I feel these are a combintation of physical appearance, intelligence, emotional appeal and the intangibles.

The first two are easy to explain, emotional appeal basically means are they nice, do they have a sense of humor, etc. Intangibles are stuff like, do they like hockey, do they like some of my more geeky hobbies, etc.

With Jessica Alba she has the physical attractiveness and the emotional appeal, but I don’t have enough information to judge the other two.

There is no doubt that Jessica Alba is “hotter” than Drew Barrymore.

“Hotness” (or as another commentor pointed out “sexiness”) is truly objectifying these actresses. I personally don’t think this is necessarily “wrong” - as it would be - say objectfying a woman you work with - since they are clearly aprticipating in an industry that trades on it.

But that is essentially the point here. “Beauty” is certainly more than skin-deep. I don’t really spend enough time following popular culture to know if Drew is really more of a “beautiful” person than Jessica - but she has an advantage of being older.

Part of beauty is that it is ageless. Truly actresses like Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Candace Bergen, and the queen of “older actreesses” Sophia Loren had beauty that lasted while they aged.

But consider someone like, say Catherine Bach. She was super-hot as Daisy Duke - but she didn’t age well.

To truly be the “most beautiful” - you need time to prove that your beauty doesn’t require having a tight young body…

Even without make-up. She’s just as fine.

http://yeeeah.com/blog/2006/09/29/jessica-alba-without-makeup/

Being an old fart, I still prefer the great grandmother Sophia Loren.

Teh Intart00bs does not forget!

That, and you’ve got a wadded up Maxim magazine where your soul ought to be.