Is ‘Manly’ Still The Main Attraction?

What do many women want? Manly men. Yes, even now. More women than would admit it. Maybe the square jaw. Maybe the baritone voice. Or broad shoulders. The man who opens jars and doors.

These women want men who radiate unapologetic, chest-forward masculinity – preferably with forearms that look like they wrestle bears recreationally.
The subject has launched a thousand podcasts, gym memberships, and heated comment sections. But first let’s clarify: women are not a hive mind with a shared Google Doc titled ‘Ideal Male Specifications’. Preferences vary wildly. Some swoon for lumberjacks. Others melt for poets who own more houseplants than socks.

Still others want a man who can assemble IKEA furniture without entering a spiritual crisis. But bottomline: the fascination with overt masculinity persists.