Dave Ricci thinks Penn State girls fall into categories in terms of looks.
“We still have 10s, and we still have nines, but somehow it seems like there are a lot fewer eights than there used to be,” Ricci (senior-finance) said.
Ricci classified 10 as “hot enough to cause guys to abandon rational thought,” nine as “so hot it’s not debatable” and eight as hot “but it’s a matter of taste.”
But when asked about PopCrunch.com’s rating that ranked the university’s females at 37th in a list of the 50 “Hottest Student Bodies” late last month, Ricci said he found it accurate.
“No wonder we are only 37th, we’ve been slipping the last four years,” Ricci said.
The top 50 rankings were determined by “the attractiveness of cheerleaders, the locations of the schools (the sunnier the better — hot girls gravitate towards warm weather), and the popularity of tailgating/drinking/partying,” as well as “thousands of pictures,” but came “mostly from the gut,” according to the website.
Lauren Dancer (senior-advertising/public relations) said girls at other colleges aren’t necessarily better looking but do show more skin.
“If you look at a group of girls that are wearing hoodies and sweatpants at Penn State because it’s 20 degrees you aren’t going to think they are as hot as a group of girls wearing skirts and tank tops at Florida State because it’s 90 degrees,” Dancer said.
Florida State University ranked third on the list, behind the University of Southern California and top-ranked Arizona State University, according to PopCrunch.com.
A representative from Pop Crunch did not return e-mails for comment.
Sam Huston (freshman-division of undergraduate studies) thinks “22 percent” of Penn State girls are attractive enough that “any dude would get with [them] no matter what.”
Still, Huston said if girls from all the schools listed were dressed for the colder State College weather, the only difference would be that “top 20 girls are going to have a good tan, and girls here have the fake tan.”
Julianna Wood (sophomore-finance) said she didn’t understand how the popularity of tailgating and partying factored into the rankings.
“I think it really has nothing to do with it,” Wood said. “Ugly girls like to party just as much as hot girls.”
Penn State women’s studies professor Cheryl Dellasega said the rankings demonstrate a gender double standard in today’s society that begins in high school or even earlier.
“For a girl, she can be a great athlete or musician, but if she isn’t attractive she won’t be popular,” Dellasega said. “For a boy, attractiveness is not as important.”