Is it normal to think that saying someone is "hot" is degrading?

Really? Almost anyone I've ever met would take it as a compliment. Hot is used to describe a broad range of attractiveness. Hot might just mean that someone has a beautiful face and nicely proportioned body. Girls call guys hot all the time as well so its not necessarily a sexist thing. Its just like someone noting that someone is attractive. Also, someone doesnt have to look like a slut to be sexy. Sometimes just looking elegant and poised with confidence is enough for some people to be labeled as sexy.

Some people aren't poets so instead of calling someone "ravishing, a beautiful nereid that comes to pass", they just say "dang she's hot".

Even Shakespeare used the term "hot", well loosely at least:
"She doth make the torches burn bright"-Romeo and Juliet
No one's accused Shakespeare of writing smut!

Saying someone is hot is fine. But for me I'd rather be called cute or pretty the best would be being called beautiful. I don't know it seems like when they call you 'hot' they are only looking at your body not you as a person, it's still a compliment to be called hot but I'd rather being called beautiful, pretty or cute. Though that's just what I think.

I don't prefer being called that. I'm independent, and don't need a guy to validate my attractivness. I would muuuuch rather be called something more clever, or beautiful, something about my face or personality, even. To me, it nearly sounds degrading, because of the sexual meaning in it's definition, it sounds like you're focusing on his/her body and that's the extent of it.

I'd rather be called handsome than hot or sexy and I think girls would rather be called beautiful...

If you call a girl "hot," you are basically saying that she is sexually attractive. This means that she has physical characteristics that make her desirable as a sex partner. In and of itself, this is not degrading. There is nothing low or filthy about sex or being sexually desirable.

Many girls, when they hear this about themselves for the first time, will be quite pleased: They are attractive and desirable; being called so can give them a sense of self-worth or self-validation.

However, if a girl is called "hot" over and over again, say twenty times, a hundred times, or even more, by different guys, it starts to get boring. Don't underestimate how often an attractive girl might be called this. Imagine people were constantly saying to you, "geez, you're smart!" While it might sound nice at first, eventually you would get tired of this, and start to resent people for calling you that. Moreover, attractive girls want to be liked for more than just their looks.

Now, once you call a "hot" girl a "slut," you are basically passing a moral judgment over her, not because of her looks, but because of the behavior her looks might infer. She is capable of attracting many different men, and therefore she must be promiscuous. Now, try applying the same principle to a "hot" guy who might be promiscuous. Is he a "slut?" Is there a male equivalent for the word "slut?" No, there isn't. That's because it's a double standard. For some reason, it's ok for a guy to be promiscuous, but not for a girl. I've never quite understood the reason why.

Interestingly, those people most likely to call a "hot" girl a "slut" are other girls, not guys. That's because she represents competition. And, by calling her a slut, or by inferring it, or indirectly getting the males to believe so, she is destroying the competition.

I would argue that by preferring a "cute" girl over a "hot" girl (who others might call a "slut"), you are basically caving in to social pressure.

Anyway, all of this is quite normal.

i have always felt that way growing up and called guys out on it. Most people I've talked to agree that it's degrading.