The Top 40

Oh my, she's old enough in that pic to be my mother.

What a beautiful dress. I mean, yeah, she fills it out really well and what a pretty girl but wow that's classy.

Gold Standard.

My mother was 32 at the time, maybe a decade older than Loren. And we were living in Italy then.

"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti."

Sohia Loren

There are only two things more beautiful than a good gun: a Swiss watch or a woman from anywhere. - From Red River

I hope her parents won the Nobel Prize for architecture!

Other than an astonishing amount of Hollywood hype, and a natural "balcony", she is exceptional from 2,000,000 other cover girl contenders, because.....?

. . . . she is exceptional from 2,000,000 other cover girl contenders, because.....?

Because she got to act on the silver screen, in many a movie, some of which were memorable. 99% of those other "cover girls" you mentioned didn't.

She is exceptional because of what is behind her eyes and her smile. The fire. Life. A sense of her own self that surpasses all the Madonnas and Miley Cyruses that this century can muster.

Sophia L. -- Sophistication, authenticity, good humor, decency, loyalty, good looks.
Marilyn M. -- Innocence, vulnerability, authenticity, good humor, decency, loyalty, good looks.
Lauren B. -- Sophistication, authenticity, good humor, decency, toughness [not hardness], loyalty, good looks.
When will we see their likes again?

She's exceptional because she's a lady, a very rare thing these days. Character matters.

@Stug, you may never see the likes of her again, or only fleetingly.

Those women, flaws and all, were womanly. They weren't in competition with men, but completion. Every woman nowadays is nothing but a cardboard cutout.

@Joan — you called that one right. Wish I would have said that!

Thinking on it further, can anyone imagine Sophia Loren worrying about the Patriarchy?

Any woman worth her salt knows how to rule the patriarchy and no amount of feminism can pull a true woman down from her pedestal.

@Joan — Allow me to expand briefly on what you've remarked about women. If I understand you correctly we can see that men or women "worth their salt" are balanced and centered. They exhibit a self-confidence that doesn't need to be affirmed with aggressive actions, unique appearance, mind games and power trips over any of the opposite gender. In social situations you can tell the people that are strong by the confidence they exude. They will often be the quiet ones, content to be among others without dominating anything.

Fear drives a lot of dysfunctional behavior. You can see it in male gatherings; guys always have to establish that they are stronger or smarter or more ... than the other guys. Some men need the big truck or lots of guns or tattoos or the fastest boat, whatever. External and material props instead of inner strength. Women have their version, I am not able to comment much about the gals but I think, a female version of the stronger, faster, bigger, so forth. That's just men to men, women to women. When either tries to put the power trip on the opposite sex they both are surprised and disappointed.

A world-famous blogger offers his take on the male/female dynamic:

http://dpjk.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-female-of-species.html

Any man or woman "worth their salt" doesn't need a pedestal either.

A world-famous blogger has this to say about it:

http://dpjk.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-female-of-species.html

I was watching the traditional dynamic unfold in a video of dancers from Georgia. The men were manly in a way that many western male dancers are not. The women were unapologetically feminine. Feminism has wrecked western culture.
http://youtu.be/ujo65bBRQ4I

Not making a political or feminist statement. Just giving voice to what women over the ages have known. You're making way too much of my old-school comments. I love and honor, and declare the superiority in many things exhibited by the male of our species. Just please let Vanderleun post a pic of Mike Rowe, or the Duke, or Kurt Russell or ... :o)

Self confidence: 1) Become the best, or at least admiringly good at something you like to do. 2) Do it often and always to the best of your ability. The rest will take care of itself - you won't need to advertize or otherwise proclaim your superiority. People will know, if that's important to you.

Ahh, boobs.

I mean, Venice. I said Venice, right?

She is exceptional because of what is behind her eyes and her smile. The fire. Life. A sense of her own self that surpasses all the Madonnas and Miley Cyruses that this century can muster.

Posted by Joan of Argghh! at September 24, 2014 3:36 PM

Oh my God yes. And it ain't just the Madonnas and the Miley Cyruses, either. Sigh.

To answer CapnD up above:
The standard answer is "because the camera loves her, baby".

All those dames on the internets have one or two good poses, a good side, etc. La Sofia has an infinite number of them. Take any still, any instant, any freeze frame from a movie, all the other women just wish they could look like that.

And second, we (as far as we know), know her as the ideal woman. Carlo Ponti met her when she was 15 (?), ditched his wife, and they were married and faithful forever. She raised two sons to be fine gentlemen. Every leading Hollywood man fell hopelessly in love with her, they all promised to ditch their current wives, and she spurned them all and stayed with Carlo. She is the classiest of all classy dames.