Scarlett, I Hardly Knew Ya

"One of the best things for a woman to hear is that she is sexy," the 21-year-old actress, star of "Match Point" and "Lost in Translation," said in a statement. "I'd like to thank FHM's readers for the huge compliment."

Inherent problems with announcing/voting a person 'sexiest X of the year/decade/minute' aside--definitions of 'sexy' and intersections of gender/race/class are among the things that make such pronouncements problematic--it's pretty disheartening on the face of it that Ms. Johansson thinks that hearing one is sexy from the people who vote in FHM's polls is one of the best things for a woman to hear.

Which isn't to say that I don't like hearing that I'm sexy, or that I think hearing such a thing couldn't be up there on anybody's list of things one would want to hear. Even if she had said "one of the best things a person can hear is that one is sexy," it would have had a different connotation for me. As it stands, seems Scarlett thinks that women in particular have 'you're sexy' in mind as one of the best things to hear. Not, 'you're smart' or 'you're kind' or 'you're strong'...although who knows, maybe her list of best things to hear is a long one.


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Feminism and Pop Culture