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Meet the REAL Hotties
by Cindy Kuzma, 07.25.06
"The REAL Hot 100 makes it clear ... that today's young women are socially conscious, cognizant of the effects of sexism, and still really cute" |
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Beth Myrick, 19, is one hot chick. It has nothing to do with her bra size or how she looks in tight jeans — it's more about the way she reaches out to young people in Portland to help spread the message about sexual health and HIV/AIDS prevention.
Writer and activist Liz Funk, 18, is a definite hottie as well. She's organized several protests against media stereotyping of women and is writing two books.
You won't find these women in the June issue of Maxim, whose Hot 100 list is "the end result of a process in which experts examine thousands of beautiful women and refine them down to the very hottest," as the magazine claims. But you will find them on the REAL Hot 100, a list that invites everyone — women and men — to "see how hot SMART can be."
What's Hot?
The REAL Hot 100 came about when Gwynn Cassidy, age 35, a writer and filmmaker in New York, was talking with her friends about the Maxim list and the message it sends — mainly, that the only way for a girl to be "hot" is to have a perfect body and to pose provocatively. "As younger women, we're constantly being bombarded by 'ideals' of how we should act and how we should look," says Cassidy, now executive director of the REAL Hot 100.
Cassidy and her friends, with backing from the Younger Women's Task Force (Cassidy serves on the board of the New York chapter) and several other organizations, decided to take action by making their own list of really hot women. "We were looking for women who were going above and beyond — who really were trying to break barriers and fight stereotypes and make the world a better place," Cassidy says. They put the word out through friends and on the Web; in the end, more than 350 nominations came in from women and men all over the country.
Not only does the REAL Hot 100 list recognize women and girls for the important work they're doing, it also connects activists from different fields and communities. "I really believe that, when women work together, we can see extraordinary results," says Cassidy. For instance, if a minister from Ohio is looking for a way to incorporate sexual health messages into church programming, she can contact Beth Myrick or another educator on the list for ideas.
Myrick is definitely looking forward to such collaborations. "I've been sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for them to announce the final nominees," she says. "The world is going to get a few revolutions out of the girls on this list."
Meet the Winning Women!
teenwire.com had a chance to talk to four of the women who made the REAL Hot 100 list. Here's what they had to say!
1. In her role as director of marketing and information for young people at the Cascade AIDS Project in Portland, OR, Beth Myrick creates sexual health zines and distributes buttons that proclaim "It's safe to masturbate" and "Sexuality doesn't hurt people ... repressing it does."
"A list like this is not only a way for people to get their message out, but also a way for those who are looking for inspiration to get involved to find out what other people around the world are doing," Myrick says. "I get really excited when things like the REAL Hot 100 come around, because it helps me realize that there are other people who are making a difference in the world, in amazingly creative ways — and that I'm not the only one struggling [to create change]. It gives me hope."
2. In addition to her books, Liz Funk writes a feminist blog for the Times Union, a newspaper in Albany, NY. In the fall, she'll be a sophomore at Pace University, and she's working to organize a demonstration outside Trump Tower in New York City to protest the Miss USA pageant, which Donald Trump co-owns. "I work very hard to establish that feminism can be very sexy and pro-femininity, but should be staunchly anti-exploitation," she says.
"It's perfectly OK to think that the women on Maxim's Hot List are good-looking, but we need to recognize that these women aren't REAL women," she says. "They are airbrushed [and] primped for hours before flashing a fingertip on camera [and are often] surgically enhanced. The REAL Hot 100 makes it clear ... that today's young women are socially conscious, cognizant of the effects of sexism, and still really cute!"
3. When Estefania Alves, 21, was a senior in high school, she started GRLZ Radio, which broadcasts music and programming that empowers women and girls in the Boston area. She's a student at Boston College and plans to get her master's degree in social work and, perhaps, also go to law school.
"It is clear to me that all of these females are working to make society a better place for women," she says. "We are similar in many ways, because our goal is to uplift women, demonstrate their power, and give and show them the respect they need and deserve."
4. Blogger and New York University law student Jill Filipovic, 22, wrote a feminist column for NYU's newspaper, served as president of the [Vox®] Voices for Choice pro-choice club, and was a member of the College Democrats in her undergrad days.
"Aside from being an activist yourself, I think that the most important thing that young women can do today is exactly what Gwynn and the other creators of the REAL Hot 100 have done: Recognize each other," she says. "Media portrayals of women too often have us in competition, and I wish that when I was in high school, someone had told me that it's not a race, and that one of the most rewarding things you can do is to step back and appreciate what your peers are doing. Make connections, work together, and everyone wins."
To meet the rest of this year's winners, check out the REAL Hot 100 website. |
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