The results are in, and the people have spoken. Once again, firefighter is at the top of the list in the annual AOL/Salary.com sexiest jobs survey.
Our brave firefighters had some tough competition for the spot this year though, sharing the honors with the silver-spooned CEO, whose median salary of more than $600,000 seems to be compounding interest not only in the bank, but also with the ladies.
In the two male-dominated fields (more than 97 percent of firefighters and 96 percent of CEOs nationally are men), the fact that number one was a tie between the altruistic, brawny fireman and the bring-home-the-bacon CEO speaks volumes about what we find sexiest in men.
But are these jobs really sexy?
"Firefighting - no, it's not a sexy job," said Gulfport Fire Department battalion chief Dean Morrow. "We are here to do a job, provide a service, be helpful. Like during Katrina, our guys were chomping at the bit, because they knew there were people out there needing help and they wanted to get to it. Firemen really want to go the extra mile to help. There is a danger factor, but no matter who you are, if you make a successful rescue, that's your high."
Come on - bravery, dependability, compassion and humility all make for pretty heady stuff in the sex appeal department.
"It's true that when we arrive on the scene, we are all about helping them. If that makes us sexy, so be it," said Morrow's co-worker, Carl Washington.
And then there is the physique. Clearly, not every fireman in America has abs of steel, yet all must maintain a certain level of "fireman fitness," a combination of strength, aerobic conditioning and endurance. There's strong incentive to stay in shape.
"Our lives depend on it," said Gulfport Fire Department engineer Ryan Carter. Firefighter II Greg Landry said he doesn't believe the job itself is sexy but admits firemen may have a sentimental sex appeal.
"Chivalry isn't dead. It is a chance to sometimes be a hero, to ride in like a knight in shining armor," Landry said.
Why does Morrow think firefighters are considered sexy?
"Firemen are like comfort food; there when you need us," Morrow said.
While the jobs of the fireman, CEO, doctor, pilot and soldier highlight masculine ideals, the traditionally female fields noted in the survey conjure images of feminine beauty and attentive caring.
Despite the results, emergency triage nurse Holly Arnoult said she thinks the survey was way off the mark when it placed nurse as one of the sexiest jobs for 2006.
"It's a very rewarding job, but it's not sexy, not unless you think dealing with blood, germs and bodily functions is sexy," Arnoult said. "The nurses I know are trying to do their very best, but sometimes they are stretched so thin, taking care of eight or 10 patients, and they don't get a lot of credit for it. We do it because it is rewarding when you feel like you've helped someone. But the sexy job thing, the bed bath jokes, gosh no."
If the job is so demanding, thankless, and decidedly unglamorous, why is the nurse perennially perceived as sexy?
Arnoult says one reason may be because nurses have to be educated. Smart is sexy.
"Then there's the 'take care of me' thing. People like to be taken care of," she said, adding people find it sexy knowing that nurses are willing and able to mend their ills and make them feel better, even if that takes time.
Hollywood may play an even bigger role in the public perception. Soap operas and popular television programs such as "Grey's Anatomy," "House," "Scrubs" and "ER" are keen to show doctors and nurses portrayed by beautiful actors and actresses, racing against the clock to heroically save lives. Inevitably, the camera cuts to a steamy kissing scene in a hospital linen closet before the next commercial break.
"It's dramatized, and the mundane aspects are edited out on television," Arnoult said.
Television viewers see lots of romance and adrenaline-fueled drama, but no paperwork, no cleanup, and really very few sick people.
"I would love to be a TV nurse, but that's not realistic, not any of it," added Arnoult.
When television viewers aren't watching medical dramas, ratings indicate they might be tuned in to home improvement reality shows such as "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition" and "Trading Spaces," or the HGTV network, where interior designers are seen strutting their stylish stuff on the small screen daily.
Gail Lowry, ASID, of Gail Lowry Interiors says she understands why the public may view interior design, which also made the Top 10, as a sexy job.
"Interior designers have always had a glamorous persona," she said. "There is an attention to detail, a sense of style, an artsy flair that interior designers must have. That is reflected not only in the way they look and the way they dress but also in personality as well. Whether male or female, designers tend to be very polished." Confidence and style are sexy.
While the public doesn't see the "blood, sweat, and tears" Lowry said goes into the planning, preparation and actual job site work, they do see the end result, which can be quite dramatic. To create an interior, designers invoke all the senses, drawing on materials and art that can move people emotionally, and in the process, they must become intimately aware of their clients' needs.
"There's a lot of psychology involved, working closely with people, really listening to what they are saying so you know what to design," Lowry said. "And everyone likes to be paid attention. That's not flirting, but it is intimate."
Truth is, the sexiest jobs survey isn't about what jobs are sexy, it's about what jobs the 8,000-plus respondents imagine are sexy.
Some experts, like evolutionary psychologist David Buss, believe that what we imagine to be sexy today is the result of eons of human history. Back in prehistoric times, our female ancestors figured out that attractive mates were men who could protect the family from danger and put that wooly mammoth on the table. Men wanted women who could bear them healthy children and take care of things back at the cave.
And despite all our claims of enlightened, politically correct, liberated 21st century ways, surveys such as the sexiest jobs poll reveal that what we find most appealing in the opposite sex probably hasn't changed all that much over the millennia.
In his book "Evolution of Desire: Strategies of Human Mating," (published by Basic Books), Buss discusses a landmark study of more than 10,000 people across 37 different cultures, which found that worldwide, women are still attracted by men who they believe can protect and provide for them, and that men seek physically attractive women who they think will remain faithful.
According to Buss, that is the human success story, how we have evolved to select mates in order to thrive.
