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Maxim’s Hot 100 gets better when real people vote

Those of us who love the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 List (and if you don’t, you’ve probably landed at the wrong site) owe a tip of the hat to the Maxim Hot 100 List that inspired our own five years ago. Maxim‘s focus on external beauty – especially below the neck – caused us to bang our heads against the wall enough times that we finally realized the best way to feel better was to make a hot list of our own.

We still enjoy checking out Maxim‘s list since, admittedly, we enjoy looking at beautiful women. But we always marvel at the differences between the magazine’s list and ours. And we always enjoy that year after year, the AfterEllen.com Hot 100 List confirms that women-loving-women have much more discriminating taste than Maxim editors.

Maxim released its 2012 “Definitive List of the World’s Most Beautiful Women” this week. For the first time, the magazine let its readers vote – although its claim that the result “is the first ever listing of its kind that allowed readers to vote for which women they believed should be on the list” obviously is not true – generating some rather entertaining deviations from the norm.

To no one’s real surprise, Stephen Colbert’s campaign to get fans to write him in succeeded. Colbert is #69 (yes, really). I think we can all agree that we’re happy Colbert seems to have a good heart, since he can get his fans to do just about anything. Former murder suspect Amanda Knox is another unlikely list member at #93. I don’t know what’s behind her selection, but Maxim editor-in-chief Dan Bova doesn’t think it’s a prank. “Amanda Knox’s release from prison was a huge story last year. In the end, the only thing she’s guilty of is stealing our hearts.” Literally animated lady Lois Griffin from Family Guy placed #85. I don’t know if you’ve watched Family Guy, but Lois is pretty great. And bonus – she’s bisexual. Nobody seemed surprised by Maxim‘s #1, Bar Rafaeli, although I have to admit that the name means less to me than the reminder that she’s Leonardo DiCaprio‘s ex-girlfriend. For those of you as clueless as I, Rafaeli is an “international beauty, model, television host and philanthropist.” So there. AfterEllen.com’s #1 from 2011, Naya Rivera, is Maxim‘s #27, but Glee cast mate Lea Michele ranked above her at #14 (she was our #10). Perennial AfterEllen hottie Olivia Wilde, #5 on our list last year, is Maxim‘s #5 and Jennifer Lawrence, who didn’t make our list last year but surely will this year, is #6. Mila Kunis, Maxim‘s #3, and Emma Stone, #7, were #19 and #68, respectively, on AfterEllen’s 2011 list, and out bisexual Megan Fox, #8, was our #50. Maxim readers’ top 50 also includes other names that consistently appear on the AfterEllen.com Hot 100: Kristen Stewart (#15), Charlize Theron (#16), Scarlett Johansson (#17), Emma Watson (#21), Sarah Shahi (#36), Zooey Deschanel (#41) and ZoĆ« Saldana (#45).

We’re happy to see out bisexual Amber Heard at #53 after a noticeable absence last year. But Heard and Fox are only queer presence on Maxim‘s list. <Anna Paquin and Evan Rachel Wood, whom Maxim chose last year, didn’t place this year. All in all, though, I think Maxim readers have better taste than Maxim editors.

Or maybe some of you snuck over there and voted.

Check out the whole Maxim Hot 100 and let us know what you think. How much overlap do you expect this year? Did Maxim remind you of anyone you forgot to vote for? Do any of the choices surprise you?

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