Maxim Australia receives flak for including a biological male in the magazine’s list of ‘Hot 100’ women

Danielle Laidley came in at number 92 on the list featuring prominent Australian women.

Maxim Australia receives flak for including a biological male in the magazine’s list of ‘Hot 100’ women

Dani Laidley (Via Open Source/X)

Maxim Australia is facing the heat from its readers over a controversial list that it has recently released. The popular magazine that largely caters to men by featuring the most stunning women who are models, athletes, and actors may have gone a bit too overboard this time.

The magazine released its Hot 100 list that featured the most gorgeous women hailing from Australia in the year 2023. However, one name on that list has irked fans as the person is a biological male and a former football coach hailing from the country.

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Dani Laidley, a pillar of the LGBTQ community who transitioned in 2020 and identified as a transgender woman, was ranked on this list as well. This led to a lot of controversy as the list was meant to feature the hottest women, and for years, that has meant biological women, so, does this mean that moving forward, Maxim would be featuring transgender women on their lists in the near future as well? Danielle Laidley came in at number 92 on the list featuring prominent Australian women.

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The magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Santi Pintado dubbed the list “an annual, eclectic, and definitive list of Australian women who have impressed, made headlines or simply had a huge year.” While that is completely acceptable, it is a diversion from Maxim’s conventional approach to featuring biological women in their magazines.

The past 12 months saw an abundance of fine and fierce femmes who have wowed us with their aptitude, intellect, humor, attributes, and overall incredible talents.
-Santi Pintado via Maxim.com

Margot Robbie was one of the prominent names on Maxim Australia’s Hot 100 list

While the editor’s thought process was to be progressive, readers did not look at it from the same perspective. Competitive swimmer Riley Gaines took to X and criticized the magazine.

#92 of top 100 hottest 'women' in the world according to Maxim magazine in Australia. How did we get to a point where companies/institutions/publications can do this with no fear of backlash?
Riley Gaines on X.
Dani Laidley
Dani Laidley (Via Open Source/X)

Former Fox News reporter Joe Concha called Maxim out for being “woke” now as well.

The criticism is not due to Dani’s gender transition, it is due to Maxim’s inability to understand the concept of equality amongst equals. Besides, the former coach has not had a squeaky clean track record, as she has a bit of a criminal past. In 2020, she was arrested with 0.43g of meth and charged with stalking as well as per The Guardian.

The Hot 100 list was topped by actor Margot Robbie, which came as no surprise. She has been at the top of this list in the past as well and she’s done it for four straight years. This year was due to her stellar performance in the Barbie movie, which was a massive hit globally. Despite Ryan Gosling also featuring in the movie, Robbie managed to be the highlight of the movie and the reason for its success.

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