I’m not a fan of the most popular fantasy men in literature right now. Kai Azer ticks me off, I’ve never read Fourth Wing or ACOTAR, and I’m just beyond tired of seeing 7 feet tall, hyper-sexualized guys being held up as the best book characters ever written.

But, when you stop and think about it, it’s really not that surprising that fictional men like that are so popular — it’s not even surprising that they’re being written.

(And no, it doesn’t even have to do with our current hypersexualized culture. It’s something much more innate than that.)

It’s because those fantasy men are actually masculine.

For all the talk about toxic masculinity, and our culture’s attempts to feminize men over the years, deep down, women still want masculine men.

There’s definitely an argument to be made that a lot of popular fictional male characters are selfish, violent or abusive, definitely incredibly sexualized, and volatile. That kind of behavior can’t be justified (and it shouldn’t be romanticized in books). But I think what most of the women reading these books are ultimately attracted to is the fact that they’re completely and entirely committed to protecting their female love interest.

The male character doesn’t care if he has to fight ten thousand soldiers with better weapons than him; if his girl is on the other side of that battle, then those soldiers are about to experience the full force of his fury. And if someone has her locked up in a cage, or heaven forbid if someone’s been harming her? Well, he’s about to obliterate that oppressor and everyone who’s been working for them.

What girl doesn’t want that?

I don’t care if you’re a tomboy, if you roll your eyes at hopeless romantics, or if you’ve sworn off romance entirely. That kind of protectiveness and strength is something innately masculine, just like how our nurturing nature is innately feminine, even if you don’t have (or want) children yourself.

There’s a reason why children are taught to cry “Mom!” if they feel like they’re in danger: every single woman within hearing range will turn around at the sound of a child in need of his mother — even if it’s not their own child.

Even if our culture tries to deny it at every turn, deep down we all know that men and women are inherently different.

And that’s a beautiful, wonderful thing 🩷