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The 20 Most Popular Posts on AfterEllen.com in 2010

It’s been a long year, full of lesbian content and other stuff we all wanted to talk about. We thought it would be fun to see what the most popular stories were in the last 365 days. Some of it was expected (lists and polls always do well) and some of it was surprising (more of you wanted to read about what Laurel Holloman has been up to than what Jennifer Beals had to say), and some probably came from just as many new readers as from AfterEllen.com faithfuls (like Amber Heard‘s first discussion about her sexuality and our story on lesbian cheerleaders).

Here’s what you were reading this year:

It’s probably not a surprise that our 2010 Hot 100 list is the most widely read piece on the site. One of the reasons it was originially created was to get lesbians’ input on who is hot, so of course it will be of continuing interest to gay women and people who are curious as to who lesbians desire. This year, Olivia Wilde took home the top prize.

Another poll, another chance for the women that make up the Skins lesbian couple, Naomily, to battle for votes. And it seems that UK television has continued to improve on the portrayal of gay female characters. If we take votes again in 2011, we expect to see the ladies of Lip Service on the list.

Another list, you ask? Well, they certainly reel in the opinions. Women are often left off of conventional “best in music” lists, so we created our own. Weighing in the individual musician’s accomplishment was difficult, especially because we have so many out artists now that keeping it to 50 was damn near impossible.

It should be no surprise that the Naomily fans love to read and rehash what happened on every episode of season 4 this year. We even went back to season 3 for some retro recaps and those also kept you coming back to reminisce.

There may have only been six episodes of season 1, but we were hooked as soon as we laid eyes on the cast. Great LezBritain columnists Sarah and Lee are not only hilarious recappers, but well-informed, as they are tight with the cast and crew behind the show. No wonder we flock to their recaps – they have insider information! We expect to see their recaps dominate again next year now that we’ve learned S2 of Lip Service has been greenlit.

You must have needed some ideas for at least one woman in your life, or maybe just wanted some stuff for yourself. We published the gift guide one month ago and it managed to rank as one the most read pieces this year.

Last January, we polled you on more general awards that weren’t lesbian or bisexual specific. We even asked you what dudes you liked! And you wanted to know the results just as much as we did. What we found out: we still love Tina Fey, Grey’s Anatomy and Glee. And a lot of us apparently enjoyed The Tyra Banks Show.

Weak lesbians? Yeah, right! This celebration of out female characters ran the gamut of comic book characters, L Worders and Queen Latifah‘s turn as a gay bank robber in Set it Off.

Some of you love our recaps, some of you love to hate them. Nonetheless, we write them and you will come. It appears Brittana is quickly becoming the new Naomily, but with less kissing.

When we first showed you the trailer, we all had high hopes. So did the film about an ex-actress/college student falling for her professor deliver? Our reviewer, Danielle Riendeau, thought so, writing “Bloomington could be the sleeper hit of this season’s queer festival dramas. It’s sexy, it’s different, and best of all, it’s fun.”

Sexual fluidity continues to be a popular topic on our site as well as the world at large. Women, especially, seem to fluctuate in how they identify, so we had to get into it and boy, did the comments follow suit.

For the first time on record, the actress spoke about being in a relationship with a woman and why she chose not to hide in the closet. We broke the story because, well, we were ready and waiting for her to just say the words!

ABC Family’s show about teen girls has a hot lesbian. Of course you want to know all about it, or relive it over and over again. Plus Heather Hogan loves to include your Tweets along with her own thoughts on the show, so it’s very interactive.

We caught up with the actress to see what she’s been up to post-L Word and she spared no detail. She’s been painting, doing a little bit of acting, and still hadn’t watched the finale episode.

We noticed a trend this year in the rise of Sapphically-inclined cheerleading characters, so we had to test the appeal of putting the two archetypes together. And while we can’t tell you how many hits we got from straight men doing Google searches of the two words, we can share our delight with the fact that several of you used the comments section to tell us about your own cheerleading experiences.

bad machine‘s rehashing of every Sunday night’s events made the reality series more bearable. And it’s a good thing you like reading them because they’ll be back for a second season!

It wasn’t a huge film this year, but the thriller starring Amanda Seyfried and Julianne Moore was always on our radar. How was it? Our own Lesley Goldberg wrote “Chloe provides moviegoers with a sexually charged climax (zing!) that only deepens our love and respect for Julianne Moore and Amanda Seyfried.” So yea, you probably went to see it.

The L Word star has moved onto a new show, and we had to know all about it. Ride Along is now called Chicago Code, but we got the scoop, nonetheless. And is she still in touch with her former castmates? She told us, “Off and on. I’d love to have a reunion; I tried to organize one so I could show everyone the photographs, but it really was like wrangling cats.”

Our resident butch columnist Sinclair Sexsmith gave us a detailed history on how butch characters have been portrayed on TV, and the little progress that has been made over four decades. She writes, “Folks like Ellen [DeGeneres] and Rachel [Maddow] and Katherine [Moennig] are pushing the limits, but the most successful butch and genderqueer performers have also been able to tone down their own presentation of masculinity if needed, and seem to be willing to do so.” Yes, we still have a long way to go.

You asked for it, and you received it. Who knew that a show that had only one lesbian-themed episode could get you all rawled up and wanting more? Dorothy Snarker‘s subtext recaps provide your inner dialogue so you know you’re not the only one thinking “Just f–k already!”

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