Maxim Magazine’s Hot 100 (2010) was all the buzz in my house this week. I came home from work one evening to find my roommates nearly yelling with (not at) each other about how wrong all the men in the world are about what a “hot” woman looks like. It’s basically a list of the 100 most beautiful women in the media… according to Maxim. My roommates and I proceeded to pull up the list online and spend a good hour looking at all the woman, from number 100 through number 27, and deciding if we understood why she made it. Lots of giggling, yelling, and junk food were involved.
It was at number 27, though, that the fun stopped and one of my roommates ended up in tears. “Is that Hillary Duff!?” she asked. We told her it was and she instantly started to cry. She went on to explain how she didn’t understand why Duff was “so skinny now.” We tried explaining that it’s probably just because she’s all grown up and out of her baby fat. My roommate was not happy with this answer. “Does she want all her young fans to think that they have to get skinny to be beautiful?” “Do I really have to look like that for guys to want me?” “What’s wrong with my body?” “Why don’t any of these women have curves?” “Aren’t curves supposed to be a good thing?” The questions and tears seemed like they’d never end.
This was, first and foremost, a very sad thing to see. Aside from feeling terrible for my roommate, though, it was fascinating. This girl completely lost control over her emotions and good sense because of one (probably photo-edited) picture. Granted, there is likely some insecurity already at play here, but still that picture clearly holds a lot of power. It’s shocking how much time we spent talking about and looking at that list. Obviously one magazine can’t speak for every man. Is it reader voted? Does a panel of judges decide? Maybe some celebrities pay Maxim to appear higher on the list. Who knows? Did any of us take the time to find out? No. Would finding out the way in which the list was generated have an impact on our reaction to it? I don’t know…but I would imagine it might. Maybe we give these messages (like the ones perceived to have been sent by this list) power by ignoring the fact that the sender doesn’t have to have the final say. Maybe if we would more often acknowledge that they are sending messages and not facts, we would each of us have more power in deciding which ones we want to go along with.
Hi Emily! Those are some very good questions to ask. What are these women rated on? What are the standards? Who ranked these women? I don't usually think about these types of questions; I just view myself as an outsider looking in. Most of the time, I'll just admire these girls' beauty. I admit that I do let the media tell me what is beautiful and what is not. If I know the media influences me, then why can't I just stop letting it influence me? It's hard to have a different view- especially when everyone is influenced by the media (whether or not they realize it).
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