We will start with the ladies first. I've decided to include ALL the submitted nominees in the poll. You have only ONE vote, and you have until the end of Sept. 26 to cast your vote.
{EDIT: To all those who are "offended" by this poll, stay tuned, because you will be, hopefully, equally offended when the poll for the most attractive male physicist comes up after this one is done. If you didn't follow this from the beginning and noticed that I call this exercise shallow and superficial, then I have nothing else to say.}
This is not going to be easy. We have 13 nominations, and I have to say, you people did GOOD! The nominees span a wide range of ethnic and racial profile, for women who have a tougher time in this field, it is heartening to see so many. I had to admit that I had a bit of an apprehension that we won't be getting many women nominations, but you proved me wrong. Well done!
To help with your voting, here are pictures that were either submitted, or what I could find on the web/public domain. You are welcome to do your own search to supplement the pictures here. IF ANY OF THESE PICTURES ARE COPYRIGHTED AND YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO BE REMOVED, PLEASE CONTACT ME or leave a comment. Please use the voting app in the side bar of this blog.
In no particular order, the nominees for the most attractive female physicist are:
1. Elisabeth Rieper
2. Anna Wilson
3. Amy Mainzer
4. Maria Goeppert Mayer
5. Kimberley Hall
6. Lisa Randall
7. Firouzeh Sabri
8. Deborah Berebichez
Edit: Ms. Berebichez contacted me to remove a copyrighted picture, but has graciously sent me 3 more to replace that one. I hope some of you are not regretting that you didn't cast your vote for her now.
9. Madhuri Kaul
10 Janet Conrad
11. Kim-Vy Tran
12. Sarah Kavassalis
13. Allesandra Lanzara
These are all very attractive women. They are all winners in my book.
Zz.
Female attractiveness is, like many other things, subjective, but the number 13 seems very nice.
ReplyDeleteI'm going with #6 Lisa Randall.
ReplyDeleteAmy looks like faith. But I have to go with the nerd-looking #1.
ReplyDeleteI would go with Mainzer # 3
ReplyDeleteI find this deeply offensive and pandering to stereotypes - not just that women cannot be smart and attractive, but that males in this world are incapable of controlling themselves around attractive women.
ReplyDeleteWhat exactly do you find "deeply offensive"? The comments, or the poll? I don't know if you've been here long enough to realize that we WILL have a separate poll for the male physicists, and the women are more than welcome to "pander" to those stereotypes!
ReplyDeleteI've stated way back in the original post that started the NOMINATION that this is nothing but a shallow and superficial exercise. Which part of that did you not understand?
Zz.
Maybe the offensive part is that these physicists haven't gotten a professional photographer to do a quality portrait for their book jacket? I think the winner will be the one without compression artifacts giving her the complexion of a cantaloupe.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately, there's nothing I can do there. Wait till you see the men! :)
ReplyDeleteZz.
Is there even any competition? Number 3 wins by a long shot!
ReplyDeletein order
ReplyDelete12 **winner**
2
9
11
#3.
ReplyDeleteThis is fun, but I think you should have asked the nominees first.
Would I be strange if I found the most attractive thing to be all the tangled, but ordered, mess that are the valves & cables in the photo of #13??
ReplyDeleteI'm way too far down into the rabbit hole.
Did you check that these women were ok with being included in this poll?
ReplyDeleteThis poll should include bio's or links to bio's/research of the ladies. Otherwise it's just objectifying them and has nothing to do with any of them being Physicist.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, they are all smoking hot!
# 3 Mainzer.
ReplyDeleteHow can we contact you by email? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteDeb: Use my nickname here at gmail.
ReplyDeleteSarah: No, I didn't check with both the men and the women nominees.
Databit: The whole point of this is that this has nothing to do with their ability or background, as long as they are physicist. If we also consider their accomplishments, etc. into the equation for making a selection, then this silly poll is no longer superficial and irrelevant!
On one hand, I think people are taking this way too seriously, and some are not getting the POINT in all of this. This is an exercise in triviality, and utter superficiality, which is the COMPLETELY OPPOSITE of what most of us scientists stand for! On the other hand, it is also heartening that many are finding this offensive and utterly trivial, because these are characteristics that does not enter into our consideration of what makes a good scientist.
I totally agree with that sentiment. You don't have to convince me.
Again, for those women who are annoyed that this being another example of men ogling over women's appearances, just be patient. You'll get to do the same to the men soon enough!
Zz.
Just because 'equal time' is being given to both genders doesn't make this OKAY.
ReplyDeleteFor one, I'll be interested to know how these women, who I'm sure have worked extremely hard to progress in their chosen fields (most likely IN SPITE of their attractiveness), feel about being rated thusly. I await their comments with anticipation and schadenfreude.
Secondly, I'm curious - did you also include intersexed and/or genderqueer physicists? I'm guessing that's a "no".
Lastly - why, exactly, is this necessary? No, it's not 'fun', it's not 'cute', it's not 'for a laugh'. Treating anyone this way is immature and shallow. Admitting it is shallow does not justify it.
Congratulations on promoting gender bias and heterosexual hegemony. Well done.
I think it's a safe bet that no one has asked Maria Goeppert Mayer what she thinks about all this. And it's a sure thing that she no longer cares!
ReplyDelete1. If there are gay, transgendered, etc physicists, I would be more than happy... no, I take that back, I would be PROUD to highlight them on here.
ReplyDelete2. Anyone following this blog for any considerable period of time would have seen that I've devoted a lot of air time, and my own personal involvement, in promoting women in science.
3. This silly thing doesn't diminish, demeans, or affect the accomplishments of these fine women one bit. Arguing for such a thing is the same as arguing that gay marriages undermines traditional marriages. The two are not connected and one doesn't affect the other. This poll is a non-event and utterly insignificant as far as the lives of these people are concerned. I mean, let's put this in perspective, people. It is a silly poll on.... get this ... A BLOG! If this is on, say, Physics Today, then yes, I would get it that it would ruffle a bunch of feathers. But a blog?! Who even gives the time of day? Honestly?!
Zz.
You know, if this blog were funded by public tax dollars the critics might have a point about favoring hetero over homo. But it's not, so they don't.
ReplyDeleteWhat's wrong with recognizing talent and effort ? We have no idea what the sexual orientation of these women is, nor has anyone precluded homosexuals from voting. I vote for jenx.
ReplyDeleteLighten up people, no reason to take this so seriously. This poll is not about rating physicists according to their looks. Very successful physicists can be as attractive as non-physicists, contrary to the usual stereotype picture, this is the point!
ReplyDeletescrew shallow, screw superficial. I go for lisa randall. allesandra is also good looking, but i know her and she is a direct competitor
ReplyDeleteThis is rather entertaining in that superficial and irrelevant manner. To get so offended is surly representative of personal conflicts and insecurities best manifested in overbearing objection to such trivia. Or damn serious every thing has to be found offensive. Let's make a mountain over a mole hill would be the layman's equivalent I imagine. Nice to see a not so serious side to this which is curiously nerdy! So what the hell, I think their all hot due to the fact they're in the field they're in. A smart women is very sexy! A few curves don't hurt none either! If that's what their genetics imprinted, so be it and many people can appreciate it.
ReplyDeleteThere are LGBT+ physicists out there. For anyone finding this blog post through Google searches for LGBT physicists, there is starting to be resources for you. Check out http://lgbtphysicists.x10hosting.com
ReplyDelete@Kersti - You can shake your fist at the wind, but boyz will still be boyz
ReplyDelete6, 8 and then 13
ReplyDeleteLisa is especially hot because she is a climber, a survivor of a big accident from climbing, author of a way excellent physics book on branes, and wait for it...the experimental evidence for string theory when the big swiss Higgs Boson thingy actually starts to work. Plus she was a star in high school for science.
BTW enough with the gender victim whining for physicists...they make far too many Physics PhD's for the market, so job security will always be brutal. You knew that when you started. Almost all physics jobs in academia draw hundreds of resumes. If you are not the best and most productive, hit the road.
zomg you's forgot Janna Levin!!!!
ReplyDeleteso hot
It is like trying to figure out which flower in the garden is the prettiest, when in reality they are all stunningly beautiful.
ReplyDeleteSo what were the results of this poll? There are many attractive gals in this line-up by my Inner Monkey goes for Mainzer without the slightest bit of equivocation. My more elevated non-animal self is attracted to her line-up of alma maters.
ReplyDeleteSince this link is still in the top ten searches for "lgbt physicists", I just wanted to let everyone know that the LGBT+ Physicists group has a new URL: http://lgbtphysicists.org
ReplyDeleteI'm voting for #6, Lisa Randall. She's a hottie still at age 50! The others should be so lucky.
ReplyDeleteAlas, still focusing on attractiveness of women rather than who they are and what their accomplishments are. All of these women are beautiful by definition-they are women. Come on. It's the 21st Century.
ReplyDeleteRichard Bruns
Napa, CA
You are also several years too late. And did you see that I also had a poll for the men as well? What century did that bring us to?
ReplyDeleteZz.
Thank God I'm too late, because have you SEEN Physics Girl on YouTube? Hawt Damn that girl has some good brain. Would've been sooooo pedogross if she was in here on a post this old, but Zz I think you should run this one again. (Mainzer would still win but fr, Physics Girl!!) I'd totally stalk that!
ReplyDeleteWasn't there a "Women of CERN" photoshoot a few years back that offered both biographies AND professional photography?
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing this but cannot find the link (obviously).
The photos offered both 'work environment' and glamorous photos for each of these amazing and brilliant ladies.
Anyone?
Lisa or Janna Levin, who somehow didn't even make this list
ReplyDeleteHaha this is awesome. Except everyone knows Janna Levin is easily the most attractive woman in science. She's pretty, and smarter than 99.999% of the population. What more can you ask for?
ReplyDelete#3 Dr Mainzer... hands down.
ReplyDeleteA few years ago, there was a human interest article with the ~title "Women of CERN". These brilliant ladies went from ~lab coats to glamour as they posed around the high tech facility.
ReplyDeleteIn spite of my futile attempts, I cannot find the article. Does anyone have a link to it?
many thanks,
Tee
I'm watching Black Holes on KVIE Ch.6 hosted by Janna Levin. Wow! She has a truely hard body and exudes brains n sexiness. She's hotter than our own sun. #1 in my book. Has my vote.
ReplyDelete#6 Lisa Randall
ReplyDelete#7 Firouzeh Sabri
#8 Deborah Berebichez
Lisa Randall, but I'm biased because I read her book about symmetry breaking
ReplyDeleteAmy hands down.
ReplyDeleteHow could you leave out Dr. Laura Danly? She is stunning.
ReplyDelete10 years later, and I say Dr. Janna Levin is STILL the hottest woman in science.
ReplyDelete