In a discussion about the ongoing tragedy that is Amy Winehouse, there was a mini-hijack about women who were sexy, but not attractive.
What do you say? Can someone be attractive, but not sexy? Or sexy, but not attractive? Feel free to provide examples.
I suppose it depends on how we’re defining “attractive”. If we’re using a definition of “aesthetically pleasing”, then sure, plenty of people are aesthetically pleasing without being one tiny bit “sexy”.
Sure. Sexy is as much attitude as it is genetics.
As an example, I once dated a woman who had classic good looks. She may not have been a model, but she was quite beautiful. But the way she carried herself? It was shy, clumsy, self-conscious, and unconfident.
Oh, god yes. You do have to define attractive, though, as DianaG says. If attractive means “as a whole”, then one can have a lovely personality and not be sexy in the least.
And I know there are plenty of guys that are hot as hell but I wouldn’t want to spend fiteen minutes with them.
Can someone be sexy but not pretty? How about Sandra?
Nope
Thanks for starting this thread, gaffe…it’s a good topic.
It’s hard to imagine sexiness without someone being attractive because attractive by definition means…well…being attracted to someone…and it would make sense to be attracted to someone you find sexy. I suppose someone can be classically attractive but not make you want to have sex with them. Like a really beautiful stallion or prize winning purebred dog or a nice raccoon or something.
I’ve always thought that there was a difference between being physically attracted to someone and being sexually attracted to someone. But I’ve never been able to list characteristics that would seperate the two. It’s just an instinctive reaction that I can’t explain.
Part of being sexy definitely has something to do with attitude.
Certainly. A lot of it is in the way a woman moves, flirts, and expresses her personality physically.
A woman can be beautiful in a doll-like way - sort of lifeless but with aesthetically pleasing features that would photograph well. She could be, in short, attractive in features but not sexy.
On the other hand, some women know how to be sexually provocative and pleasing simply by their presence, their physical charisma. They may not be as asethetically pleasing in features as another, but they know how to be sexier.
My example of a woman who is attractive, but not sexy is Gweneth Paltrow. I can appreciate that she is attractive, but I have no sexual response to her. It’s harder to find examples of the obverse in popular entertainment, as Hollywood is so twisted that the very attractive Janeane Garofalo plays the “homely” one in “The Truth About Cats and Dogs” and the beautiful and sexy America Ferrera plays someone known as “Ugly Betty”.
I haven’t seen this, but I’ve heard about it.
A photograph was taken of some local women (local to where, I’m not sure) in bikinis. Every one of them was a real looker, but none were professional models. While they all looked great, there was something decidedly unsexy about them. Careful analysis showed that the problem was that none of them knew what to do with their hands.
Bwah! I don’t know… that just made me laugh. A nice raccoon! You made my evening!
She’s neither.
But yes, a woman can be sexy but not pretty. Ellen Barkin jumps to mind.
Sure.
I’ve always thought Dennis Franz (Sipowicz on NYPD Blue) was very sexy, but he’s not particularly good-looking. I think it’s the way he carries himself – lots of confidence.
bows I’ll be here all week! 
Sure, look at Beyonce Knowles. Attractive, not sexy…
Stacy Ferguson. Sexy, not all that attractive.
If you went on a date with Beyonce, you know she’d be a great piece of arm candy, every eye and head would turn. You might get a light kiss on the cheeck, but not enough to muss her perfect lipstick.
Hot date with Fergie? Crawling home with hickies and rugburns all over your half-dead body.
I can see that. Her most sexy role is (IMO) “The Big Easy”.
I think it was on Seinfeld where he mentioned this in the start of the show.
For me at least, more clothing is better. Imagination is a wonderful thing.
This seems pretty subjective to me…most people I know would say Beyonce was both sexy and attractive.
From the very first girl I ever slept with
“It ain’t what you got, it is how you use it.”
While she is not a classic beauty, even at age 55 she still turns heads whenever she walks into a room.
She still knows how to use it.
She is sexy as hell.
