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The sexiest man living!
by Salon.com
Reposted from:
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/11/17/sexiest_man/index4.html
Forget that other list. We pick the men who really set our hearts aflame -- and there's nary a pretty-boy actor among them.
Nov. 17, 2006 | That big bland celebrity flip book's annual celebration of the Sexiest Man Alive isn't valuable because of its dazzling spreads of razor-sharp abs. It offers tangible proof that women (and gay men, and anyone else who casts a vote in that process) can be just as drably one-dimensional as any straight man who ogles Pam Anderson. In its 20-plus years documenting hot, they've been about as imaginative as a Whitman's Sampler, about as adventuresome as a 10-minute roll with the lights off, about as mentally stimulating as Matthew McConaughey.
Sure, McConaughey, the 2005 winner, is easy on the eyes, and his cleavage is every bit as remarkable as Anderson's. But he's the latest in a long line of vanilla eye-candy actors (Ben Affleck, Mark Harmon, Patrick Swayze, Harry Hamlin -- seriously, in 1987, Harry Hamlin) whose shiny good looks fuel a fantasy thought or two before we wonder how much product they put in their hair. (And really, quit selecting George Clooney already. He's the zenith of sex appeal -- picking him is cheating. Get some guts over there, girls, or else turn the poll over to the interns.)
Tired of that array of pretty boys, we came up with a list of guys who really rattle our chains. Warning: There are no abs ahead. But sometimes a good lyric, a good laugh, a well-articulated theory on the existence of man ... yowza, let's just say not all turn-ons start with a spray-on tan.
Losing our religion (#7 on the list)
Who: Richard Dawkins
Age: 65
Know him as: Evolutionary scientist and author, most recently of "The God Delusion."
Wonder is sexy. Knowledge is sexy. And embodying both as much as any man in the world today is a man in a tweed jacket riding his bike around the Oxford University campuses, the damp English breeze sweeping a curtain of silver hair from the delicate bones of his face. Yes, those cheekbones, those piercing eyes, that pursed bow of a mouth -- but that brain, oh that brain, oh, god, that brain -- is what makes Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and the most famous atheist in the world, the sexiest man around.
Dawkins is the professor I never had an affair with, whose very sentence structure threatens to weaken my concentration on the content of his words. Call me deluded: I ache for his atheism; I reel from his reasoning. He is my James Bond, a well-attired, fearless seeker of truth in the face of nihilism.
I dream of his perfectly-accented voice -- Oxbridge softened by a childhood spent in, sigh, East Africa -- whispering to me from his latest book, "The God Delusion," a defense of endless curiosity in the face of omnipresent theism. "If the demise of god will leave a gap, different people will fill it in different ways. My way includes a good dose of science, the honest and systematic endeavor to find out the truth about the real world." Take me with you, Richard: You put the "sex" in sexagenarian. Let us clinch in a godless embrace, crying out to what we know does not exist, searching, searching evermore.
-- Lauren Sandler
http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2006/11/17/sexiest_man/index4.html
Forget that other list. We pick the men who really set our hearts aflame -- and there's nary a pretty-boy actor among them.
Nov. 17, 2006 | That big bland celebrity flip book's annual celebration of the Sexiest Man Alive isn't valuable because of its dazzling spreads of razor-sharp abs. It offers tangible proof that women (and gay men, and anyone else who casts a vote in that process) can be just as drably one-dimensional as any straight man who ogles Pam Anderson. In its 20-plus years documenting hot, they've been about as imaginative as a Whitman's Sampler, about as adventuresome as a 10-minute roll with the lights off, about as mentally stimulating as Matthew McConaughey.
Sure, McConaughey, the 2005 winner, is easy on the eyes, and his cleavage is every bit as remarkable as Anderson's. But he's the latest in a long line of vanilla eye-candy actors (Ben Affleck, Mark Harmon, Patrick Swayze, Harry Hamlin -- seriously, in 1987, Harry Hamlin) whose shiny good looks fuel a fantasy thought or two before we wonder how much product they put in their hair. (And really, quit selecting George Clooney already. He's the zenith of sex appeal -- picking him is cheating. Get some guts over there, girls, or else turn the poll over to the interns.)
Tired of that array of pretty boys, we came up with a list of guys who really rattle our chains. Warning: There are no abs ahead. But sometimes a good lyric, a good laugh, a well-articulated theory on the existence of man ... yowza, let's just say not all turn-ons start with a spray-on tan.
Losing our religion (#7 on the list)
Who: Richard DawkinsAge: 65
Know him as: Evolutionary scientist and author, most recently of "The God Delusion."
Wonder is sexy. Knowledge is sexy. And embodying both as much as any man in the world today is a man in a tweed jacket riding his bike around the Oxford University campuses, the damp English breeze sweeping a curtain of silver hair from the delicate bones of his face. Yes, those cheekbones, those piercing eyes, that pursed bow of a mouth -- but that brain, oh that brain, oh, god, that brain -- is what makes Richard Dawkins, evolutionary biologist and the most famous atheist in the world, the sexiest man around.
Dawkins is the professor I never had an affair with, whose very sentence structure threatens to weaken my concentration on the content of his words. Call me deluded: I ache for his atheism; I reel from his reasoning. He is my James Bond, a well-attired, fearless seeker of truth in the face of nihilism.
I dream of his perfectly-accented voice -- Oxbridge softened by a childhood spent in, sigh, East Africa -- whispering to me from his latest book, "The God Delusion," a defense of endless curiosity in the face of omnipresent theism. "If the demise of god will leave a gap, different people will fill it in different ways. My way includes a good dose of science, the honest and systematic endeavor to find out the truth about the real world." Take me with you, Richard: You put the "sex" in sexagenarian. Let us clinch in a godless embrace, crying out to what we know does not exist, searching, searching evermore.
-- Lauren Sandler
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Posted: Friday, November 17, 2006 | PermalinkComments 1 - 35 of 35 |
Reload Comments | Back to Top | Page Numbers3. Comment #7193 by Skeptic Jim on November 17, 2006 at 3:25 pm
Disturbing7. Comment #7198 by Skeptic Jim on November 17, 2006 at 3:45 pm
*curls up in foetal position*LA LA LA. LA LA LA. OLD MACDONALD HAD A FARM EI EI O.
9. Comment #7205 by Randy Ping on November 17, 2006 at 4:20 pm
No complaining. I've been waiting for this kind of attitude my whole life!Good on ya, Richard!
10. Comment #7207 by digitalsaint on November 17, 2006 at 4:27 pm
Im glad this was posted.I further shows we atheists are well-rounded. We're not just about science and reason. Humor and fanciful crushes are not lost on us.
11. Comment #7208 by Christopher on November 17, 2006 at 4:32 pm
Count me among those who unabashedly admit to having a Man Crush on the good Doctor!Over the top? Well, yes.
Off the mark? Open to debate maybe.
Hugely entertaining? Most certainly!
12. Comment #7213 by Aussie on November 17, 2006 at 5:37 pm
Positive press like this is a marketing godsend. What many aethiests and scientists also do not understand is that effective marketing is essential in gaining ground on the well-organised and well-financed opposition. It is even worth considering emulating the tactics of the televangelists who unarguably have a winning recipe for success.Following on from the Ted Haggard debacle though we will have to be vigilant to ensure that Richard himself does not betray his public persona by becoming a closet Christian, attending clandestine revival meetings etc, to ensure his place in Heaven, while all his followers march inexorably to eternal damnation.
14. Comment #7226 by Aussie on November 17, 2006 at 7:09 pm
What Richard needs to do to lift his game:Develop an ear-to-ear toothpaste-ad smile.
Pace backwards and forwards across the stage during presentations raising the palms skyward at frequent intervals.
Periodically thump a dog-eared copy of Origin of Species constantly carried in his left hand.
Appeal for interactive responses from the audience. "How come we are all gathered here today!!" The answer "Natural Selection!!" "Come on everybody. Shout it out together!" "NATURAL SELECTION!!!"
Regularly threaten the audience with the certainty of intellectual necrosis, thermonuclear anialation, with eternal separation from the only life they will ever enjoy.
Accompany his presentations with trendy rock music
Walk amongst the flock, pushing them over one by one, decreeing that they are now cured from their delusions and its associated psychological damage.
Set up a series of "Inquisition Houses" to scare the living daylights out of small children, dramatising in horrific detail the suffering (burning at the stake, boiling in oil etc) that will be endured if we return to any form of Dark Age.
Institute a system of tithing to swell the RDF coffers and supplement this with occasional exhortations to "Give until it hurts".
Write his next book on the subject of dieting - "Slimming with Darwin"
Come on Richard you can do it!
16. Comment #7232 by woollybear on November 17, 2006 at 7:58 pm
I totally get Dawkins' sex appeal. I also have a crush on him. :) And I also think this is good publicity for him, even if a little silly. In the context of the article it works.Did you all see who Salon's #1 choice was? Stephen Colbert!
18. Comment #7235 by realitybites on November 17, 2006 at 8:33 pm
He is extremely sexy. She summed up my sentiments exactly!19. Comment #7245 by Randy Ping on November 17, 2006 at 9:41 pm
You know, I think everybody should pick your tongues up off the floor and get back to work.:P
20. Comment #7253 by Kelly on November 17, 2006 at 11:15 pm
Well, there are pictures of Richard Dawkins all over the website... including the slideshow at the top, where he is featured in every single photo. I feel as though I have been encouraged to gaze at Richard while I browse new articles about science and reason.As a lesbian, I don't have an opinion on questions of sex appeal... but I'm glad that atheists are too independent to form true personality cults. Richard is a simply a great writer and an engaging speaker, and it's fun to follow his travels as he advances the cause.
22. Comment #7262 by Will on November 18, 2006 at 1:07 am
The article keys in with something which I was thinking about very recently.I confess to having a, somewhat depraved, taste for Susan Howatch's books: Glittering Images, A Question of Integrity etc. They're undemanding reading, and the ones which I like most have a spiritual, or mystical, dimension. The plot always tends to be the same: someone falls into a deep spiritual/emotional crisis from which s/he is rescued by a terribly understanding and personable Church of England clergyman. Then often, in the next book in the series, the clergyman who has done the rescuing falls into a spiritual/emotional crisis from which he is rescued…. (Yes, honestly – believe it or not, the books really do make quite good reading, even for atheists. But I suggest that, as a matter of principle, atheists should only buy second hand copies in charity shops.)
I'm now waiting for Susan Howatch to write the book in which the villain is the madly attractive occupant of a Chair in the Public Understanding of Science who lures impressionable women (and men) to their doom. Or perhaps the person having the spiritual crisis might be the madly attractive occupant of the Chair, and who comes to understand by page 400 that (in a deeply spiritual sense, naturally) there's something to be said for Creationism…
If any of you besotted girls are ultimately unsuccessful in your quest for Richard, I would like to let you know that I am also a scientist, over sixty with a verrrry sexy Australian accent. Although not as wealthy as Richard, nor with an aristocratic lineage, I am nevertheless descended from genuine convict stock. Drop me an email if ever you get lonely.
24. Comment #7398 by rob on November 18, 2006 at 1:17 pm
Here's some stuff by the author (only of the Richard Dawkins part, not the whole article). Quite the atheist she is. And she's not so bad herself...http://archive.salon.com/mwt/feature/2001/09/14/atheist/index.html
http://www.laurensandler.com/abouttheauthor.shtml
I can't describe Dawkins as sexy, being male and all, but I think he is charming and easy to look at. I'd be happy to look like him when I'm his age.
25. Comment #7464 by Ben Jennings on November 18, 2006 at 3:14 pm
<<< Honestly, Josh, (or whosoever posted this) isn't this a bit over the top?>>>Er, why? It's a great article.
26. Comment #7560 by Grace on November 18, 2006 at 7:41 pm
Wow. Well...whatever floats your boat. I wouldn't have used quite that language, but intelligence, wonder, rationality, and (of course) British accents are certainly dead sexy. And from what I've seen of Professor Dawkins, he IS quite charming. For me personally, it only extends to a vague schoolgirl admiration...older guys are fine, but nearly a half century older is a bit much.It's a silly article, but hey, any publicity's good publicity, right?
28. Comment #7665 by nancyjesse on November 19, 2006 at 2:07 am
Have to agree with the above ladies, I too have lusted for Richard. He personifies the perfect male; rich, cultured, handsome, smart, sexy and that enchanting accent! I'm in love.
My personnal vote for sexiest intellectual would have to be Richard Belzer. He is beyond amasing. I love the way he destroyed Ann Coulter on "Real Time with Bill Maher", but Prof Dawkins does have lovely hair and an absolutely beautiful voice. Although everytime my husband reads lists like this, he rolls his eyes and says that women should choose men as "sexy" based upon if the men make them want to actually have sex. Good point, I think. Jenna
30. Comment #8316 by Jared on November 20, 2006 at 9:14 pm
I have to admit, the ladies' responses here have me almost wanting to revert my stance on not becoming an academic! Maybe what everyone has always said about brains trumping beauty is actually true.Although I guess film studies isn't exactly as contentious or logically rigorous a discipline as evolutionary biology. And I'm certainly not rich...or British...or charming. Darn.
But I am studying in England...and I'm kind of smart...so maybe that counts for something, eh?
Cheers!
31. Comment #8662 by walter on November 21, 2006 at 11:48 pm
Sex appeal is an aspect of Mr. Dawkins that I suspect, no doubt out of modesty, he has not utilized to full advantage in the promotion of his cause.I'm reminded of a presidential debate between John Kennedy and Richard Nixon back in the sixties. Most people who heard the broadcast via radio thought that Nixon won while most people who saw the televised broadcast thought Kennedy won. Go figure!
It is also noteworthy that any prettyboy could make an evangelist but only a bright one a scientist. So it only stands to reason that, seeing the effect Dawkins has over women, sooner or later the fundamentalists will pluck some chippendale off the streets and make him THEIR 'guru'.
33. Comment #23007 by Miri on February 25, 2007 at 9:17 pm
I am glad to be one of MANY girls who think Richard Dawkins is a PAINFULLY sexy man. I got a huge crush on him from the part of "Root of All Evil," when he was watching the Ted Haggard conference. Everyone around him was acting all fruity and Jesus-freaky and he was just sitting there so calm and stoic, silently observing the freaks. I was thinking, I WOULD SO NAIL HIM!To the guys shaking their heads in bewilderment...ya'll just don't understand women!
BTW, I think he should have gotten the #1 slot (although Colbert is sexy, too) for being the sexiest man living at 65. ;)
Other Comments by Miri
34. Comment #105518 by gamerunknown on December 31, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Gosh, I thought he was about 50. o_0 Other Comments by gamerunknown
35. Comment #121093 by MetalOperachick on February 3, 2008 at 12:40 am
Oh joy!! I'm not the only woman in the world that thinks so! yay! hahah I've always had a thing for teachers, but Dawkins just takes the cake haha. That accent...that brain...his mannerisms...he's just too damn sexy! haha I agree with everything in this article, loved the stuff about Matthew McCoaughey. Every time I hear him talk I feel my brain cells beginning to die off. lol Other Comments by MetalOperachick
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Letter to a Christian Nation
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1. Comment #7191 by Sean on November 17, 2006 at 3:22 pm
That was... well, interesting. To each his/her own, i suppose.