Bringing Sexy Back

nobody@vox.com(Maxvan) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 15:55:05 -0700

So, the gossip columns are talking about how maxim magazine declared Sarah Jessica Parker the "unsexiest" woman.

I think I'm let down by her. Yes, by her. Maxim is basically a crude variation on a men's magazine. It's like Esquire for 13 year olds. So, such a list would be part and parcel to their "appeal". But, ever since Square Pegs Sarah Jessica Parker has traded upon a certain kind of feminism. It's that "smart girl' thing. Not a "smart person", "smart girl'. There's a certain kind of retro-shallowness to her appeal.The idea is that she's playing girlish characters who are 'quirky" and "different", but not quite "alternative" or challenging. Of course, when the paycheck is right, she'll play just another dumb blonde. So, "sexy" has never exactly been her calling card. I see two possibilities, one likely and the other, interesting.

The likely scenario is that, emotionally, she doesn't care. She just worries that the "unsexy" label will hurt her branding opportunities.

Here's the interesting scenario: what if she really cares whether 27 year old men find her "sexy" or not? Doesn't that speak to a world of shallowness beyond even Maxim's? Ms. Parker is two years older than me, I think. I might be shallow, but I'm nowhere near so shallow as to care whether random strangers of any age, much less random strangers more than ten years younger than me think I'm "sexy". Twenty years ago, people made fun of Sally Field for being excited that the judges at the academy awards "really liked' her. Have we devolved so much that now, the rough equivalent Sally Field, as she was then,cares not whether we like her, but whether we find her Sexy? Never mind if we find her smart, or funny, or good, if she doesn't cause lust, is she not worth our time?

There's also some sexism at play, here, in ways you might not think: People magazine's "Sexiest Man Alive" whether it's George Clooney, or Brad Pitt, or Matt Damon is usually played off by the winner as a bit of a joke: like they really don't care. So, are we equating being sexy with being a woman? If so, what's so great about being a sex object? Why would you be upset at not being a sex object? Yet, every time some starlet gets called anything other than sexy, they have an angry tirade.

So, here's a thought: How sexy do we really need to be? Why should we care whether we're "hot or not"? Is anyone, outside of Hollywood and preteens so frivolous as to really think that a Paris Hitonesque "That's hot" is really the ultimate validation? But, here's the even bigger challenge: if you're with me on all of that, then why blame models for Anorexia? Why blame pornography for bad behavior? Maybe, just maybe, we've all got a little soul-searching to do about how much we want to deny who we really are?

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How much longer must we tolerate mass culture?

Bringing Sexy Back