Cool Comment

Looking through any of the lists of the world’s sexiest men and one thing seems clear.  There are almost always a number of men who are older, well past their twenties, and considered to be very much in their prime.  While this is often seen as a circumstance of culture, where there seems to be certain gender disparities, there are other factors that can weigh in as well and tilt the equation in other unexpected directions.  Culture at large seems to be leaning toward healthier trends in general, where it’s much hipper to take care of yourself than it has been in the recent past.  Lifestyles and products that support healthy life choices are definitely in that elusive realm of coolness, and it’s been trending for long enough to suspect, or predict, that it won’t go away soon.

This suggests that although the ideal man may very well be older than the typical age for a rising Hollywood star, the older men on the lists are ones who have usually made the cut in their younger years as well.  This coincides with a larger trend toward healthy living.  It may have once been fashionable to live a reckless lifestyle, and the bad boys were always living more recklessly than the rest of the pack.  But these days, those bad boy types often seem to have a keen and active interest in information on mens health.  That suggests that the culture is taking an active role as well, supporting healthier life choices for everyone, including movie stars.  So the older men who continually make the lists are, in effect, being rewarded for taking good care of themselves.

It’s also telling to compare these lists with the lists for the world’s sexiest women.  There are more than just a couple who make the list that are well into their 30s, and often in their 40s.  Although there is still a long way to go toward shifting those cultural constructions that make the gender disparity still a force to reckon with, the numbers are actually quite positive toward older celebrities despite gender.  Although it would be welcome to see a few more women on the list who are past their 40s, it’s also looking more likely that this wouldn’t be very far away.  Sexy is sexy at any age, and it’s refreshing to see that our notions of sexiness are starting to have something in common with real and genuine physical health.