Beautiful vs. sexy: the battle continues
Jessica Biel: The Sexiest Woman Alive.
Really?
Apparently the editors of Esquire Magazine think so. I can't say that I agree. When I look at Jessica Biel, I see sweet-faced Mary Camden on 7th Heaven. Sexy? Ummm... I'm thinking no.
Part of the problem, as I see it, is that "sexy" and "beautiful" have become synonymous in modern usage, and they shouldn't be. Beautiful is strictly an aesthetic assessment. Sexy is visceral, emotional, hormonal. Beautiful is a look. Sexy is a vibe, an attitude. Not every woman who's beautiful is sexy — in fact, many beautiful women are not especially sexy. Not every woman who's sexy is beautiful — I'd go so far as to say that many of the world's sexiest women are not especially beautiful. (The same may be true for men, too, but someone else — specifically, our straight female and gay male readers — will have to confirm or deny.)
Beautiful implies a certain degree of artifice; beauty can be imposed where it does not exist in nature — ask any cosmetologist or plastic surgeon. Sexy implies an innate quality; you either have it or don't.
Jessica Biel is a nice-looking young woman. Beautiful? I guess so. Not my type, exactly, but okay, sure. Sexy? Perhaps she is in real life; I've never met her, so I can't evaluate. She certainly doesn't come across that way on screen.
Last year's Esquire honoree, Angelina Jolie, illustrates the contrast. Angelina Jolie is a sexy woman. Is she beautiful? Not particularly. In fact, I find her rather homely; her features have the same cobbled-together-from-spare-parts appearance as a Mr. Potato Head doll. But does she give off that ephemeral je ne sais quoi that screams "sexy"? Yes, she does, and in spades.
Let's see whether we can come up with some other beautiful vs. sexy comparisons that work:
Nude — like the nudes one might observe in a fine arts museum — is not sexy, at least not in and of itself.
Naked, on the other hand, is.
Really?
Apparently the editors of Esquire Magazine think so. I can't say that I agree. When I look at Jessica Biel, I see sweet-faced Mary Camden on 7th Heaven. Sexy? Ummm... I'm thinking no.
Part of the problem, as I see it, is that "sexy" and "beautiful" have become synonymous in modern usage, and they shouldn't be. Beautiful is strictly an aesthetic assessment. Sexy is visceral, emotional, hormonal. Beautiful is a look. Sexy is a vibe, an attitude. Not every woman who's beautiful is sexy — in fact, many beautiful women are not especially sexy. Not every woman who's sexy is beautiful — I'd go so far as to say that many of the world's sexiest women are not especially beautiful. (The same may be true for men, too, but someone else — specifically, our straight female and gay male readers — will have to confirm or deny.)
Beautiful implies a certain degree of artifice; beauty can be imposed where it does not exist in nature — ask any cosmetologist or plastic surgeon. Sexy implies an innate quality; you either have it or don't.
Jessica Biel is a nice-looking young woman. Beautiful? I guess so. Not my type, exactly, but okay, sure. Sexy? Perhaps she is in real life; I've never met her, so I can't evaluate. She certainly doesn't come across that way on screen.
Last year's Esquire honoree, Angelina Jolie, illustrates the contrast. Angelina Jolie is a sexy woman. Is she beautiful? Not particularly. In fact, I find her rather homely; her features have the same cobbled-together-from-spare-parts appearance as a Mr. Potato Head doll. But does she give off that ephemeral je ne sais quoi that screams "sexy"? Yes, she does, and in spades.
Let's see whether we can come up with some other beautiful vs. sexy comparisons that work:
- Beautiful: The Taj Mahal.
- Sexy: The Grand Canyon.
- Beautiful: Ginger.
Sexy: Mary Ann. - Beautiful: Miss America.
Sexy: Miss Congeniality. - Beautiful: The Venus de Milo.
Sexy: Venus Williams. - Beautiful: The Victoria's Secret catalog.
Sexy: Jennifer Beals's sweatshirt in Flashdance. - Beautiful: Jennifer Aniston.
Sexy: Jennifer Lopez. - Beautiful: Princess Diana.
Sexy: The Duchess of York. - Beautiful: Amanda Jones (Lea Thompson) in Some Kind of Wonderful.
- Sexy: Watts the drummer girl (Mary Stuart Masterson) in the same movie.
Nude — like the nudes one might observe in a fine arts museum — is not sexy, at least not in and of itself.
Naked, on the other hand, is.
SwanShadow was randomly pounding the keyboard at 11:09 AM
1 insisted on sticking two cents in:
Watts...Hell, yeah.
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