What kind of males appeal the female demographic?

[M0rp43vs]

Romantic appeal is more about substance. You want to know why so many girls just love Edward Cullen? Because he is solely devoted to Bella. No matter how much she strays from him and lets him down, he's always there to catch her. He needs her, and though it takes her longer to figure it out, she needs him. That is what romantic appeal comes down to--the desire to need and be needed. Of course he's also hot, but fidelity and devotion are also very, very attractive.

Something that bothers me slightly. He is someone so utterly devoted to this one person and this devotion is what makes him really attractive to females.
So much that these girls wish he'll be their only one and in the process break his devotion to this one person?
I hope I worded that properly but it is still something that I find weird.
And in any case, I always thought of the couple as a creepy stalker and an unlikeable, unemotional, manipulative, lazy, utterly vapid, millstone who sets feminism back decades and cheats on the guy dedicated to her but then that's just me.
Hardly romantic, but I will admit there is some sort of admiration in the fact that Edward stays with the psycho despite all this, I still think it's rather unhealthy though.

And on topic, despite not being female, I'm just gonna throw these out.
Johnny Depp, David tennant, The Supernatural Boys and Harry Potter.

 

[Phasmal]

Romantic appeal is more about substance. You want to know why so many girls just love Edward Cullen? Because he is solely devoted to Bella. No matter how much she strays from him and lets him down, he's always there to catch her. He needs her, and though it takes her longer to figure it out, she needs him. That is what romantic appeal comes down to--the desire to need and be needed. Of course he's also hot, but fidelity and devotion are also very, very attractive.

Something that bothers me slightly. He is someone so utterly devoted to this one person and this devotion is what makes him really attractive to females.
So much that these girls wish he'll be their only one and in the process break his devotion to this one person?
I hope I worded that properly but it is still something that I find weird.
And in any case, I always thought of the couple as a creepy stalker and an unlikeable, unemotional, manipulative, lazy, utterly vapid, millstone who sets feminism back decades and cheats on the guy dedicated to her but then that's just me.
Hardly romantic, but I will admit there is some sort of admiration in the fact that Edward stays with the psycho despite all this, I still think it's rather unhealthy though.

Oh, no it's not just you. I totally agree. It's creep-tastic.
I tried to tell my sister how it's a totally messed up codependant abusive relationship and she's all SHUT UP LET ME ENJOY IT.
Meh. At least I have another sister who hates it like I do.

And on topic, despite not being female, I'm just gonna throw these out.
Johnny Depp, David tennant, The Supernatural Boys and Harry Potter

Yes, Yes, Half Yes (Dean only) and no. But that's probably because I think of this when I think Harry Potter:

He will forever be this age to me. Do not want.

But you got some pretty spot-on examples there.

 

[Alandoril]

On a tangentially-related note, the whole Alpha/Beta thing never fails to crack be up because it's basically generalizing old wolf behavior theories we now know are incorrect to mammals that aren't wolves.

On a related note, lots of threads on the subject. Suffice to say Marcus Fenix tends to not come up very often.

As a beta male myself, I have to say that the analogy is actually very apt.

 

[Alandoril]

Female here, and first off there are two kinds of "appeal"--sexual and romantic. Sex appeal is pretty much all about style. How he looks, what he wears, and how he behaves. The "alpha-male" archetype is probably the most commonly desired trait, but it can vary a lot person to person, and that term is probably oversimplifying things by a lot. Some women want to be on top, you know? Oh, and cleanliness. Most women like a clean man, not a smelly, greasy one. But again, that's just most.

Romantic appeal is more about substance. You want to know why so many girls just love Edward Cullen? Because he is solely devoted to Bella. No matter how much she strays from him and lets him down, he's always there to catch her. He needs her, and though it takes her longer to figure it out, she needs him. That is what romantic appeal comes down to--the desire to need and be needed. Of course he's also hot, but fidelity and devotion are also very, very attractive.

Somehow I doubt Edward would be so theoretically appealing if he didn't look like a male model.

 

[ZexionSephiroth]

Female here, and first off there are two kinds of "appeal"--sexual and romantic. Sex appeal is pretty much all about style. How he looks, what he wears, and how he behaves. The "alpha-male" archetype is probably the most commonly desired trait, but it can vary a lot person to person, and that term is probably oversimplifying things by a lot. Some women want to be on top, you know? Oh, and cleanliness. Most women like a clean man, not a smelly, greasy one. But again, that's just most.

Romantic appeal is more about substance. You want to know why so many girls just love Edward Cullen? Because he is solely devoted to Bella. No matter how much she strays from him and lets him down, he's always there to catch her. He needs her, and though it takes her longer to figure it out, she needs him. That is what romantic appeal comes down to--the desire to need and be needed. Of course he's also hot, but fidelity and devotion are also very, very attractive.

Okay, I'm gonna cop a lot of flak for this, but it needs to be said...

Repeat after me: I hate Twilight because Edward is a Creepy, Jealous, jerk-like, Overprotective, stalker, who treats Bella as someone who can't handle her own problems to the point she comes across as a useless character; and the story treats all of the above as "the right way".
~Extended version of a Feminist Frequency Mantra.

If anyone likes twilight in spite of all that, fine, but I think that neither man nor woman is going to look at those values above and say they agree with them...

... For the record, I'm a guy. However, I'm the kind of guy who prefers girls who punch gods in the face as if it's just what they do on Sundays. As opposed to showing skin... In fact, I prefer more clothes as opposed to less.

Anybody getting the picture that attractiveness is subjective?

 

[Chemical Alia]

I personally don't give a shit about sexualization, sensitivity or any of that crap when it comes to video game characters. I tend to find a character appealing when the character is interesting and visually well designed. Most JRPG characters look inexplicably clownish and hardly identifiable as male to me, and a good deal of FPS characters got a bit boring in their designs. I would hate to see more sex appeal in male characters as I find that it detracts a lot from them and usually feels like it was a lazy decision (which is probably why there's so few female characters I care about).

 

[GoaThief]

Suffice to say Marcus Fenix tends to not come up very often.

Indeed, but his best buddy Dom often does.

Ellis from Left 4 Dead is very popular too.

 

[M0rp43vs]

snip

Perhaps I should have said Cedric Diggory instead. He's basically Edward without the terrible attributes. So basically, nothing like him. Out of curiosity, From videogames, Do you think Raiden, Link, naked snake and Dante count? Just checking if I'm on a roll.

Another thing that bothers me is how often gamers bring up Kratos and Marcus Fenix as examples of sexualised males when really, They aren't that good looking. Granted there are those who Do, but with the general consensus in these threads, they are in a real minority

 

[Phasmal]

snip

Perhaps I should have said Cedric Diggory instead. He's basically Edward without the terrible attributes. So basically, nothing like him. Out of curiosity, From videogames, Do you think Raiden, Link, naked snake and Dante count? Just checking if I'm on a roll.

I can only answer for my self but
Raiden - I didn't like his personality or his whining and it killed it for me.
Link- Yes.
Snake- Nah, he looks pissed off all the time.
Dante- Used to be a yes till they dialled the smugness up to 9000, now he's just a dickhead.

Another thing that bothers me is how often gamers bring up Kratos and Marcus Fenix as examples of sexualised males when really, They aren't that good looking ugly as sin. Granted there are those who Do, but with the general consensus in these threads, they are in a real minority

Fixed that last bit.
It's mostly uninformed* straight male dudes who reckon those dudes are sexualised. Dudes who don't know what a sexualised man looks like.
I'm not saying sexualised men don't exist, but Kratos and Marcus are meant to get straight dudes excited, not the ladies.

*Added that. It's not because they're dudes, it's cause they are uninformed dudes.

 

[Vegosiux]

Another thing that bothers me is how often gamers bring up Kratos and Marcus Fenix as examples of sexualised males when really, They aren't that good looking.

I think the deal there is that Marcus and Kratos are actually not a female sexual fantasy as much as they are a male power fantasy.

 

[orangeban]

Oh God, not the whole Alpha Male, Beta Male shit. That stuff is made up by Pick Up Artists to justify their bizarre hypothesis in which 10% of men get ALL THE LADIES (apart from the fat ladies and the over 30 ladies because ewwww) and the other 90% get none of the ladies and are desperate for the ladies (apart from, still, the fat ladies and the over 30s ladies because ewwww) and so must resort to the Pick Up Artist manual of creepy passive-aggressive douchebaggery.

Anyway, in reality, ladies have wildly varying ideas of what is attractive, just like the dudes. A better question would be to ask what kind of man modern culture thinks appeals to the ladies, which seems to be a muscly dude who is either a knight in shining armour who will ALWAYS PROTECT YOU or a whiny, abusive bastard (see Edward from Twilight).

 

[Webb5432]

Personally, I try my best to be both an alpha and a beta male. In this case, Alpha means dominant, and Beta is along the lines of the second-in-command. The job of the beta is to support and assist the Alpha.

For humans, I find alpha personality traits include dominance in bed, protective instincts, strong leadership and charisma, and displaying the ability to not hesitate and act immediately in a stressful situation. Alpha male examples are generic action heroes, Rambo, John McClane from Die Hard, and Batman. Also, Dante and Big Boss, Max Payne, Joseph Ledger (Joe Ledger series by John Mayberry. READ IT! That series = AAA Blockbuster awesome in novel form), and any character Jason Statham has played.

Beta males are put more into a supporting role in the relationship. Beta males will offer to cook, clean, talk, listen, and cooperate in almost anything, often letting the partner or spouse take a lead role. Think of a beta as a metaphorical rear-guard, keeping the flanks secure and offering assistance when necessary to make sure that problems do not sneak up from behind and bite the other in the ass. The best example of a beta male is the typical "nice guy" stereotype.

I personally have found the strategy of mixing the two to be most successful. I seem to find that woman enjoy dominance in bed and protective instincts, along with strong leadership skills and a "take-no-shit" attitude every once in a while, because it stimulates that part of the female brain that stores the records of every romance novel ever written with a female audience in mind, or maybe a swashbuckling, suave hero like Wesley's Dread Pirate Roberts in the Princess Bride (by the way, the farmboy Wesley was a Beta male). However, that only stimulates the desire to bone that person, not love them.

Beta traits, such as offering kindness, understanding, and assistance (farmboy Wesley) often is what stimulates a woman to want to stay with her partner. Mixing the two together displays a strong male who is capable of protection and leadership, while also helping the woman with more subtle needs, like conversation and having fun at parties.

Mix, both guys! Just do yourself a favor and don't stay in Alpha mode for too long. It'll mess with your head. I personally can't stand the Alpha mentality for more than three minutes at a time.

 

[Mylinkay Asdara]

Have you played Dragon Age Origins? Both Alistair and Zevran are decent examples of Beta males, Zev in particular, Alistair more by default to the player character needing to be the Alpha whatever of the group. Duncan, Logaine, much more the Alpha type male personality. Eamon, Alpha. Teagan, Beta.

You may have already extrapolated that Teagan, Alistair, and Zevran are all heart-throbs of the female fan base where Duncan, Logaine, and Eamon are not. The tenancy for all of those listed to be a little more sensitive, intellectually stimulating, engaging, and concerned for the player character is another reason for attraction. Looks are another. The WAY in which they act and speak to the player character is another thing that tends to make the ladies want to be around them.

Over-emphasised Alpha male qualities that have been a hallmark of video games that cater to male power fantasies are not usually made the object of such large amounts of female romantic fan fiction. They are hard and there's no need for another person in a lot of them, which is something that potential partnership tends to require. Unless the female in question's desire is to be a totally independent fellow-bad ass, they are not the subject of romantic thoughts.

I can only speak for myself when I say that one of the key components of attraction for me is a sense of being needed and wanted by the one I am attracted to. So I guess that is something that I look for in my male game attractions - not that they be overly needy or codependent (that's unhealthy), but that they have some gap around them that my presence would fill and I would be appreciated for filling.

If that makes any sense.

 

[Worgen]

Its not Marcus Fenix's personality that puts me off (though theres not much to speak of there), it's the fact he looks like a fridge made of meat.
Not. Sexy.

Fenris- Sexy.


Also, don't think of it in terms of alpha and beta, thats just some creepy shit pick-up-artists tell themselves. Women aren't wolves.

Thats the funny thing about the over muscled guys that tend to show up in video games, they are designed to appeal to makes. I heard somewhere that the biggest buffest guys are just there for male eye candy, that women like strong but too many muscles and its just for the guys.

 

[Ishigami]

Female characters are a no brainer ... but when some posters list male characters that could appeal to females it is usually shot down with an argument that even they are made to appeal the male demographic.

What lovely sentiment.

?Female character is a no brainer? because as we all know all males will only check out body features and are in no way interested in any kind of character trait. The female audience on the other hand is in no way interested in body features and only cares about character traits.

When you are male there is no way you could ever hope to successfully argue that a certain character is tailored to appeal to the female audience, unless the female audience already accepted it which then makes it pointless to do.
After all every statement can always be twisted from a female sex fantasy (what a women desires) to a male power fantasy (what a men wants to be) or the other way around if need be.
You are male? - You lose the argument!
Of course if a women argues that a certain type is a male sex fantasy she wins by default...

Remember: Never in the history of mankind has any women ever wished for a nice body, being desired by men* or power and never ever did a men NOT wish to have a nice body, being desired by women* and power.

(*switch for gay people.)

 

[Someone Depressing]

Alpha and Beta mean Alphabet, and are the 1st and 2nd letters of the Greek alphabet. That's all it means.

And, I hate the idea of Alpha and Beta males. Besides, most of the Alpha males and fucking equivelant to a fridge, and the Beta males just typically utter pathetic tools. In the first, Duke Nukem was a good example. In the second, Vincent from Catherine. And maybe 1 in Persona 4's case if you can manage to make out with all the possibly love-interests and not have any of them aware of the relationship with the other.

 

[II2]

What kind of women appeal to the male demographic?

Like the reverse, you're going to get a kaleidoscope of answers based on massive accounts of individual taste.

If you want one anonymous man's view of the notion though, I think you'd get more sweeping generalized milage from the appeal of bishonen or "pretty boys" (Depp, Pitt, Pattinson, Dante, Sephiroth, etc) than beef-bus alpha-dogs like Conan / Drogo / Fenix.

I wouldn't say that assessment is accurate, but I don't think it's wrong, either.

 

[Paradoxrifts]

This video [http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/team-nchick/nostalgia-chick/34233-top-ten-qhottestq-animated-guys] from the Nostalgia Chick might shed some light. Your mileage may vary.

Although technically all the list really proves is what animated male characters women are willing to claim to find attractive on Facebook, I'm inclined to believe the authenticity of the results. If only for the sole reason that some of the choices are just outright embarrassing.

While I'm certainly no scientist I do think the clearly very different ways men and women value sexual attractiveness in a partner comes down to genetics. As a species humanity does the vast majority of it's genetic experimentation on the Y chromosome, a process that occasionally spits out a superior male specimen, because the benefits to the species of having him around sort of make up for the greater male representation in special education units everywhere. Although in earlier times infants with clear genetic flaws would have been left to exposure rather then be kept like we do today.

It makes a great deal of sense for women, collectively, to have a greater variety of preference when it comes to male partners as they would have had to evolve processes to sort out men expressing good genetic material from those with bad material.