181-4-828
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.
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.
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.

A. 어휘
deficit 결손, 부족, 赤字(적자). libido 性的(성적) 에너지, 愛慾(애욕).
to put it crudely 투박하게 말하자면. access 접속.
Feminists 女權(여권) 운동가. overlook 看過(간과)하다.
controversial 논쟁적인. stuff 話題(화제), 재료. reject 거부하다.
legalisation 합법화. prostitution 매춘. surrogate 대리, 대리인.
pregnancies 임신. return 보답. contemporaries 동시대인.
waged war 전쟁을 일으키다. allegedly 주장하는 바에 의하면.
wake 航跡(항적), 지나간 자국. in their wake 그들이 지나간 뒤에.
moved on 계속해서 움직이다. pretend ...인체 하다. monopoly 독점.
bemused 생각에 잠긴.