In addition to being seen as a great potential mother, I’ve held the girl next door stereotype for as long as I can remember. Mothers loved me and wanted their sons to date me, but to them I was “one of the boys” or their “little sister.”  No guy wants to date their little sister. (My love life has been plagued by numerous by Kristin/ Brody relationships,minus the FWB.) No, instead of dating they would rather torment, tease and give occasional noogies to me. I guess you could say that after 10 years of this “sibling love” I was used to it.  Hey, at least I know that I have a group of great friends behind me who would back me up.  No one wants to see their little sister get hurt, am I right?

Sure being the girl-next-door has its upsides, but the downsides that come with the stereotype can be frustrating.  I’m seen as purely innocent—I can do no evil.  I couldn’t possibly have a mean bone in my body and I most definitely would never get in trouble. Basically, I’m boring. So once I got to college and met a fresh batch of people, I wanted nothing more then to shed that image.

I tried to be rebellious, to party, to live on the edge…. but I just felt silly. I’m not that carefree girl who’s free-spirited, I’m a perfectionist who feeds on the approval of others.  I wanted to let my hair down, be someone different for a night, but the more I tried, the more I felt like I wasn’t being true to myself.  And all those attempts to shed my stereotype weren’t noticed anyway, except for maybe a few nights, but everyone – even the nice girl – is entitled to a few wild nights in college.

So I was back to square one: the girl next door.

I felt stuck – stuck with my image, stuck with myself – and it was frustrating.  But after some serious soul searching, I woke up one day (hungover from another “attempt” at being the bad girl) and realized I am who I am.  I’m the girl next door. I can’t shed that image because if I did I would be denying who I truly am.  People like me for me, not for who I think they want me to be.  Finding that out took a lot of self-exploration, self-questioning and really ridiculous nights out that ended badly, but I came out of that state discovering a part of who I am.  My life is just beginning and I’m still finding myself, so I’m going to take it one step at a time as the girl next door.

Because that’s who I am. And because my chocolate chip cookies are too good to give up.

In this month’s issue of Elle magazine, People.com reports that Jessica Biel opens up about the struggles of being hot in today’s Hollywood. Gag me.

In the article, Jessica says, “Parts that I want aren’t going to me. Like “The Other Boleyn Girl” with Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman. I don’t want to say there’s nothing I love that I can’t have. But there’s still the occasional script that the director doesn’t want to see you for. They want that top tier of girls.”

Biel was named “Sexiest Woman Alive” by Esquire magazine and said, “I thought the Esquire cover was going to be really positive for my career. But it wasn’t, really. [One director told me] ‘I’m not looking for the sexiest woman; I’m looking for the girl next door.’”

Here is the photograph that appears next to the new Elle article. Is it just me, or does this scream contradiction?

I really feel for you, Jess. You’re more than just the pretty face and killer body everyone associates with you as an actress. By the way, here she is, not exploiting her sexiness. And here she is again. And again.

You need to realize that not only is it possible to be sexy and have a respected career as an actress, but that it’s completely obnoxious to talk about just how sexy you are and complain about it at the same time. You’re the one posing for these pictures! Don’t blame other young actresses like Scarlett and Natalie – they are sex symbols, too. Maybe it’s your agents and publicists who aren’t getting you the roles you want, and maybe when it comes down to the auditions that you get, you need to make sure your acting skills are top-knotch before making excuses. Obviously actresses like Charlize Theron could handle parts that required acting over looks.

I’m not same-sex oriented, but Jessica Biel is smoking. There’s no denying it. Apparently she’s not denying it, either. But you know what would make her even sexier? Being humble and appreciative of everything that comes with her lavish, million-dollar, coverpage career.

But, Jessica…I have to ask. Do you really want to go back to this?

Yeah. I didn’t think so.