Web Definitions of “Sexy”

Earlier, I wrote some of my ideas about what is “sexy”. Today, I am looking at what other people think it means.

A definition I read said that sexy means “Arousing desire” and “Anticipation of sexual activity”. Both of these make me think about burlesque performers. Good ones do a great job of arousing desire and teasing about possible sexual activity that might result, even though (unless the performance is a private one for their partner), nothing will happen. She and the audience both know this, but the sexiness is still there.

A great photo site that tries to answer the question is What is Sexy. It is a collection of photos that the web site owner thinks are sexy. I agree with most of his/her selections. I also note that:

• The subject is nearly always looking into the camera, at least indirectly. This provides more data for my hypothesis that sexiness requires a connection between the subject and viewer.
• Most subjects are mostly clothed (the site does have a work filter engaged by default). This observation fuels my belief (pointed out first by my wife) that hints are sexier than showing everything. The “tease” is important.
• Smiling helps, although it is not absolutely required.
• For me, smoking spoils any sexiness..

One thing I note about this web site is that all of the women are thin. I strongly believe that weight is not a determining factor of sexiness.

Anton Therapy noted that just using the term “sexy” in her blog posts has increased readership. It is a humorous look at society, and worth a read, especially for some of the unusual search terms people have used (“sexy executions”?). All of the photos she posted are of thin women with large boobs, which I think unfairly reinforces the stereotype of what kind of body you must have in order to be sexy. The only one that I think is really sexy is the first one, the one looking into the camera. The others are just pictures of beautiful women.

Dante Feenix (is that a real name?) wrote a blog entry, What is sexy? Because young people don’t seem to know…. He noted that when you dress up to go to a party, you are giving your definition of “sexy”. While I do not think that this occurs all the time (you are attached and going to a party with friends?), I am sure it is true sometimes. He also notes that an attitude of “I’m so much more than you see” is part of being sexy.

At RU Sexy?, they claim that sexiness has three factors image (in particular, self image), confidence, and attitude. They have a “test” you can take to see how sexy you are. How accurate or predictive the test is, I’m not sure.

So, what have you run across that defines “sexy”?

Later additions:
No real definitions, but Gino has good pictures illustrating sexiness.