Representin’ for the SF Publishing Hotties, Yo
Posted on August 17, 2006 Posted by John Scalzi 43 Comments
Apparently Galleycat is running a contest to determine “the Hottie of Publishing, Women’s Division,” and has five finalists up, some of whom really do seem to be rather unspeakably hot, from what I can discern from the rather ridiculously small pictures of the women on the site. One of the finalists, Liz Scheier (pictured here), is a science fiction editor, and I’m being lobbied by members of the science fiction hawt women appreciation underground to throw some votes her way.
Well, okay: As long as we all preface this with the acknowledgement that this is a very silly poll or contest or whatever, and that the vote does not oblige Liz to, you know, actually date any of us, why not recognize hotness in science fiction, in the form of an editor who might buy one of your books and/or buy some books that you will later read and enjoy? Powerful, hawt women in SF rock. What could possibly be better?
Yes, yes, powerful hawt women in SF offering you free pizza. Now beat yourself in the head with a bat, you mouth-breathing troglodyte, you.
So, anyway: vote for Liz. Science fiction thanks you in advance for your participation.
Where’s the Men’s Division?
Word.
Will she really give my manuscript a looksee? Cuz, I’ll vote for anyone who will.
Word.
Duh me. The Men’s Division is here.
I went to the site with all intentions of voting for Ms. SF herself, but alas the roller derby chick stole my vote and my heart.
Yeah…we tried to get Liz to let use a pppicture from her Jello-wrestling days, but she was too shy. :-)
Yeah, like Kelsey I went to vote for Liz, but Alison stole my heart. Err… or something like that. Anyway, roller derby helmets RULE. Heh.
Just thought I’d mention that in Firefox, if you right click and “view image” you can see a slightly larger version of the picture.
Hmmm… now I’m pondering the idea of a Women of SFWA calendar.
(Yeh, I suppose I should be politically correct and think of a Men of SFWA calendar too, but from what I’ve seen of SFWAns, there’s a lot more female pulchritude than male.)
My heart still flutters for TNH with her wicked smile and snazzy hat.
While I’m about as likely to buy ANYTHING Thomas Nelson publishes as Mel Gibson is likely to convert to Judism — I must say Beth Hood reminded me why I married a beautiful and amazing southern woman. I suppose I’ll forgive her for pedalling organized religion to unassuming children. She IS pretty, after all.
Sorry, Liz.
BTW, the rollergirl is pretty tough, too… as is the first one shown from Vintage — she scores hottie/smartgirl points for being all literary and junk.
I voted for Liz…but DANG the Roller Derby Helmet WAS tough to resist!
HAHAAAA
Andi
John – you have a much better picture of Liz than the poll has. What’s up with that?
Better connections.
argghhh! god, is this the only way we know how to celebrate women in public? yes, i posted about it here:
http://othermag.org/blog/?p=66
it’s pissing me off.
Well, I for one like the gratuitous cleavage shot of my my friend Liz. If you got it, flaunt it. (But then again, I am queer as a two-dollar bill and I like ANY gratuitous cleavage shot.)
Wow, the breakdown is almost exactly even. The bottom 3 in order each have 20% of the vote, and the top 2 have 19% each. (2% unaccounted for).
And here I just plumb forgot to be offended!
While maintaining my strict official neutrality, I can confirm the truth of Scalzi’s statement. If we’d had that picture, we’d definitely have used it! Because, no matter what Claire Light tells you about us, we’re not, you know, stupid.
Awwwwwwwright, Hogan. I can take a hint.
I voted for Liz, but I told them you threatened me at gunpoint, so I don’t know if they’ll count it. :’)
Claire, humanity has two genders. As long as that is true, and perhaps beyond, there will be hubba-hubbaing. While it would be a shame if Liz, here, were only recognized for how good she looks in a waybitchenfucsia ribbed tee with shades, the fact is that she does look good. To ignore that would equally be a shame, particularly for those of us who are waybitchenfucsia ribbed tee and glasses afficianados.
Claire,
I dispute some of your assertions. People have an innate attraction to attractive people, and that is not because of any societal (or as you assert – patriarchical) pressure.
It is a legacy of our very long past shaped by evolutionary pressures. To rail against that is to try to turn the sea back with a teacup.
As a person who’s particular evolutionary history makes my body crave calories and stingely store fat against an anticipated famine I know how frustrating it is to deal with instincts out of touch with today’s reality. Put simply, I fight a daily battle against obesity because my body would perform immensely well in times of famine but performs poorly in our time of plenty.
But we all must play the hand we are dealt and frankly I’m too old to feel guilty about my sexuality. My heart likes what it likes.
Hi all! This is Liz. Thanks for the votes! And for those of you who voted for RollerGirl – I did too, so no offense taken. YUM.
Claire – I have many responses to your post, but I’ll keep them to myself, as some of us were raised better than to call other people dumb in public forums.
Rock the vote!
Liz
This is just getting funnier and funnier.
Tripp,
Are you implying that American standards of beauty are GENETIC?
Yeah, that’s something that’ll stand up to intercultural & historical scrutiny.
I’m voting for Liz. I mean, duh. She’s hot and hilarious and all Greta Garbo with the hand on the camera.
I would like to remark, though, on the lackluster male showing. The women are much hotter than all the guys, in my opinion, except for Stephen. Is it just me who thinks there’s a big discrepancy?
Well, see, all the really hot guys in publishing are authors.
I think Dan Lazar is hot, and he’s a nice guy.
But mostly, I think that the guys are hiding under their desks hoping this will end soon. :-)
Rachel –
Actually, yes, you could could argue that standards of beauty in mammals are hardwired into our genes. Several studies have shown that in all mammals, there is a preference for symmetrical features when choosing a potential mate. I will now go dig up the research on that.
(I don’t remember what they said about low-cut fuschia t-shirts, though)
Those publishing boys, so modest and shy. It’s cute!
Rachel,
I generally mean what I say. I don’t want to anger you but it does get tiresome to see my words get exagerated and distorted into something easily disputed.
For the record I think there are hard-wired universal standards for attractiveness in humans and I think these standards cross cultures and are different for male and female standards.
Here are the female standards – youth and health. By youth I mean after adolescents. You can determine for yourself what denotes youth and health. Personally I think clear skin is a sign of health. Also, as La Gringa states, symettrical features generally denote health.
Actually for facial features the ‘average’ features are the most attractive. By average I do not mean ‘common’, I mean everything is of the average size, proportion and location taken from all humans.
To me this makes sense because genetically ‘mongrels’ (to use a loaded term) are the best for breeding. Too much interbreeding leads to problems.
Why do we prefer blondes? Generally hair gets darker as people age. Blonde signals youth.
I think current US standards of attractiveness build on the inherent standards but are also exagerated and distored to sell a product. For example, clearly the marketing of jeans has shifted the focus of sexual attention from the face, breasts, or legs to the butt. That sells more jeans.
Is all of this ‘fair?’ Is it ‘right?’ Probably neither, but it is what it is. To deny it is to deny reality. I prefer to first see things the way they are and then go from there.
And I shouldn’t have to say this but I am not implying that we are all slaves to our preferences. Clearly we all have higher level functions that can override the preferences and instincts we have, although sometimes that is VERY difficult to do. Take my situation of constantly struggling with extra weight for example. I do it but it ain’t easy. It ain’t fair either.
I think Tripp’s got it in a nutshell. I believe that there are underlying, universal (or nearly so) genetic triggers for what is considered beauty, with cultural overlays that can often be onerous on women. But don’t think men are immune to similar and parallel pressures. Numerous studies have shown that all things being equal, the taller male job candidate (and presidential candidate), the more handsome job candidate or even the one with the blue eyes is more likely to get a job offer. And it doesn’t matter if it’s a man or woman making the hiring decision. Steroid abuse among young men, with its consequential health risks, is as damaging as anorexia among young women. Both can derive from a young person’s desire to conform to an impossible societal ideal. And, if our society makes women ‘sex symbols,’ it also makes men ‘success symbols.’ Have you ever heard a guy ask what kind of car a woman drives as a factor in whether or not he should date her? Heck, if I’m rich and famous, it doesn’t matter if I look like a gecko (Mick Jagger) or a wig-bearing mole (Donald Trump), young beautiful women will want me. On a personal level, I have a brilliant colleague from law school who said, “I’m no longer going to be a prosecutor or even practice law. I’m going to stay home and raise babies.” As a woman, no one questioned her. I doubt that society would be so understanding had a male said that. So, do millions of women and men get the short end of the stick because we’re not beautiful? Of course. However, a playful contest- one that counters the stereotype that attractive women can’t also be intelligent and competant- is one quintillionth of the societal problem of celebutards like Paris Hilton.
As I just said to Elizabeth Hand…
I am a chick who likes chicks. And yes, I like oggling the pretty ones. I won’t apologize for it. I believe it’s why God gave me working eyeballs.
;-)
La Gringa,
We agree on something. I think one of the biggest pleasures God has given me is the sight of a pretty woman.
I don’t ogle because that is rude, and I am not rude. I also don’t presume to think that any other person, including a beautiful woman, owes me anything. With that said, in general people seem to be very nice to me when I think they are beautiful. In some way (dilated pupil?) they sense my appreciation and respond to it.
I think what claire and Rachel are trying to say is:
Don’t be a chauvinist pig… broads hate that.
Some people just need to lighten up.
I think broads hate being called broads. :-)
I think broads hate being called broads.
I can’t imagine why… :p
Oh, what bullshit. Yes, pretty people are pretty. Goes for pretty women and pretty boys but somehow it’s always the pretty women who get to be made to compete. Frankly, it’s pissing me off as much as it does Claire.
And as for the inescapable tendency to be attracted to pretty people, I notice the world is chock full of fat, ugly, short, hairy, squint-eyed, balding, and generally unattractive people happily paired off and shagging like there’s no tomorrow, as well as lots of thin slim blonde beauties who are not reproducing any time soon.
Frankly, if people learned to recognize beauty in people not adhering to normative, culturally dictated standards of beauty which mostly consist of white skin, Nordic appearence, unnatural thinness, and nowadays a general lack of waist and/or tits, if they learned to see the beauty of old ladies, fat chicks, and fat bald men, the would would in general be a lot happier. But recognizing such things would imply that beauty is in the eye of the beholder and thus not easily ameanable to polls and competitions.
Spoken as a somebody with quite a lot of physical assets, who’s always been attracted by frankly very ugly men.
Okay, so you obviously missed that part of the contest where FIVE MEN are participating as well?
I don’t understand the anger.
I myself AM NOT a pretty woman. I kinda look like a fireplug with muscles and a perpetual shit-eating grin. But hey, I like myself just fine anyway.
I also like looking at pretty women. It certainly doesn’t mean I don’t see worthwhile attributes in people who aren’t drop dead gorgeous.
And note that nowhere above did we mention weight or race. We mentioned symmetry. I’m pretty damned sure that there are just as many symmetrically attractive folks in Chad or Angola or Outer Mongolia or Guam or Sri Lanka.
Nobody ever dictated to me what I find attractive. And there is certainly bound to be a difference between what “turns my head” and any individual woman for whom I may develop feelings.
But as far as feeling anger over this contest for exploiting women or betraying feminism? I don’t think so.
Frankly I’m inclined to feel more anger right now at Marion Jones for making professional female athletes look bad by doping up before a meet. Now THAT’S a betrayal of feminism.
Anna,
I see you have made the leap from “pretty” and “attractive” to “beauty”. If you read carefully nowhere did I ever use the word “beauty.” Read carefully and you’ll see that the contest refers to “hottie” and not “beauty.” Perhaps you are reading more into the statements than what is there.
It is your choice if you want to rail against innate human behaviour but you must admit you’ve got no chance at changing it. The best you might achieve would be to make some people feel bad about their natural feelings but as I said earlier I’m too old to apologize for my sexuality so you can put that in your pipe and smoke it.
And your point about who “unattracive” people marry is besides the point. We all want the best we can get and people get married when they both figure out that the partner they are with is the best they can get.
You’ll probably scold me that by my definition of marriage people will leave the marriage when someone better comes along. I agree that many people do just that but many people also stay commited to their partners.
Let me ask you a direct question – are you able to make yourself feel sexually attracted to someone? If you are not then why do you expect everyone else to do that?
We have a winner! People-power, Whatever-style.
Anna offered the following feminonsense:
So anyone whose tastes do not conform to yours is an unhappy person who isn’t deciding for themselves what they really like but is instead mindlessly following cultural dictates. Right. Thanks for the heads-up.
The next time I’m admiring some gorgeous, physically fit, non-obese, young babe, I’ll, er, be sure to remind myself just how, you know, unhappy it’s making me.
(eye roll)
I like her picture. From one hottie to another, I say hat’s off. Besides, it’s not like she’s in some bikini with silicone implants and sticking her rear out to bend over something and looking back towards the camera with pouty lips. I believe the technical term for that is “booty shot,” btw.
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Thanks for doing what you do, John.
~Stacie R. Cole, SEO Copywriter, Netwriter, Novelist
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It’s not the hair, it’s not the boobs. What really has me going is the Caldecott Medal hanging around her neck. A real turn-on. ;-)