That readers of FHM have voted an androgynous man in to their most recent list of the 100 Sexiest Women in the World might have been a cause for celebration among equal rights campaigners.

Instead, the magazine has provoked outrage over its warning to readers to "pass the sick bucket" on encountering 19-year-old Andrej Pejic, rather ignoring the fact that it was they who voted for him in the first place.

"Designers are hailing him as the next big thing," the blurb accompanying Pejic's entry online read before it was hastily removed, after drawing a wave of criticism. "We think 'thing' is quite accurate.

"The gender bender has jumped the gun in hoping he might one day be signed as Victoria's Secret Model (pass the sick bucket)."

The magazine said: "Andrej Pejic appears at number 98 in FHM Magazine's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2011.



"Regrettably the copy accompanying Andrej's online entry wasn't subbed prior to going live. Once we realised, we removed it immediately and apologised for any offence caused. FHM has spoken to the individual concerned and taken steps to ensure this can never happen again."

Though the outrage caused by comments prompted FHM to remove the entry from its website, Pejic will still feature in the print version of the list which comes with this month's edition.

"More troubling is the fact that Andrej is not the only one when it comes to supermodels that are not all t hey seem," the magazine goes on. "The current face of Givenchy and "lady" locking lips with Kate Moss on the cover of Love magazine is transgender model Lea T. who began life as Leandro. One fashion trend we won't be following."

Yet, it is really just another success for the 19-year-old Serbian model, who grew up in Melbourne. He was first spotted by a talent scout while working at his local fast-food restaurant, and his since modelled for Jean Paul Gaultier and Marc Jacobs in campaigns at Paris Fashion Week.

When he began modelling his agency encouraged him to be more masculine, and go to the gym, as the menswear clients wouldn't like him, before realising a completely new direction might be more profitable.

But it is not the first time controversy has followed him. Last month his unbuttoned top on the cover Dossier Journal in the United States became an issue for the book-selling giant Barnes & Noble, which insisted the magazine be sold in opaque plastic bags.

Having been chatted up by Australian men since the age of 14 ("Sometimes they're shocked, but most of the time they still want to buy me a drink," Pejic says), neither his place on the list nor the reaction it has engendered will come as a particular surprise to him.

He has been more philosophical than his persecutors on the matter. In an interview last month, he declared: "It's a very liberal industry. You can be yourself. Just not overweight."

Google, the king of corporate perks, is banking on these and other "way beyond basic" benefits to lure top tech talent to its Mountain View headquarters. The company has already succeeded in distinguishing itself from the competition: earlier this month, Google took the top spot on Fortune's list of the 100 best companies to work for.

On-Site Doctors
I'm not sure if it's an actual perk not to have to leave the office when you're sick, but on-site doctors ensure that this is a reality at Google's Mountain View campus. According to Google's benefits site, physical therapy and chiropractic services are also available.

Japanese Toto Toilets

Is it really any wonder that Googlers have access to some of the most high-tech toilets around? These Japanese johns offer washing and drying of your nether regions as well as the mysterious "wand cleaning." Both the wash water and the seat itself can be warmed or cooled depending on your preference.

Endless Lap Pools
One perk about not working at Google is that Gawker never posts a photo of you swimming in one of the Googleplex's lap pools. The outdoor mini-pools are like water treadmills: a strong current allows the Googler to swim and swim and go nowhere. Luckily, according to How Stuff Works, lifeguards are always on duty in case someone gets in over their head.

Conference Bike

According to PC Magazine, Google's Conference Bike is used as a team-building exercise for new employees. It has four wheels and five riders who work together to move it around.

Free Food
Everyday, Googlers get three full meals and unlimited snacks from the campus' 25 cafeterias totally cost free. According to The Atlantic, the company makes an effort to keep the meals as healthy as possible by putting vegetables in every dish, using small plates and giving healthy items prime real estate in the cafeterias.

Free Haircuts
Employees who don't have the time or inclination to get haircuts in the real world can get trimmed up at Google for free. According to Reuters, the service is provided by a company called Onsite Haircuts which operates out of mobile homes that travel around cutting the hair of Silicon Valley's tech army.

Ball Pit
Google has two things in common with McDonald's: an inclination toward primary colors and a ball pit. The Google Chrome ball pit is as you might expect a ball pit filled with plastic balls in the yellow, red, blue and green of the Google designed browser, Chrome. Check out the video below to see employees having too much fun at work.

Imagine you go into a coffee shop, have a cup, and when it comes to paying your bill they tell you it’s already been paid for. Wouldn’t that be wonderful? Well, that’s exactly what’s happening at the Corner Perk Cafe in Bluffton, South Carolina. It all started in 2010 with a random act of kindness.

The Corner Perk was just a regular coffee place until one day, when a customer left a $100 bill with the owner, Josh Cooke. Apparently she wanted the money to be used to pay for the drinks of all the people who came in after, until it runs out. According to Cooke it was “just to let them know, you know, that somebody was wanting them to have a great day and just to let them know to pay it forward.” Needless to say, customers who came in all afternoon were puzzled when they found they didn’t have to pay for their coffee.

This wasn’t the last time the mysterious coffee-donor paid the Corner Perk a visit. Apparently, she’s been there another eight times in the past two years. When Josh posted her most recent visit on the coffee shop’s Facebook page, the word spread quickly. More donors came forward to continue the trend. Cooke says the anonymous lady who started the trend had a kind heart and wanted goodness to spread in the area. Her efforts did not go unrewarded. Lots of people who heard about the tradition at Corner Perk Cafe simply walked in to the shop and left money, without even ordering anything for themselves. A jar now stands on the counter with dollar bills to pay for people’s coffee.

Josh says, “We just want people to continue to pay it forward in any way — whether that’s helping somebody with their electric bill or you know, filling up somebody’s car with gas.” I say this just goes to show that humanity isn’t dead after all.

If you’re thinking of adopting a more minimalist lifestyle for 2012, take a page from the playbook of Andrew Hyde, an itinerant blogger-cum-interface designer who owns only 15 items. Currently residing in New York City—he’s lived everywhere from Colorado to Rhode Island—Hyde sold most of his worldly possessions in 2010, when he set off to circumnavigate the globe by hopping from city to city. Although, to our immense relief, he doesn’t count socks or underpants, Hyde’s ability to pare down demonstrates remarkable and praiseworthy restraint. The average woman, after all, owns 20 pairs of shoes, 11 of which she never wears.

So what 15 things can a 21st century man of the world not live without?
-Arc’teryx backpack
-Nau shirt
-Mammut rain jacket
-Arc’teryx T-shirt
-Patagonia running shorts
-A quick-dry towel
-Nau wool jacket
-Nau dress shirt
-Patagonia jeans
-Toiletry kit
-Smith sunglasses
-Running shoes
-Wallet
-MacBook Air
-iPhone 3GS

“Once you get used to simplicity, the complex normality others have becomes the audacious thing,” Hyde says.

With only three shirts and a single pair of jeans to choose from, Hyde doesn’t need to ruminate at length on what to wear each morning. Nor is he likely to treat his belongings as carelessly as he might if he owned multiple versions of everything. “Minimalism is equally easy as it is boring to do,” he writes on his blog. “What shirt today? The one I didn’t wear yesterday. Once you get used to simplicity, the complex normality others have becomes the audacious thing.”

Over the years, Mattel’s iconic Barbie doll has had every hairstyle imaginable, including a bubble beehive, a ‘60s flip and even multi-colored hair extensions. But she’s never been bald.

That may change if the women behind the Facebook page, “Beautiful and Bald Barbie” influence executives at the world’s largest toy company.

“We would like to see a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made to help young girls who suffer from hair loss due to cancer treatments, alopecia or trichotillomania,” reads Jane Bingham and Beckie Sypin’s Facebook page, which has almost 40,000 “likes.” “Many children have some difficulty accepting their mother, sister, aunt, grandparent or friend going from a long haired to a bald.”

The Facebook page was created after the two friends heard about a four-year-girl from Mineola, Long Island, who had lost her hair after treatment for cancer.

Little Genesis Reyes, who missed having her “princess” hair, inspired the parent of another patient in the hospital to ask the CEO of Mattel, who happened to be a personal friend, to create a special bald Barbie doll for Genesis.

“When I read the article about Mattel making a one-of-a-kind bald Barbie for Genesis, I though how wonderful that would be, with so many other children dealing with hair-loss,” Bingham told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper. “I thought we could raise awareness for these conditions. Raise awareness that children get cancer too... It would be a win all around.”

Bingham, who lost her own hair after chemotherapy treatments for an incurable form of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, was moved by the reaction of her young daughter to her newly bald head.

“It takes an emotional toll on the child,” Bingham explained. “I had very long blond hair... She would mimic me and she would try and wrap scarves on her head too.”

So far, Mattel hasn’t publicly responded to the growing popularity of Bingham and Sypin’s Facebook page, except to say in a form letter that the company “doesn't accept ideas from outside sources.”

It can be awkward being a man. We have these things that we think and feel—things that aren’t politically correct to say, but matter to us. Here are thirteen of them.

1. That stuff about the stomach and the heart are pretty much true.
It’s primal. It’s hard to explain. On the one hand, we don’t expect you to be Betty Crocker, at home with an apron on making coq au vin. On the other, having a partner who can cook delicious food, and is willing to do so, creates tremendous feelings of connection and well-being. A man has few defenses against a woman who cooks.

2. We’d like to talk about sex early because it is important to us, but don’t really know how.
Imagine how this third-date conversation would go: “I want to talk about your libido. I have a high-energy libido, and I’ve been with women who didn’t and the lack of compatibility in this area was a big issue. How would you describe your libido?” You would likely be shocked, and there’s a great chance you would end the date right there. It’s important to us and we want to discuss it, but we’re afraid you’ll think we’re creepy.

3. Who you are is way more important to us than what you do.
This is really embarrassing. But when you talk about your greatest accomplishments—your master’s degree, your new position of power at your company, your latest business deal—we’re happy for you, but those aren’t the kinds of things that make us say, “We have to be with this woman.” We tend to value your personality traits way more than your professional accolades. Are you kind, loving, happy, and supportive? Are you fun to be around? Will you be nice to our parents? These are the issues that make us fall in love, not professional acumen.

4. We worry that you’re only interested in one thing.
You say, “How funny. We women are worried that you men are only interested in one thing.” Of course, for women the worry is sex. For men the worry is money. Everyone is worried about something. We’ve had so many married friends start to feel like walking wallets. It’s one of our worst nightmares.

5. If you’ll give us some space, we’ll slay dragons for you.
It is a scene so common as to be a truism—the man cave. Books have been written explaining why men need a private retreat, but whatever the reason, it is a fact. Your man needs a place he can go think, be by himself, and nurse his wounds. It’s no reflection on you. Recent movies have made it more acceptable for him to ask for his private space, but it can still be embarrassing for us to say, “I need to go be alone.” If you can find it in your heart to embrace our need for space, we’ll know that you understand us, and we will, literally, throw our bodies in front of moving trains to protect you.

6. We get so many mixed signals that it is hard to know how to act sometimes.
At work you’re my equal, certainly. On a date, you want me to make all the plans and take charge. In the home, you want primacy over the look and feel. That leaves things like travel, money, and the bedroom, to name a few. In the many situations a couple must experience together, it’s difficult to accurately guess how we should act. Over time, of course, we can figure it out, but it’s tough to always get things just right.

7. It isn’t the fear of commitment. It’s the fear of turning into the hen-pecked wimp that we’ve seen our friends turn into.
Men have a reputation for being scared of commitment. For some guys, that’s earned, but for most the name is misleading. We’re not scared of being with one person for a lifetime. We’re scared the relationship morphing into something we don’t recognize. We’re scared of losing the things (and activities) we love to the person we love.

Going naked is the latest yoga trend, and those who have done it can swear by its benefits. Shedding one's clothes brings a new level of honesty and authenticity to yoga — an authenticity that can sometimes get lost in the fashion and branding surrounding yoga, said Isis Phoenix, a yoga instructor at Naked Yoga NYC in New York City.

And the practice helps people let go, offering freedom from the constraints of life, which might include your job (or even just spandex), Phoenix said.

Some might feel self-conscious at first, but Phoenix has seen participants undergo a metamorphosis of sorts, a change only made possible by baring it all, she said.

Naked yoga gives a chance for participants to "lay down their armor, in a sense," and breathe, stretch and mediate, she said.

Some people become more familiar with their own bodies, such as discovering a mole they never knew they had, Phoenix said.

"[There's] a level of living with your body your whole life and then really, truly seeing it for the first time," she said.

However, experts agree there are psychological benefits to naked yoga, but not physical ones.

"If you're wearing loose clothing or spandex, there''s nothing to stop you from doing all the postures or stretches or movements in yoga with the proper clothes," said Janet Konefal, assistant dean for complementary and integrative medicine at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

"The sense of freedom is not a physical, it’s a psychological,” she added. "You don’t want have a cut or nick and risk of infection," Konefal said.