Sex symbol

[4] 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.

[9] The "bad boy" image of the 1950s was epitomized by sex symbols such as James Dean and Marlon Brando,[10] and women like Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield, Mamie Van Doren and French superstar Brigitte Bardot were seen as the archetype of the blonde bombshell.

[11] Other Hollywood actresses that were considered sex symbols include Elizabeth Taylor, Sophia Loren, Audrey Hepburn, and Raquel Welch.

[23] In the 21st century, Hollywood stars such as Tom Cruise,[24][25] Johnny Depp,[26] Denzel Washington,[27] Megan Fox,[28] Jessica Alba,[29] Taylor Lautner[30][31][32] Miley Cyrus,[33] Zac Efron,[34] and Ian Somerhalder[35] have been described as sex symbols.

[41] In Hispanic media, Mexican actor Fernando Colunga is frequently referred as a sex symbol due to his telenovela roles in the 1990s.

[42][43][44] In Indian cinema, stars such as Sharmila Tagore, Zeenat Aman, Parveen Babi, Dimple Kapadia, Rekha, Sridevi, Madhuri Dixit, and Bipasha Basu were leading sex symbols.

Examples of Sexymen in Tumblr fandoms include the Once-ler as depicted in the 2012 Lorax film, as well as Sans from the video game Undertale.

[68] Sans in particular is considered to be the most popular Sexyman, having beaten other characters such as Arataka Reigen from the manga Mob Psycho 100 in a poll that gained the attention of Toby Fox, the creator of Undertale.

[69] Similarly, in otaku communities, characters from anime or manga that fans find sexually or romantically attractive are referred to as "waifus" (female) or "husbandos" (male).