While it is true that Playboy as a magazine does have an affinity for large-breasted blondes and this no doubt played into their selection of the college campuses with the sexiest coeds, I think there is more at play here than Kevin's simple dismissal of the judges' lack of worldy appreciation of all forms of feminine beauty.
As one who has traveled many a mile and visited many a college in our own state and beyond, I am squarely of the opinion that Cal does not have a terribly sexy student body and that, overall, the sexiness of most women is well below "mean coed sexiness," whereas the sexiness of most men are more or less at the mean (some previous rankings have actually ranked Cal men in the top 10 for sexiness).
Now, of course, sexiness by Playboy's definition could easily be correlated to sluttiness to some extent. It's not the Cal women you see, by and large, on the GGW videos or at Mardi Gras; it's the ASU girls, the Chico girls, the Florida girls, the Georgia and Texas girls. If more Cal women got out to these Playboy-frequented fleshfests, perhaps rankings would go up.
It is also untrue that all these schools in the Top 10 have seas of white women, at least half the schools have significant black populations (Georgia, Alabama, East Carolina, Florida, Florida State) and only two have really whitewashed student bodies (Arizona, Colorado). Although it is true that all of these schools (except UCLA) have very small Asian populations and perhaps that did play a role in decisions.
But the judges panel, while all middle-aged white men, are a bunch of people who have been looking at naked women for dozens of years, and Playboy's history does show that, while it prefers big-breasted blondes, it in no way has had any deliberate agenda against other types of women. They have a firm understanding of an "objective" standard of female sexiness that A: is popular and B: will sell magazines.I think that these judges would not simply dismiss candidates because of "breasts too small" or "butt too big." These are also two very suprisingly generalistic and stereotypical comments to my ears. Saying something like that is no different than saying all Asian men have small penises and all black men have enormous penises: they're based much more on the perpetuation of stereotypical perceptions than they are on reality. There are scores of Asian women with large "Playboy breasts" and there are scores of black women with small, round "Playboy butts," for lack of better terms. Simplistic explanation on the dismissal of candidates.
So why then does Cal rank dead last? Is it sexiness in general? Absolutely. But sexiness is more than just looking hot. Sexiness is attitude and behavior. Playboy's definition of sexiness is very much the Girls Gone Wild approach. Will you get drunk and take off your shirt? Do you participate in wet t-shirt contests? Are all your swimsuits thong bikinis? Will you go down on your roommate on camera on the back of a boat in Lake Havasu? And yes, herein lies the biggest point: Warmth and proximity to warm beaches and lakes also equals sexy. Look at all the schools in the Top 10. With the exception of Colorado, they're ALL in very warm climates. These climates are conducive to party schools. It's no coincidence that very few prestigious colleges are in hot climates.In the world of Top-Tier universities, Cal and UCLA are among a handful that aren't in extremely cold climates. For you see, big public schools + hot weather + exhibitionist people + non-stop parties = Playboy Sexy. Other than being a big public university, Cal is noticeably deficient in all the other categories.
Potato Chucker does have it wrong, though. Cal women are definitely NOT ugly. They just aren't sexy in that Playboy sense. This is not a bad thing. The appeal of the Cal woman is a strong one: empowered, opinionated, forceful, passionate, and independent. This is always appealing to many men and downright sexy to some, myself included. Although, for the sake of full disclosure, let it be known that I am a big fan of Playboy and the great influence that that magazine has had on our popular culture.
So embrace your non-sexiness! But don't try to fight the Playboy lists, because I'd be the first to put Cal women at or near the bottom on a list like that, because what Cal women have is not what Playboy and their readers are looking for in a list like that.
But that's not a bad thing. Cheers.
As one who has traveled many a mile and visited many a college in our own state and beyond, I am squarely of the opinion that Cal does not have a terribly sexy student body and that, overall, the sexiness of most women is well below "mean coed sexiness," whereas the sexiness of most men are more or less at the mean (some previous rankings have actually ranked Cal men in the top 10 for sexiness).
Now, of course, sexiness by Playboy's definition could easily be correlated to sluttiness to some extent. It's not the Cal women you see, by and large, on the GGW videos or at Mardi Gras; it's the ASU girls, the Chico girls, the Florida girls, the Georgia and Texas girls. If more Cal women got out to these Playboy-frequented fleshfests, perhaps rankings would go up.
It is also untrue that all these schools in the Top 10 have seas of white women, at least half the schools have significant black populations (Georgia, Alabama, East Carolina, Florida, Florida State) and only two have really whitewashed student bodies (Arizona, Colorado). Although it is true that all of these schools (except UCLA) have very small Asian populations and perhaps that did play a role in decisions.
But the judges panel, while all middle-aged white men, are a bunch of people who have been looking at naked women for dozens of years, and Playboy's history does show that, while it prefers big-breasted blondes, it in no way has had any deliberate agenda against other types of women. They have a firm understanding of an "objective" standard of female sexiness that A: is popular and B: will sell magazines.I think that these judges would not simply dismiss candidates because of "breasts too small" or "butt too big." These are also two very suprisingly generalistic and stereotypical comments to my ears. Saying something like that is no different than saying all Asian men have small penises and all black men have enormous penises: they're based much more on the perpetuation of stereotypical perceptions than they are on reality. There are scores of Asian women with large "Playboy breasts" and there are scores of black women with small, round "Playboy butts," for lack of better terms. Simplistic explanation on the dismissal of candidates.
So why then does Cal rank dead last? Is it sexiness in general? Absolutely. But sexiness is more than just looking hot. Sexiness is attitude and behavior. Playboy's definition of sexiness is very much the Girls Gone Wild approach. Will you get drunk and take off your shirt? Do you participate in wet t-shirt contests? Are all your swimsuits thong bikinis? Will you go down on your roommate on camera on the back of a boat in Lake Havasu? And yes, herein lies the biggest point: Warmth and proximity to warm beaches and lakes also equals sexy. Look at all the schools in the Top 10. With the exception of Colorado, they're ALL in very warm climates. These climates are conducive to party schools. It's no coincidence that very few prestigious colleges are in hot climates.In the world of Top-Tier universities, Cal and UCLA are among a handful that aren't in extremely cold climates. For you see, big public schools + hot weather + exhibitionist people + non-stop parties = Playboy Sexy. Other than being a big public university, Cal is noticeably deficient in all the other categories.
Potato Chucker does have it wrong, though. Cal women are definitely NOT ugly. They just aren't sexy in that Playboy sense. This is not a bad thing. The appeal of the Cal woman is a strong one: empowered, opinionated, forceful, passionate, and independent. This is always appealing to many men and downright sexy to some, myself included. Although, for the sake of full disclosure, let it be known that I am a big fan of Playboy and the great influence that that magazine has had on our popular culture.
So embrace your non-sexiness! But don't try to fight the Playboy lists, because I'd be the first to put Cal women at or near the bottom on a list like that, because what Cal women have is not what Playboy and their readers are looking for in a list like that.
But that's not a bad thing. Cheers.
posted by David at
1:29 PM
