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The Thinking Man's Sex Symbols
The ten women of 2008 who stimulated our brains… and our minds. Plus: The Daily Beast celebrates the best (and worst) of the rest of the year.
Before we dive into the Top Ten Thinking Man’s Sex Symbols for 2008, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page. TMSS is a term that’s thrown around a lot. So let’s quantify.
A man has two minds. The lower mind is a brainless whore excited by any woman with breasts, curves, and a thong. The upper mind, which works with actual grey matter, is more persnickety. The upper mind, when employed, is moved by intelligence, success, power, self-confidence, a smart sense of humor, and, of course, not having a castrating nature.
And that’s the challenge. Can a woman be independent, creative, sharp, witty, strong, and self-empowering without making me feel like she wants to be a man? Ann Coulter and Judith Regan could never make the list—they’re sexy, brainy, powerful, but I feel like they secretly want to steal my manhood.
If she’s the smartest chick in the room and she’s going home with you, what does that say about you?
A TMSS is someone we imagine having great conversations with, laughing with, reveling in her success with, and getting drunk on her power with. Where Maxim girls are purposefully brainless, we look at a TMSS and say, she’s hot because she’s smart and beautiful. A female friend of mine has a t-shirt that says “The Show Is Upstairs.” These ten women proved that this year.
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Touré is the host of BET’s The Black Carpet and the host of Treasure HD’s I’ll Try Anything Once. He is the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He was a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN’s first pop culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard. His writing has appeared in The New Yorker and The New York Times.
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The Daily Beast is dedicated to news and commentary, culture, and entertainment. We carefully curate the web’s most essential stories and bring you original must-reads from our talented contributors.
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Paul Schrodt is a writer living in New York City. He has contributed to New York magazine, Radar, and Esquire.com.
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Touré is a columnist for The Daily Beast. He's also an NBC contributor and the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN's first pop culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.
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Touré is a columnist for The Daily Beast. He's also an NBC contributor and the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN's first pop culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.
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Touré is a columnist for The Daily Beast. He's also an NBC contributor and the author of Never Drank the Kool-Aid, Soul City, and The Portable Promised Land. He is a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, was CNN's first pop culture correspondent, and was the host of MTV2's Spoke N Heard. His writing has appeared in the New Yorker and the New York Times.
tryjoy
wow. not one african american woman? interesting. and, sadly, not surprising. *sigh*
alesiamartin
i am a quite saddened to see a black man that can't think of one black one that he finds smart and sexy. very, very sad. i wonder if a white man had written this and put all non-white women on the site, how odd it would have been viewed. thanks brotha!
JeepRover
I'll agree with #5, #4 & #2. But seriously-Sarah Silverman. She's not sexy for the upper or lower head. She's just annoying-like a rash...The rest I've never really heard of so, I want comment on...Only fair
ortega
You only managed to mention twice Sarah Palin. Two out of ten is a really poor performance. We have the right to expect at least 50 %. And so on until next election year.
You are in really bad shape. In all fields, it seems.
sophia5
If a whiney, nasally, yenta is your idea of sexy than Sarah Silverman wins hands down. Would there be anything sexier than a double date with Silverman and Fran Drescher? Double your nasal, double yaaaw oy vey !
Route360
What in the hell was this list other than a waste of time??? You have lost your (Samuel L. Jackson's favorite f-word) minds.
zampano
enjoyed the post. but, what a horrible first pick. the rest are at least debatable. How is picking and athlete based on her athletic ability a "thinking" man's sex symbol? But I have to defend you from the "there's no black women" remark. It's his top ten. It's not his "top ten sexy women but i should throw in at least one sister so somebody doesn't try to call me out" list. And how about you throw out a few examples? It's definitely criminal that there aren't more prominent, outspoken, intelligent black women who get main stream attention, but it's not his fault.
funkychicken
Yes, Lisa Ling.
SlimSoldier
Damn Bruh,
No Michelle Obama......? How could she seriously not make this list?
piktor
Mr. Toure, are you also into bestiality? I cannot see a reason to invite any of these "chicks" to any room other than to feel humiliated by the spectacle of it all. This is one sorry list of freaks designed to seriously explore the joys and benefits of the homosexual lifestyle.
The exceptions to this are Ms. Lahiri, if she actually looks as photographed here and Ms. Zadie Smith who looks like she expects me to chase her around. I know she would be fun, just look at her!
aperturemad
This is a column? Your limp sex fantasies?
Do us all a favor and go buy a Penthouse.
DBSMITH
Forget "read this"; just "skip that".
Noreaster
I'll also nominate:
Rachel Maddow - she's up to date, smart and classically educated, probably can get top politicos and pundits, liberal ones anyway, to come to your parties.
Suze Orman - cute, brash, and a godsend in these tough economic times, she's not going to let you put that new home theater on a credit card, but could probably make the daily stock report a siren's song!!
Ellen - want Hollywood A-List friends? She's got 'em. Funny, nimble, party girl. And if she can make Chris Matthews danceable, she can make you look hip (and relevant)
Veronicaxy
I loved your choices and learned about a few women I knew nothing about other than their names.
There is good hope for that baby in your arms with a dad that 'lusts in his heart' (sorry Jimmy C.) after these women too.
Thanks.
SantaFromTheNorth
Funny list. To all those haters out there, I thought M.I.A. and Zadie Smith were people of color. Do we have to always have a list that picks people by quota of skin pigment contrast as opposed to just whatever the subject of the list is? This is soon to be 2009; can't we all just get along?
Thank you.
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