There’s a long and distinguished list of stupid boy things I’ve done over the years, but boffing my boss isn’t one of them. Actually, that’s not quite true. When I was 17 I started going out with my former manager at the branch of the well-known fast food chain we both worked at (golden arches anyone?). However, he’d already left to work in a call centre before we got together, so I don’t think it counts. Either way, I certainly didn’t get an extra star for my efforts.If 15 percent admit it, you can be certain that the real number is closer to 45 percent. Women have sex with their superiors for two reasons. The first is hypergamy. They want the situational alpha, and at the office, in most cases, that is the boss. The second is preferential treatment. Women know perfectly well that the easiest way to get ahead is to have sex with the person who is in charge of making decisions. Those who can act on it often will.
Anyway, all my grown-up jobs have been in the female-dominated world of women’s publishing, so whether through lack of opportunity or design, I’ve never slept with my boss.
It’s possible I’m behind the curve here – in 2010, the US-based Centre For Work Life-Policy found that 15 per cent of women, even at executive level or above, admitted to sleeping with their boss. Just as tellingly, 37 per cent of workers surveyed felt that those women who had slept with their superiors improved their career chances by doing so.
And this is simply one more reason why the concept of workplace equality is an incoherent impossibility.
This is an area of Game that hasn't been much explored, but perhaps it could be called Executive Game. Arrange to put yourself in a position of power over women and you will magically become more attractive to them. Of course, it is a game fraught with danger, from women who receive preferential treatment but want more, to women who don't receive it and want it, and women who don't receive it, don't want it, but resent it being given to others.
