The moment Marlon Brando took off his shirt in one of the early scenes of A Streetcar Named Desire, a sex symbol was born.
Brando is only one of a long list of icons whose improbable good looks have pegged them as legendary and timeless sex symbols.
It's arguably easier than ever for people, celebrities or not, to come onto the scene as sex symbols thanks to social media.
But how well we'll remember these self-promoted, arguably manufactured people remains to be seen, while we continue to be dazzled and entranced by the likes of Marilyn Monroe, Raquel Welch, Sean Connery, James Dean, and others decades, in some cases even centuries, after they came on the scene.
Redditor Improv92 was curious to hear who people considered the most powerful sex symbol of all time, leading them to ask:
"Living or dead, who do you think has been the most powerful sex symbol the world has ever seen?"
The One Responsible For Starting It All
"Sigmund Freud's mother."- dreamwarrior22
Top Of The Liszt
"Franz Liszt, a 19th century Hungarian classical pianist and composer."
"Everything you've heard about obsessed fans of rockstars like Elvis or The Beatles was happening to perhaps an even greater degree a century earlier."
"People's obsession with him was so intense and so widespread that it was called Lisztomania and it was considered a genuine mental disorder."
"They threw underwear on the stage, they fainted just seeing him, they collected any scrap of anything he touched (some even wore his cigar butts as jewelry), and his shows caused full on riots."
"Both men and women were obsessed, common people as well as royalty, truly everyone."
"I remember hearing something about him playing for a Catholic mass at a cathedral in Rome, and got kicked out for making the nuns too horny."- paraworldblue
He Could Resist Anything, Except Temptation...
"How has no one said Oscar Wilde yet?"
"His grave was literally covered in lipstick kiss marks until they had to protect it."- LanceAlgoriddim
Age Could Not Wither Her
"Well, it's been about two thousand years and we're still talking about Cleopatra and her lovers, so I'm enclined to give her that."- emissaryofwinds
Eternal Beauty
"I’m going to say whom ever inspired those Paleolithic Venus figurines."- Tricky-Engineering59
Extinction Be Damned!
"The turtle who single-handedly brought his species out of endangerment by having a f*ckton of sex."- abitsussy
Marine Life Swimming GIF by Nature on PBSGiphyNothing Is Sexier Thank Kindness
"Paul Newman because of 'all profits to charity', $600 million so far."- tracyinge
Sexy, Or Sexist?
"Victor Hugo."
"Supposedly all the brothels in Paris closed on the day of his funeral."
"The prostitutes attended by the hundreds and draped their privates with black cloths as a sign of mourning."
"His sexy exploits include:"
"Having sex 83 times in the 4 months before he died at age 83."
"Having sex with over 200 women in 2 years."
"It was not unusual for him to have 3-4 different lovers in a day."
"For seven years he had a mistress he kept secret from his wife and a second mistress he kept secret from his first mistress."
"Had sex 9 times with his wife on their wedding night."
"She got pregnant 5 times in 8 years."
"He was married to his wife for 48 years til her death."
"Both had lovers outside the marriage."
"One of his mistresses was his unpaid 'secretary' and traveled with him for 50 years."
"He seduced his son's lover."
"His son said he didn't blame her for it."- heimdahl81
Victor Hugo Pamela Chougne GIFGiphyThe Face That Launched A Thousand Ships
"Helen of Troy."- destro23
They Always Love The Drummer...
"Roger Taylor in Queen's 'I want to break free' video."- vickinga
Snakes Medusa GIF by PBS Digital StudiosEveryone Could Just Eat Her Right Up...
"The green m&m."- Plenty-Row4359
No Matter What Name He Was Using...
"Prince."
"He will steal your girl, then steal her clothes, then steal someone else's girl in your girl's clothes."- LeChefK_Tang
Sexiness is in the eye of the beholder.
Though, anyone who doesn't think Paul Newman was the sexiest man that ever lived may need to get their eyes checked...
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