Sunday, August 3, 2008

Lesbian Aesthetic

In researching my last post, I came across something interesting. As some of you may know, Tina Fey was number one on AfterEllen.com's Hot 100 "The Sexiest Women, According to Women." Apparently, they receive over 100,000 votes from lesbian and bisexual women and assemble the results. It should not come as a surprise to anyone that the list is really different from the lists put together by Maxim or FHM, as you can see:

Maxim

1. Marisa Miller
2. Scarlett Johansson
3. Jessica Biel
4. Eva Longoria Parker
5. Sarah Michelle Geller
6. Elisha Cuthbert
7. Eva Mendes
8. Christina Aguilera
9. Lindsay Lohan
10. Ashley Tisdale


FHM
1. Megan Fox
2. Jessica Biel
3. Jessica Alba
4. Elisha Cuthbert
5. Scarlett Johansson
6. Emmanuelle Chriqui
7. Hilary Duff
8. Tricia Helfer
9. Blake Lively
10. Kate beckinsale

AfterEllen

1. Tina Fey
2. Jennifer Beals
3. Jill Bennett
4. Briget McManus
5. Leisha Hailey
6. Ellen Page
7. Sarah Shahi
8. Sara Ramierez
9. Kate Moennig
10. Lena Headey

No big surprise that they'd be different, right? I do think it's interesting that if you look back at the Larryville Chronicles "Babes" segment, you'll notice women from all three lists. Another interesting thing is the image selection. AfterEllen is much more likely to use just face shots than the men's magazines. In addition, while Maxim & FHM are more likely to put their hotties in swimsuits & lingerie, AfterEllen selects pictures featuring a slightly different attire:

And I'm not sure which is hotter. Love the hats!

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, the Boys of L-Ville would bang a very wide selection of women indeed!

But I'm disturbed at how many of these names I don't know! I don't even know Maxim's number-one hottest babe?! (it's time for some Googling!).

Anonymous said...

Let's also be aware that the make-up of these lists is also determined by the media that each of the list-makers ingest, so to speak. Thus, 4 of the women on the AfterEllen.com's poll are from the hit show, The L-Word, which is, not coincidentally, about the lives of chic L.A. lesbian and bisexual women! A quick search on Jill Bennett, Bridget McManus, and Sara Ramirez reveals that each either is lesbian or bisexual, or plays that on TV. As for Fey, I think all of the AfterEllen viewers are holding out on Fey renouncing men. Headley's appearance confirms lesbian women loved 300 just as much as lonely 19 year old boys, and Page's appearance is unexplainable.

Anonymous said...

Oh yeah, and Ms. Chriqui? You don't know it yet, but one day, we will make sweet, sweet love.

Dr. C said...

It is true that the lists come from the media the list-makers consume. All beauty is contextual. Would I be such a fan of Scarlett Johansson if I didn't love Lost in Translation?

Also, I think lesbians are like men in that they foster the illusion that all women are lesbians or at least bisexual in essence.