As I mentioned in my other thread, I'm a virgin and although I have interacted with females at work, I have never felt comfortable enough to ask one such a question. So excuse my naivety if my speculation seems really whacky and also for all these stereotypes you're about to read. But this is how I perceive men: Men are big, hairy and bald in the wrong places, bulgy, rough, cold, smelly, unrefined, and on and on and on. I see women as feminine, pretty, playful, cute, caring, soft, sweet-smelling, refined, sensitive, warm, with bodies like works of art, etc. So you're probably laughing, cause I'm way overgeneralizing. But there is a little truth to that, no, and I know there are hairy rough unemotional women who marry or date slim sensitive soft feminine men, but I think that's the exception not the norm.
So heterosexual women, what's the attraction to the male sex? Let me start from the basics: Is it merely have some body next to you at night, be it a man or a pet or any living thing? I imagine for a small percentage of women (especially amongst older or sick or lonely people) that may be true. Or is it to have a person around, a role that another female could fill just as well? Someone to talk to. But obviously neither of these cases is attraction, be it have a pet or female roommate, it's companionship.
Is it that men are different from women? I know that sometimes people are attracted to things they themselves don't have, which is probably why masculine men find feminine women attractive. So is that why, the fact that the guy is different and that he may be smelly and insensitive but he also has a penis and has muscles and has a big jaw and tougher upper body, etc? So are those more masculine characteristics what attracted you to men? But I also see girls attracted to guys who have beautiful flowing golden hair or beautiful blue eyes. Those are more feminine features so what does that mean if these are the very features that draw some women to become sexually attracted or fall in love with men?
Or is it more traditional gender roles, and attraction to a strong man who can protect you, or to a bread-winner who can support you? But that mindset is probably why some men feel insecure when they start dating women who work and support themselves. They'd probably think, Why else is the girl staying with me then? What about a man who is good with words, constantly praising you and making you feel good about yourself, does that make you fall in love? And once I watched a movie about a girl who became attracted to a guy mainly because the guy seemed to do what the girl always wanted to do but couldn't, like violate the law, rebel against parents, and just be a big risk taker. But is that love, is that attraction to the opposite sex or could she have just as well felt attracted to a girl who did those same things?
I am doing a lot of crazy speculation but the reality is I can not understand love and attraction. I have tried but I don't get it. There was a girl at work, years ago, who'd tell me about her problems and I'd listen and it seemed to me she enjoyed my presence but that was not love. That was friendship. Or if I help her move, that's again friendship. I have a penis and that makes me a guy I guess :p , but I don't have big muscles, and I am not the stereotypical guy who is all macho or an unemotional person full of energy who can make things happen and take the girl places, and be a rock when she's emotional. I feel like that's what most women want, a beast of a man that they can train to be more sensitive. Sort of like a pet. I can be a rock...well, a soft rock...on the outside but I'm not that on the inside. That's not what women want, they want a guy who really is a rock by nature, then they can work on the rough edges and soften them a bit, and that's not me.
I'm a sensitive guy, more of a homebody, so I'm not that different from the stereotypical more emotional and sensitive woman I think. I don't have piercing blue eyes, I don't have long flowing hair either (I don't have hair actually), and I don't make the big money. Why would anyone fall in love with me? And what kind of person would fall in love with me? I mean what it is that I have to offer that a feminine woman is lacking?
I was thinking about this the other day, and thinking, but what do I want, what would I find attractive, what would make someone be more than a friend to me? I like a beautiful girl who is caring and intelligent and loves me for who I am (well, at least some of it). I want her to be energetic but at the same time willing to accept that I'm not. I will be the cautious one, she can be the wild spirit. She can drag me to a dance club or something once in a while and I like to have someone do that, but not break up with me just cause I don't feel like going dancing five times a week. The problem is, why the heck would she want a person like me, why not get a guy just as energetic as she is? That is why I have to figure out what women want, what I can offer someone. And if it's just merely someone who wants me to listen to her problems, is that even love or do I play the role of a good friend or therapist?
I just realized I went from a general speculation about what women want to my persona life, but I assume whoever has read this post up to this point probably has a headache and couldn't care to read me speculate more on my original speculation, so I'll just shut up. :p