This Week's Inspirational Pop Culture Moments

Good feelings were flowing again. Esquire announced a surprising choice for best looking woman in America. One famous chef helped another make a comeback. A trailblazing star released a third memoir. Celebs put themselves on the auction block. And, once again, pop idols gave back. Here are this week’s most inspirational moments in pop culture.

“Mad Men’s” Christina Hendricks is the Best Looking Woman in America

Beauty is clearly in the eye of the beholder. That’s why supermodels range in size and shape from Twiggy to Tyra. But, let’s face it, the skinny bird usually gets the worm (even if she doesn’t eat it) in the fashion world and even stunning actresses are the victims of regular retouching.

So we were pleasantly surprised when the men’s magazine “Esquire” announced the results of a recent poll that, among other things, picked the best looking woman in America. Bearing in mind that the survey was taken by ten thousand women (no boys allowed), it was still exciting to see that the choice was Christina Hendricks, who plays the cunning and curvaceous 1960s secretary Joan Holloway on “Mad Men.”

Winning one for shapely women everywhere, Hendricks is not an anorexia-induced size two. In the accompanying Esquire article she waxed poetic about pork and deep fryers–when was the last time you heard Kate Moss talk about beer battered anything?

Our hope is that young girls everywhere will hear the news and know that it’s okay to embrace their bodies–even if they don’t fit the current fashion magazine mold.

View the rest and find out about celebrity auction items from Vera Wang, John McEnroe, Paul McCartney, and more at Beliefnet's Idol Chatter.