"hot" 100s - informal comparison

[anotheranon]

Discovered the Afterellen.com Hot 100 through dustdaughter this morning and took a look through, liking a good bit of what I saw and wondering about the lacks (no Claudia Black? No Gina Torres?), and being skeptical of AfterEllen.com's claim that "Clearly, what straight men and lesbians find sexy in a woman is a little bit different", took a look over at what they were comparing to, namely Maxim's Hot 100.

Well...

I'd say "a little bit different" is fairly accurate. There's a goodly amount of crossover of the usual suspects (Angelina Jolie, Jessica Alba) and the great majority on both lists are young, thin and busty (but, then, that's Hollywood - it's not as if most actresses are something different), but AfterEllen includes elegant older women (Helen Mirren!) and wonderfully curvy women (Queen Latifah!) and cute geeky women (Alyson Hannigan!) Also, is it just me or do all the Maxim photos seem to be from swimsuit or lingerie shoots, and AfterEllen photos seem on average a bit.. well, classier?

Other notes: most of the women on both lists are very feminine (but, again - that's Hollywood). Very few of the women on either list are openly bi or lesbian (but AGAIN - Afterellen marks them with an asterisk) - I wonder why Honey Labrador didn't get enough votes to show up? I mean, you look up "hot lesbian" in the dictionary and I'm SURE she's what pops up...

Jordana Brewster is on the list, which I found kind of amusing given that the only thing I've seen her in was the lesbian comedy D.E.B.S., yet I've been seeing her on the cover of a wedding magazine in supermarket checkout for the past month.

Conclusions: AfterEllen.com's audience and whoever made the list for Maxim do have slightly different taste in women, given the limited variety in choices. I think the difference can be summed up as such: Tricia Helfer (Six on BSG: tall blond hyper-feminine lingerie model) made Maxim's list, while Katee Sackoff (Starbuck on BSG: buff, curvy, kick ass and tomboyish) made AfterEllen's.

I tend to agree more with AfterEllen.com's list, but then, it's me :P Note: I make no assumptions about the relative tastes of all men who like women or all women who like women based on these two HIGHLY unscientific collections - demographic groups are not monolithic in their turn-ons and not being a dude I have no idea why guys are attracted to who they are :P

Comments

[dustdaughter.livejournal.com]

Wow, you had a lot more to say about AE's Hot 100! Perhaps if I'd posted at a reasonable hour, Id've had more to say as well. ;)

You make a lot of good points. Perhaps the majority of AE's readership limited themselves to voting for women they've seen on tv or in movies. Maybe the results would have been more diverse in every sense of the word (Where are all the sexy butchies like Skyler Cooper and Jenny Shimizu ?) if more people voted for more musicians, authors, and other professionals, in addition to actors.

That said, the omission of Gina Torres (and so many sci-fi hotties) from this list borders on the criminal.

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

It doesn't surprise me that actors are the focus - they're in the business of being seen and as such are seen by more people than authors, musicians etc. And for all we know, AfterEllen.com's audience was restricted to people in media.

[curiousangel.livejournal.com]

Adding notes as I scroll through their list, and I'll add my own comments at the end...

I don't watch "The L-Word", so I don't know who some of these ladies are. I should remedy that situation, tout-fucking-suite.

Kate Winslet, Lena Headey, Sarah Shahi... OK, that's enough to tell me this list is going to beat the Maxim list all to hell.

Tina Fey... um, where the hell have I been? I was thinking of Tina Yothers (from "Family Ties"). Damn.

Eliza Dushku... I've been all about this babe since the first time I saw her on Buffy. Back off, lesbians -- she's mine. :)

Keira Knightley... oh, dear. Yes, I loved her in "Bend It Like Beckham". I've seen too many "get her a sandwich, stat!" pictures since then to be interested.

Jodie Foster... I think back to "Sommersby" and that kills any hotness for me. One of the finest actresses of our generation, but...

Erin Daniels... yet another reason to go get "The L-Word" on DVD. Especially if they do show her actually playing tennis. Yum!

Mary-Louise Parker... hot, but for the love of God, get someone else to overdub her voice.

Gillian Anderson... her, I'm kind of this-way, that-way about. Dana Scully, on the other hand, has an appointment with some cuffs and implements of destruction that she's very late for, and I will be extra-sure to provide additional punishment in appropriate measure. Since we're such good friends, I'll even let you help, if you like. ;)

Lucy Lawless just looks totally wrong as a blonde.

Drew Barrymore... I can't get "E.T." out of my head, and so I'm going straight to Hell on the express train.

Famke Janssen, Kristen Bell, Maura Tierney, Jorja Fox... yes, yes, yes, and ohmygodHELLyes.

Catherine Zeta-Jones... OK, what the hell is she doing this far down the list?

Karina Lombard... All right, dammit, I've already priced Seasons 1-3 of "The L-Word" on DVD. Leave me alone, for cryin' out loud.

Alyson Hannigan... see my comments about Eliza Dushku above. I'ma cut you if you try to take her away from me, see if I don't. (Sarah Michelle Gellar -- not so much, actually. The wasting away was part of it, but she just never appealed to me very much. Never really got the buzz about Michelle Trachtenberg, either.)

Jennifer Connelly... book me a suite for a long weekend with her and Catherine Zeta-Jones, and keep the wine and sushi coming. I'll be your friend forever.

Lindsay Lohan... ugh. Never got the appeal, and that was before the dreadful antics. Put her in, and leave Claudia Black or Jewel Staite off? Put down the crack pipe, listmakers.

Deanna Casaluce... Well. Her "official website" isn't up and running yet, but it damn well ought to be.

You know my love for Katee Sackhoff already. I never was really on the Amber Benson love train. Love Parker Posey, although I can't shake the feeling that she's a serial killer.

That may be the sexiest picture of Carrie-Anne Moss that I have ever seen.

After looking over the Maxim list, I agree with you about the difference in photos. The AfterEllen shots are definitely classier, but Maxim's not going for classy -- they want something a lot more blatant. The only person I saw on Maxim's list that struck me as a serious omission from the AE list was Danica Patrick. Ae seems to be heavily slanted to actresses from movies and TV, where Maxim's list covers singers and models as well as B-movie performers.

some comments on your comments

[anotheranon.livejournal.com]

Karina Lombard... All right, dammit, I've already priced Seasons 1-3 of "The L-Word" on DVD. Leave me alone, for cryin' out loud.

Oh my goodness YES! So sultry. She had a guest role on "The 4400" and when the lead character exclaimed "I don't even know this woman!" D. and I shouted simultaneously, "Can I know her?" :P

Re: "The L Word" - let me know what you think of it. I never thought it was all that good, and never finished season 1 (AFAIK, Lombard left the show by s2).

Jennifer Connelly... book me a suite for a long weekend with her and Catherine Zeta-Jones

With you on Connelley (she's got that vintage movie siren thing going on - did you ever see "Dark City"?) but not so much Zeta-Jones. She seems kinda snobby to me - is that just me?

Gillian Anderson... her, I'm kind of this-way, that-way about. Dana Scully, on the other hand,

For some reason, neither she nor Scully ever did it for me - dunno why. I do understand though that sometimes it's the character that's hot, not the actor...

Love Parker Posey, although I can't shake the feeling that she's a serial killer.

:D!!