#171: The Devolution of the Sex Symbol.

We should all be ashamed of ourselves.

We need to expect more from the people we lust after and adore.

Once upon a time, being a sex symbol meant something; it was a true acknowledgment of one’s attractiveness to the world at-large. If you found yourself to be so blessed as to be elevated to this pinnacle of humanity, you had to conduct yourself accordingly.

Not these days. Just look at where we used to be and where we’ve wound up…

RITA HAYWORTH. Go hit Wikipedia, kids!

A “Classy” Megan Fox pose…

But that’s not what we’re used to, is it? How about this one instead…

I LOVE THE INTERNET…

Can you imagine Rita Hayworth selling Converse Chuck Taylor All Star Canvas High Top White Sneakers – had they existed in the 1940s, that is – in such a “reserved”  (Gotta love sarcasm, right?) manner? What about a little something closer to the here and now; Farrah Fawcett‘s classic poster…

And Christina Applegate‘s entry to the annals of poster history, circa her Married With Children days…

To her credit, Applegate has always managed to keep her image clean, something most teenage boys could never say of their copies of this poster! There have always been sex symbols willing to display a harder edge. Just look at Jane Russell  - she got your Grandpa’s motor racin’ in the 1940s and 1950s, kids – and her “bad girl” look…

 I HAVE TO ADMIT, SHE SCARES ME A LITTLE…

 And finally, the person most responsible for the devolution of the term “sex symbol” in our modern-age…

 KIM KARDASHIAN’S LATE FATHER HAS TO HAVE SPUN HIMSELF OUT OF HIS GRAVE BY NOW!

 One could argue the modern media is to blame for our current climate of  low standards of public image for female personalities, although the paparazzi existed in the Golden Age of Hollywood and you still didn’t see the same level of promiscuity in ads and posters, etc. 

No, we’ve become hungry for lewd images and incredibly lax standards for advertisers. Our willingness to sit idly by – and in some cases, encourage this behavior by buying the resulting products – has resulted in a modern-day sex symbol who is both mainstream and fringe all at once. Kim Kardashian and her douchebag predecessor Paris Hilton have both used sex tapes as marketing tools, successfully so.

I just wish we had kept softcore porn and the mainstream world separated, just as they used to be. There have always been other avenues open to those souls hungry to satisfy their lustful urges. In my day, it was the Sports illustrated Swimsuit Edition, your Mom’s Cosmo or the Sears catalogue. Nowadays kids can surf the web from the comfort of their room  (Of course, the door doesn’t lock, but you can’t have everything, right?) and cut right to the chase.

And that’s my point – finally – sex symbols used to leave you wanting more. Now? I can see Kim Kardashian engaged in full-blown – pun intended – porno mode.

In closing, I’d like to publicly say that I’m more than a little afraid of what the future is going to hold for sex symbols everywhere. The days of seduction and class are loooong gone.

I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but it’s a safe bet it’ll be x-rated.