Pick a website – Esquire, Details, GQ, this one – and you’re bound to find some variation of a “Women We Love” series, but the all-encompassing title is always a little misleading.
They’re never about all women; they’re about women who look good in very little clothing or who fit fairly specific physical characteristics. Basically, they tend to be about women that look good in bathing suits or underwear or tank tops or you get the picture.
It’s not that I’m opposed to showcasing beautiful women in various stages of undress, it’s just that I think we need to showcase more than just the beautiful women in various stages of undress because here’s the thing: there are literally thousands of amazing, talented, sexy, incredible women out there who don’t fit the fairly specific qualifications it takes to appear in one of these columns who are as deserving of love, crushes and showcases as their more nubile counterparts.
GQ just dubbed Jourdan Dunn the sexiest chef they’ve ever known. Jourdan Dunn isn’t a chef; she’s a British model. It’s obnoxious because there are tons of actual chefs out there who are amazing and sexy but rarely get talked about because they’re not fashion models that happen to enjoy cooking.
Why do we tell people about the 10 Hottest Models to Follow on Instagram, but devote zero time to 10 Amazing Female Photographers to Follow on the social media picture-sharing platform or 10 Tremendously Witty Women to Follow on Twitter?
Shouldn’t the media be promoting more than just one type of women? And before you say, “They’re featuring the type of women people who frequent their sites prefer,” don’t be so cavalier as to assume everyone who visits Esquire or GQ only like swimsuit models and skinny pop stars.
On top of that, if the only women these sites ever tend to feature are swimsuit models and skinny pop stars and certain actresses et cetera, what message is that sending younger generations on both genders about physical appearance and body image?
And if we’re going to do #WCW or Women We Love or whatever, maybe start doing #MCM or Men We Love or something similar too because I tell you what – I like the sartorial selections and collective talents of guys like Justin Timberlake and Anthony Bourdain and Questlove and any number of dudes far more than I like Emily Ratajkowski’s ability to wear bikinis.
Additionally, it’s 2015 – men don’t just like women; just saying.
If we’re going to talk about the Women We Love and our crushes, let’s talk about all the women we love and have crushes on, not just “the pretty girls.”
