Rather than working herself into a lather regarding the "Runway" piece(who says feminists have no sense of humor), maybe Rebecca should be trumpeting this other piece by the author-

http://www.columbiatribune.com/2006/Jun/20060608Go!008.asp

Not bad.

MU grads among ‘hot 100’ leading way for women

By PETE BLAND of the Tribune’s staff

Published Thursday, June 8, 2006

What makes a woman "hot"?

For your typical lad mag, there’s little left to the imagination in the answer.

Plastic, willing Hollywood types slathered in baby oil and busting out of lingerie win the day, as your ogling eyes can plainly see in such popular print publications as the Hot 100 supplement in this month’s issue of Maxim.

Simply being pretty’s not even enough anymore for these inventories. Pretty vacant’s a prerequisite.

An upstart group is out to challenge a notion that’s becoming startlingly more and more accepted in the media by unveiling "the REAL hot 100," a list of vibrant, intelligent, you-name-it-conscious young women who it believes deserve to be treasured as the genuine smokin’ articles.

Hatched last year as the joint effort of six women involved in ventures such as Girls in Government, feministing.com and the Younger Women’s Task Force, the REAL hot 100 - therealhot100.org - hopes to "highlight young women who are smart, savvy and actively trying to make the world a better place."

A nomination process that took place from December to March elicited more than 350 candidates from 36 states. The winners were revealed late last week on the Web site, where next Thursday a downloadable, printable version of the REAL hot 100 with photos and profiles of those on the list will be made available. A magazine-style print version also is being planned.

These REAL hot 100 are the leading lights of their generation, battling gender stereotypes and effecting change in their chosen fields while providing models for others who might one day follow in their paths.

And a handful with ties to the University of Missouri-Columbia are in the mix.

Among the final selections are recent MU grads Jackie Cook-Eberle and Angie Vo. And two more Missouri alumnae - Ann Friedman and Madeline Halperin-Robinson - are co-founders.

There’s plenty of information to be had on all of their accomplishments on the REAL hot 100 site, but keep an eye on my blog - blogs.columbiatribune.com/cooldryplace - for more detailed discussions with the Columbia connection.

Before my Y-chromosome-carrying brethren begin rolling their eyes, dismissing this as just another "it’s what’s on the inside that counts" acknowledgement, they need to check their standards for "hot" on their way out the strip-club door.

These women carry the entire package, and - as organizers had hoped - media outlets are taking notice.

Mentions in Salon.com, the Chicago Sun-Times and Women’s eNews have brought welcome attention to the REAL hot 100, and co-founder and feministing.com originator Jessica Valenti’s piece in The Guardian last week has even encouraged that British periodical’s G2 features supplement to begin its own list of "world-challenging women."

Gwynn Cassidy, another co-creator, told me Tuesday that she also has been "blown away" - but certainly not surprised - by the response from bloggers, acknowledging that the Web is perhaps the realm where women’s issues are being broached and bandied about the most.

As Valenti points out in The Guardian, while some of the REAL hot 100 head-turners "may look good in a bikini, they know that is not all they have to offer."

Cook-Eberle, for example, graduated in May after starting the first pro-choice women’s group on the MU campus and overseeing a performance of "The Vagina Monologues" while spending time at the University of KwaZula-Natal in South Africa.

Vo, meanwhile, came to MU from her hometown of Joplin, also earning a degree in May before moving on to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. She started her own clothing line, Verbose, which debuted during the Pro-Choice/Pro-Fashion event she organized in 2004 to raise money to help low-income students and residents attend the March for Women’s Lives in Washington.

Sorry, Maxim. That’s "hot."

d'ya think ?

Isn't the Columbia Daily Tribune the student newspaper for the Columbia School of Journalism at the University of Missouri?

Why would anyone care, much less write a response in a national feature website such as Salon, what a student journalist thinks since they are hardly fully formed in their opinions - and if memory serves from my own j-school college paper days, we tried to write the most outrageous B.S. we could just to make a "name" for ourselves.

Geez. Stop pandering to babies.

tes

my comment was meant in sarcasm, I'm sorry that wasn't clear.

Personally I don't watch "reality" television, because I feel it's very exploitive to the participants, whether they are being lied to about the show's premise (Joe Millionaire), mericlessly savaged for not performing to unrealistic expectations (Hell's Kitchen), or simply being put down for ratings purposes (American Idol).

..I haven't heard any female of my acquaintance - and I'm relatively young - use the phrase "BFF" since I left junior high. While I'll admit I squeal with joy knowing one of my favorite shows on TV is starting tonight, I object on basic principle to the fact that being enthusiastic about a well-made reality show and being an intelligent, feminist woman are somehow mutually exclusive.

Maybe it's because I'm in my third month of TV after 6 years without; I'm missing the reason behind the ire against "reality" TV. Don't get me wrong, I hate seeing people humiliated (I can't sit through "Meet the Parents.") At the same time, I grew up with Star Search, how does American Idol really differ (besides the lack of Sinbad)? w/r/t Project Runway, I like watching designers solve problems and talk about the process (as much as can fit in a 1 hour show).

I think Rebecca was right to bring the article to our attention, and to conclude that it is, in fact, dumb. I'm a straight guy, and I love project runway. It's a brilliantly produced show with strange and intelligent cast members who make high fashion accessible and interesting. But the article only focuses derisively on the show's perceived audience.

But the article was right about Scarlet Johannsen...to the extent that her dialogue is limited...