via askmen.com

While the boys drool over the blond bombshell Charlize Theron [1], who has been named “sexiest actress” by the men’s magazine Esquire, she is busy taking over Hollywood both in front of and behind the camera.

While known for her beauty and grace on the silver screen, this awesome chick is also dominating the behind-the-scenes work. Her latest film, The Burning Plain, is one of the movies she has both stared in and produced over the years, paving new ground for women [2] in Hollywood.

In the first film that Charlize produced, Monster, she also took on a character that she believes she would never have been given by the head honchos of Hollywood. She won Best Actress in 2004 for her portrayal of the haunting main character: a prostitute turned serial killer.

In a recent article on cnn.com, Charlize told the world that she thinks there are limitations for women [3] in Hollywood—limitations she intends on destroying. Many women, especially the “sexiest actress” types, are given the stereotypical damsel in distress roles, and she wants to change that. So she is taking charge.

But that isn’t so easy to do, especially when the majority of people in the industry are men. Last year, only 16% of all directors, producers, writers, and cinematographers who worked on the top films were women. This issue is especially prevalent now as we celebrate women’s history month.

And Charlize believes women will continue to break their own ground [4] in Hollywood: "I do think that it's in our hands to make sure we keep working with the right people who want to go and explore those themes and want to push the envelope and want to tell great female stories.”

What do you think about the stigma in Hollywood for the “sexy” actress? How does this affect the image of women worldwide? How awesome is Charlize Theron?!?!? Comment below!

By CGG reporter Caroline Kotter