Beyonce Tops 'People's Most Beautiful Women In The World List: Who's On Yours?

Beyonce's reign as the "Most Beautiful Woman in the World" may only be two days old, but as the second-ever black woman to take the crown (following Halle Berry, who graced People magazine's cover in 2003) it's safe to say the title is some nine years in the making.

In a look at its significance and what People magazine's "Most Beautiful" list says about our culture's values, aesthetics and standards of beauty, Jezebel.com wrote:

Halle Berry ... and Beyoncé are the only two black women to hold the honor in 22 years. A look back at the celebrities People has called "most beautiful" reveals that past honorees are ladies like Meg Ryan, Nicole Kidman and Cindy Crawford. Michelle Pfeiffer has been called Most Beautiful twice; Julia Roberts has been the cover gal four times. Jennifer Lopez, the 2011 Most Beautiful, is the lone Latina on the list. And there have been zero Asian women.

While Jezebel went on to question why Beyonce and Berry were chosen -- for their light skin tones and Anglo-Saxon features, perhaps -- The Huffington Post spoke with Crystal McCrary, author of Inspiration: Profiles Of Black Women Changing The World, for a look at other women who could easily make the cut.

Like Jezebel, McCrary doesn't discount Beyonce's beauty -- citing personal encounters with the singer that revealed "an amazing beauty, disarming kindness and no sense of entitlement whatsoever" -- but adds these seven women to the top of her list for reasons that are more than skin deep.

Who would you put on your list?

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• Ruby Dee

  "We certainly know, Ruby's body of work as an actor, as an activist, as a wife, as a mother is really unprecedented."

• Misty Copeland

  "Misty Copeland, the only black soloist with the American Ballet Theater Company, is outrageously talented but hands down beautiful ... and a prodigy. She kind of reminds me, with her humility and enormous talent, of Beyonce. Just someone who is so committed to her craft and so at the top of their game, but so humble. Their ambition is manifested by them just getting the job done."

• Michelle Obama

  "In my opinion, she hasn't only gotten better every year, Michelle Obama exponentially ups her game like every week. Talk about someone who, from private life, got thrown into the deep end. To have to so carefully choose every word, every outfit, every cause ... she's just walked this line brilliantly. She exudes such a completeness as a woman that we can all aspire to."

• Mary J. Blige

  "Mary is someone who was raised in such a tough environment, who had so many challenges and, as she will say, was brought up in a neighborhood of girls who could <em>all</em> sing. For her to get past her inner demons and to find her voice and her confidence, but never really compromise who she is, [is inspiring]."

• Debra Martin Chase

  "She essentially is the top black female Hollywood producer out there. Someone like Debra, who is just so brilliant and razor sharp and has really played hardball in a man's game in Hollywood, which is uber competitive, and succeeded, is incredibly inspiring and beautiful ... inside and out."

• Iman

  "Iman knew her value at 19 years old when she was in Nairobi and Peter Beard spotted her and wanted her to come to the United States to take photos. She always knew 'I have value and I'm not one of those people who is going to jump at anything thrown my way. I'm going to assess the situation and figure out how it honors what my worth is -- as a woman, as a human and potentially as a model.' That's how she has lived her life and I find that to be incredibly inspiring."

• Laila Ali

  "Muhammad Ali's daughter entered a man's profession as a boxer and had the confidence and fearlessness (and yes, talent) to really make history. And [she's still] a gorgeous woman and incredibly ladylike."

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Comments

[Paula Randolph]

10:09 AM on 01/13/2013

No disrespect meant, but are you kidding me? She is pretty, I will give her that, but most beautiful? I think not.

[warren batiste]

05:46 PM on 05/10/2012

Beyonce is gorgeous but People's mag really messed this one up. Most beautiful in the world..really??? here are the top 10 most beautiful women ever. http://urbzone.blogspot.com/2011/10/10-levy-li-su-lin.html

[Fernando Candido]

08:19 PM on 05/04/2012

The best in the world has always to be an American. Since you guys he ignored everybody else , why do not you say best in America

[aberdoink]

02:30 PM on 04/30/2012

beyonce is black? go figure on that one. seems like only white-blacks get picked?

[PrettyBarbie]

07:43 AM on 04/30/2012

Beyonce looks so beautiful but its sad that I don't see any darker skin women being called "beautiful" in society. I think it would be good for younger dark skin African American women to see more women that look like them in the media. Its sad that their isn't any.

[jrx238]

11:21 PM on 04/29/2012

I think the bias against Asian women (really Asian people in general) in the media is insane. I never really thought about how bad it was until I had a conversation with a friend...and realized that the only place Asian women are really represented at all is in fetish pornography.

My pick for Black woman changing the world would be Chimamanda Adichie. She's beautiful, shes an award winning author, her TED talk "The Dangers of a Single Story" is extremely poignant and has reached many people all over the world, her novel "Half of a Yellow Sun" is being made into a movie, and she's still young.

[liacashmere89]

01:20 AM on 04/30/2012

Your right. There aren't any big name asian actors. Never noticed it till now.

[GirlInNYC]

08:50 AM on 05/01/2012

Asian women are depicted as highly desirable in mainstream movies, TV series and ads. They have great favor in the media. They're paired up with attractive white male leads so often that it's made to be the norm. By contrast, black women are portrayed negatively overall with few exceptions (the latest exception being Kerry Washington in "Scandal.")

Usually darker-skinned black women play the heavy set funny friend or customer service employee with an attitude. If not that, the black woman is the fair-skinned woman of desire, but often looks or is biracial, multiracial or racially ambiguous. It goes back to Hattie and Lena Horne's day. Same crap. And when even the most attractive black women are paired with white men on TV, it's the less attractive of the white men.

So sorry, my concern doesn't lie with women whose image is already so positive that their IR dating is not even taboo. They are already respected and considered highly attractive.

[jrx238]

12:30 AM on 05/02/2012

I don't think its necessary to discredit someone else's struggle to prove ones own is important. I completely agree with what you're saying...was just pointing out something that we often overlook. The view of Asian women you described is based on a lot of dehumanizing stereotypes too. The stereotypes may seem beneficial but they are also harmful in my opinion. I mostly brought it up because I was struck by the 0 Asians number considering their the most populous group in the world. I also don't think that IR relationships or who is paired with "White men" on TV should be a barometer for anything.

[Pam James]

01:00 PM on 04/29/2012

I lost respect for Beyonce when she posed in Blackface to represent Africa during a photo shoot in addition to her, along with the others, that performed for terrorist for money.

Beyonce has built a musical career based on girl empowerment and the seduction of men. In her efforts to empower women, though, she has endorsed a self-absorbed world where a false view of love reigns supreme. Her songs reveal a worldview where men and women indulge in lust, lavish spending, and fantasies of catering, upgrades, and joy rides. I don’t see much responsibility or empowerment of either sex in that kind of behavior.

Yet the lyrics of her recent single acknowledge the men who respect what she does. In her skimpy attire, she seduces them while singing we have “endless power, our love we can devour when you’ll do anything for me.”

I am not insisting that women are not smart, sensible or successful. Women have come a long way, and I am proud of that. I feel that women can do anything they put their minds to and be successful.

However, I do not support the “dumbing down” of the male gender. If we continue to do this, relationships will never be equal, and more importantly, society will never be equal.
Women in the 1960s and 1970s advocated gender equality, not gender superiority.

[Jacqueline A Grimes]

08:14 PM on 05/28/2012

Well said. Enough said Pam.

[Pam James]

12:53 PM on 04/29/2012

Why don't they ever choose a woman with deep melanin in her skin? Viola Davis, Queen Latifah, or Jennifer Hudson. The point of being the most beautiful woman goes beyond the exterior but the interior. It would be nice if they broke the mode and presented an African American woman that did not look European.

I also wonder why they never feature a woman over 50 or a disabled woman. They are beautiful too!

[PrettyBarbie]

07:41 AM on 04/30/2012

I agree with this also, I want to see women with a skin tone such as Jennifer Hudson

[pybrown7777]

03:34 PM on 04/30/2012

I agree 100%. In my opinion, melanin-rich women trump melanin-poor women in the beauty department any day! Color is exotic. That's not to say that Beyonce and Halle aren't beautiful because they are. But so are women such as Viola Davis and Lauryn Hill. I am so sick of America's one-channel standard of beauty.

[justsome]

12:33 PM on 04/29/2012

i'm a halle berry fan, but for a dark skin woman, that would go to Grace Jones.

[pybrown7777]

03:36 PM on 04/30/2012

I agree. Grace Jones is beautiful. But, I don't see a need to separate pretty light-skinned women and pretty-dark-skinned women. Grace Jones is beautiful. Period.

[justsome]

07:32 PM on 04/30/2012

oh yes your right, but when has people ever put a dark skin woman on their cover. look at Grace Jones she became so famous in europe.

[pathfinderno1]

08:47 AM on 04/29/2012

My top five [Old school] Pam Gier, Halley Berry, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Vanity, my Mom!!!

[Shanda Smalls]

08:15 AM on 04/30/2012

All high-yellow women...

[1 Voice of Reason]

06:19 AM on 04/29/2012

Beyonce appears attractive to most people, and that is the reason she is such a big celebrity - - it is not her singing and dancing. Many women can do what she does, but it is her appearance.

[liacashmere89]

01:18 AM on 04/30/2012

Not true. She's not a Britney Spears or a Katy Perry. Anybody can do what they do. Beyonce has talent

[canuck811]

03:03 PM on 04/30/2012

If you think you can do what Katy Perry or Britney does, try it. I have been in the music business my entire adult life, and I can assure you that, while you might not like them as artists and entertainers, the amount of work they put into getting where they are is immense.
In fact it is for anyone who gets to achieve that level of success, Beyonce included. It takes a level of commitment and drive most people wouldn't understand to even get close to what all 3 women have achieved.

Maybe you don't like them, but to say "anybody can do that" is simply wrong.

[1 Voice of Reason]

08:01 AM on 05/02/2012

I disagree Lia. : ) Beyonce has some talent, but not to the extent of say Janet Jackson in her "Control" days or Michael Jackson. I'm partial to exceptional talent. However, I respect Beyonce because she uses the talents that she has to her best ability, and I respect that about anyone. Thanks for your post. : )

[pybrown7777]

03:44 PM on 04/30/2012

I sort of agree. Beyonce is an incredible entertainer. She can light up a stage like no one can. Her song-writing ability and dancing are impressive. The part of her personality that she shows (e.g., on talk shows) is very likeable. But, her singing is mediocre at best. It's the entire package, 50% of which is looks, that sells. I'm not hatin'. I like Bey. I just regret that people with more singing talent aren't respected as artists to the extent that she is respected.

[member548]

03:38 AM on 04/29/2012

Why is everything made up about race anymore? Anyway, be reasonable, if 2 out of 22 of People magazines most beautiful women have been black that means 9% have been black. Blacks make up 12.6% of the US population and that is close enough to 9% in a sample of 22 to be statistical noise. Statistically speaking People magazine isn't a bunch of haters since the likely hood of any particular race being "most beautiful" in a given year should roughly track with their population percentage.

I know.. I know.. no need to let numbers or math get in the way if they don't support a particular predisposed world view.

[1 Voice of Reason]

06:49 AM on 04/29/2012

America has always been a country that's race based and race conscious. That's a problem that we must unlearn because humans are 99.9% the same except melanin differences.

Side note: You have good mathematical knowledge. I hope you've made good use of it. : )

[Shanda Smalls]

08:17 AM on 04/30/2012

But People doesn't represent America, it represents Holloywood and the celebrity industry...would love to hear your stat's on what precemtage of Blacks make up music, art, film, and tv industries. I bet you it's closer to 30-40% overall in music much more....

[member548]

09:58 AM on 04/30/2012

So you are okay with black over representation in Hollywood in general, but angry about equal black representation in a magazine when compared to the population?

Should whites form a group and get angry over being underrepresented in Hollywood now?

[liacashmere89]

09:45 PM on 04/28/2012

Sad that only two black women have made the cut but it is People Magazine.

My Top 5:
Jessica White
Stacey Dash
Kenya Moore
Kerry Washington
Meagan Tandy

[Alexis718]

08:23 PM on 04/28/2012

She's cute. Denise Matthews, Jayne Kennedy, and Shari Belafonte are beautiful.

[fatu sankoh]

03:14 PM on 04/28/2012

yes people get it right as black woman i love and respect beyonce their is norting to hate about bey beyonce you are the most beautiful in and out in the world i wish you blue ivy jay and your family all the blessing in the world long happy life ever lasting long happy married more success in all you do well deserve long live the queen

[WhatevaCleva]

11:28 PM on 04/28/2012

The queen of what? and I like Beyonce but queen of what?

[Prettyphile]

11:09 PM on 04/29/2012

The Queen of Pop/R&B.