We’re used to men’s mags like Maxim coming out with offensive lists of the ‘hottest babes of 2007’, etc. But now that this sort of thing has just become background-level annoying, they decide to go a little bit further with a list of least sexy women ever.

Of course, the list itself is nonsensical - Sarah Jessica Parker gets the top spot, and even Madonna is on it (presumably now she’s getting a bit older she’s gone from fuckable to hideous). Just like the most-sexy-type lists, this again reduces accomplished actors and musicians to objects rated only for their ability to titillate men.

Look how they hammer it home. Reports Zap 2 It of Maxim’s assessment of Parker:

Maxim, however, points out her more, um, equine features: “How the hell did this Barbaro-faced broad manage to be the least sexy woman in a group of very unsexy women and still star on a show with ‘sex’ in the title? Pull your skirt down, Secretariat, we´d rather ride Chris Noth.”

So what does that say? If you’re not (currently) ranked as sexy by the journalists who work for a men’s magazine, God forbid you should have sex. Or be in a TV show about sex. Sex is reserved for women with the male stamp of approval. Say, Jessica Alba. And the only reason to make a show about sex is for men to fantasise about the women in it?! Indeed, this whole list stinks of how Maxim et al think that the whole purpose of women in the public eye is to be sexy: and if they don’t meet their approval, well, what’s the point of them?

For those unconvinced of the misogyny of the ‘sexiest woman alive’ lists, I invite you to read the rest of this tripe and confront the flip side of the sexy coin.

Photo of a poster of the hideous Sarah Jessica Parker by sarahleeab, shared under a Creative Commons license

Posted by Jess McCabe on 27 October 2007, at 10:02 PM