈金女士認為，那些希望女性拋棄其女人味的女權主義者忽略了一項強大的資產。

This is controversial stuff. Even those who reject the notion that women are just not that into sex can support Ms Hakim’s call for the full legalisation of prostitution and surrogate pregnancies for profit, thus giving women the freedom to earn a return on whichever personal asset they choose.

這個說法極具爭議。即便是那些反對女人對性愛不那么感興趣的人，也能支持哈金女士的號召：將妓女這一職業全面合法化；實行營利性的代孕。不論女性選擇利用何種個人資產，這樣都能給予她們從中獲取回報的自由。

All three authors are in or fast approaching their 60s. They are contemporaries of the generation of feminists who waged war against the beauty culture, leaving unshaved legs and allegedly burned bras in their wake. But life has moved on. Sexualised images are everywhere, and the world that has emerged is one in which no one can afford to pretend beauty does not matter. Men too, having lost their monopoly of well-paid jobs, are investing in their erotic capital to enhance their appeal to mates and employers. They are marching off to gyms and discovering face cream in record numbers. Perhaps this explains Mona Lisa’s bemused smile. She knew what was coming.

三位作者都已經接近或步入花甲之年。她們與向美貌文化宣戰、不刮腿毛、據說還焚燒胸罩的女權主義者是同一代人。但生活在不斷繼續。具有性意味的圖片已隨處可見，眼前的世界，已經沒人能夠有本錢假裝美貌無關緊要。男人也如此，他們已經失去了高薪職位的壟斷地位，如今便投資自己的魅力資本以提高對其伴侶及雇主的吸引力。他們向健身房進軍，物色到的面霜數目已創歷史新高。或許，這樣的世界能解釋蒙娜麗莎神秘的微笑。對于后來之事，她早已了若指掌。