There was a time, in the not so distant past, when beauty was so cookie-cutter we were all made to feel that we had to fit into a mold. Many of us decided long ago to break that mold but we were still considered the outliers...and that was okay!
Today, I was looking online for movie times and went to one of the most common movie sites out there -- Moviefone. I was elated when I came across a survey on their site and saw, "Hottest Female Star of the Summer" and the choices were:
Melissa McCarthy (The Heat)
Zoe Saldana (Star Trek Into Darkness)
Amy Adams (Man of Steel)
Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious 6)
Helen Mirren (Red 2)
I was even more impressed with the above-mentioned list when I saw that their male counterparts were:
Robert Downey, Jr. (Iron Man 3)
Brad Pitt (World War Z)
Henry Cavill (Man of Steel)
Vin Diesel (Fast & Furious 6)
Leonardo DiCaprio (The Great Gatsby)
There was a time none of these women would have been contenders for various reasons -- ethnicity, age, too much or not enough curves. We have moved so far above and beyond the blond bombshell, 36-24-36, image of what a woman "should" be and have finally learned to value women in film (which may be one of the last industries to catch up) for so much more!