Kate Moss: Hot or Not?
It's a fair question, and a very important one. At least to the British, who are, apparently, in the midst of a heated debate on whether or not Kate Moss is particularly attractive.
I mention this because I've never felt that she is, and so I've watched fascinated as she has been constantly described as a beauty icon. To me, she represented the disconnect between the world of fashion, populated by gay men who see women's bodies as objects to manipulate and control, and the world of male heterosexuality, which is much more catholic in its tastes. One simple example: Every time I hear a female friend complain about her weight when she's not even close to being overweight—which happens way too much—I remind her that straight guys
like curves. If you asked straight men whether they'd rather spend a night with
Anna Nicole Smith or
Kate Moss, Anna Nicole would take about 90% of that poll...
Those are two extremes, of course. But if you look at the magazines that cater to heterosexual guys with babealicious photos—FHM or Stuff or Maxim, all those rags—you won't ever find the heroin chic look on the cover. And those magazines know their market.
The fact is that if fashion designers were straight, Kate Moss would never have become a supermodel in the first place...and she probably wouldn't be a cokehead now. And more important, millions of women wouldn't feel that they have to weigh under a hundred pounds to look beautiful.
