Sex symbols

A sex symbol is a famous person or fictional character widely regarded to possess excessive sexual attractiveness.

The term sex symbol was first used in the mid-1950s in relation to the popularity of certain film stars, including Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, and Raquel Welch. This concept was a reflection of the post-World War II increase of sexual and economic emancipation of women.

In the 20th century, sex symbols could be male as well as female: actors such as the romantic Sessue Hayakawa and the athletic Douglas Fairbanks were popular in the 1910s and 1920s. By the 1930s, many film stars were seen as sex symbols, such as Errol Flynn, Gary Cooper and Clark Gable. In the 1940s Cary Grant was seen as still masculine but more refined. The "bad boy" image of the 1950s was epitomised by James Dean and Marlon Brando.

With regard to fiction, Rotten Tomatoes states that the 1930s cartoon character Betty Boop is "the first and most famous sex symbol on animated screen".Jessica Rabbit (voiced by Kathleen Turner) from the 1988 live-action/animation crossover film Who Framed Roger Rabbit has been described as a sex symbol as well. Video games have had a few characters that are considered sex symbols; one example would be Lara Croft, who has had several appearances in mainstream media. Other notable sex symbols include Rayne, the first video game character that appeared in Playboy, in its October 2004 US issue's article, "Gaming Grows Up"; and Nina Williams, voted "Hottest" Female Fighting Character in Guinness World Records, Gamers Edition 2008.

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