Erotic Capital as Societal Elevator: Pursuing Feminine Attractiveness in the Contemporary Mongolian Global(ising) Economy

Abstract

Inspired by Bourdieu’s forms of capital, theorists have utilized the additional category of erotic capital as a descriptor of the increasing importance of physical appearance to economic mobility. Although this phenomenon also exists in Mongolia, the pursuit of corporeal attractiveness only depicts one prevalent erotic field highly conceptually intertwined with values of market and modernity. Additionally, the prevalence of this belief in the emancipatory power of attractiveness also overlaps with indigenous concepts of fortune (hishig) and reputation (nerelkhüü), which most likely facilitated its integration in the Mongolian context. As a result, individuals from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds pursue a standard of beauty associated with the wealthy and successful. In particular, women, who have been particularly hard hit by the vagaries of the current Mongolian economy, have increasingly turned to physical appearance capitalization as a means to safeguard their economic and social standing.