Thursday, May 14, 2009
Dangerous ground
American "laddie" magazine Maxim has put our first lady, Michelle Obama, into its "Hot 100" list at #93 (scroll the full slide show here). I've gotten a number of emails on this subject, and at least a few conservative bloggers regard the ranking as just another preposterous claim by an adoring media. Well, maybe so, but as somebody who finds women in their forties and fifties much more attractive now than I did, say, twenty years ago, I'll man up and say that I think that Michelle Obama is pretty darn hot. You can argue whether Michelle O. is #93 hot or all that power and media-manufactured glamor makes her more or less hot -- tastes vary on such things -- but from where I sit Maxim did not compromise its standards to include her on the list.
16 Comments:
By 
The Conservative Wahoo, at
Thu May 14, 10:32:00 PM:
She's a tad lightly armed topside, and a bit broad in the beam.
By 
, at
Thu May 14, 11:04:00 PM:
I'm completely with you on the vintage aspect. But Michelle?
Not in a million years.
Where I sit, the really beautiful thing about 40-50's women is their minds. I find having lived a bit makes for much more rewarding partners.
Which brings us back to Michelle's mind, which I'm sure is biologically first rate. Just what is it about it that is attractive?
M.E.
By JPMcT, at
Thu May 14, 11:20:00 PM:
Being married to a hot 60 year old woman, I agree with the preference for women with a little maturity and experience. You Muslim guys can keep the 72 virgins!
Michelle Obama is an attractive woman, but she does not belong on a list of "smoking hot" topical women. She belongs on the cover of "Better Homes"...not Cosmo or Maxim.
It's interesting that Carrie Prejean would fit naturally with the rest of the girls. Her "scandalous" picture released by the media is actually quite compatable with many of the pics seen on the slide show. She's topical. Unfortunately, she is politically incorrect.
No, TH, methinks that MO's inclusion on this list is, indeed, syncophantic.
By , at
Thu May 14, 11:32:00 PM:
To determine to if Maxim's standards have declined or been waived to include Mrs. O, we should compare the prior year's list against the current year.
By , at
Thu May 14, 11:37:00 PM:
Michelle Obama is definitely hot.
-dw
By , at
Thu May 14, 11:44:00 PM:
Are you on crack? My respect for your judgment has plummeted, but hopefully I will recover. I have no problem with you making the general claim about that age group, but your specific claim is ridiculous. I guess it takes all kinds.
By , at
Thu May 14, 11:57:00 PM:
As it happens, I don't think Michelle Obama is attractive at all, let alone hot. Be that as it may, it is obvious MO was a politically motivated pick, seeing as how the following age 40+ women weren't on it and they're way hotter than MO:
Emily Procter (CSI: Miami)
Lisa Edelstein (House)
Gina Bellman (Leverage)
Kate Walsh (Private Practice)
Catherine Bell (Army Wives)
Mariska Hargitay (L&O: SVU)
Sela Ward (Various)
Olivia Willams (Dollhouse)
By , at
Fri May 15, 12:05:00 AM:
Gentlemen ... she is definitely NON-hot, not even with a case of beer in me and a year on a desert island without any sight of a woman would I see a huge angry woman as something I'd be interested in. This is just more fawning by the media to try to lead the witnesses.
By , at
Fri May 15, 01:33:00 AM:
I second the last comment. NOT HOT, even by Princeton standards.
By , at
Fri May 15, 01:40:00 AM:
Safe to say, if she weren't married to Obama she'd never make "Hot 1,000,000" list anywhere.
By , at
Fri May 15, 02:20:00 AM:
If you're into masculine women, then I guess she isn't any worse than those hulked up female bodybuilders.
The rest of us like our women to be, you know.... feminine.
By TigerHawk, at
Fri May 15, 05:38:00 AM:
Safe to say, if she weren't married to Obama she'd never make "Hot 1,000,000" list anywhere.I agree with that, but that's my point about the extent to which power, celebrity and actual, influences attractiveness in women (as it quite famously does in men). Preferences vary.
By , at
Fri May 15, 11:09:00 AM:
On a second thought, Michelle is more real than all other 99 put together and real men (like TH) ultimately prefer real women. In which case, perhaps "pretty darn hot" is not the best phrase to use...
By , at
Fri May 15, 12:21:00 PM:
On a second thought, Michelle is more real than all other 99 put together and real men (like TH) ultimately prefer real women.I wonder why nobody has ever asked (in a published interview) a woman like Scarlett Johansson what she thinks about being called "not real".
By , at
Fri May 15, 12:38:00 PM:
Michelle Obama looks like she is half Klingon. See below:
Michelle Obama's Klingon Eyebrows
By , at
Mon May 18, 08:50:00 PM:
Lists like this always value "famous" and "interesting" more than pure physical attractiveness. Otherwise, they would just be a compilation of amazingly beautiful women that no one has ever heard of or cares about. So a better title would be "100 Famous and/or Interesting Women Who Also Look Good." By that standard, sure, put Mrs. Obama on the list.
