Bad Boys

It's not a discussion I can join, unfortunately. I don't see the attraction of the Bad Boy - I'm drawn to the intelligent loner instead - Antryg, Spock, Data, Methos, Jupiter Jones, Severus Snape. I suppose that the last one might qualify as a "Bad Boy" but that's not the attraction. I feel his pain, his loneliness ... his aloneness ... while at the same time I'm attracted to his intelligence.

There is one "Bad Boy" to whom I can remember being drawn - Mr. Morden of Babylon 5. In that case, it was the joy of his smile that drew me.

I'll admit to adoring both Daemon and Lucifer, but not lusting - they are too well completed by their wives.

i love bad boys so harrrd thanks for linking to this :)

...although i hate all the ones that were listed, LOL

I commented about Mal Reynolds -- who may not qualify 100%, because he has a back story (the battle of Serenity Valley) that explains his dysfunction, although it doesn't excuse it.

My dad was a good man, very nurturing, very stable. I idolized him. But bad boys are hawt. *sigh*

I wish I had a link for you, but there was an study done where a series of photographs was shown to women over a series of several months. Depending on the time of the month, the responses of the women varied - when they were at their most fertile, they had a significantly higher attraction to photos with connotations of 'bad boys', and at the opposite end, they had a significantly higher attraction to photos with connotations of 'stable life'.

I doubt that's the whole of it, but it's a data point, at any rate.

I was going to comment in a similar vein, that bad boys have an illusion of being stronger and more aggressive.

Me, I've just always thought they were more honest. Give me an honest rebel over a lying white knight anyway.

Why would it be 'more honest' to be a bad boy?

It seems to me like they're lumping a lot of different things together and calling them all "bad boys"- everything from stone sociopaths to the independent-minded but honorable.

For example, I'm a sucker for the "reluctant hero" archetype, but have no interest in "bad boys" at all; I think they are very different, and I'm sure that, given time, I could define a number of other types that the author is all lumping together.

And I think there's a definite distinction between "bad boys" and "alpha males"- the first is more a lone wolf, while the second is powerful in his society. I think it's obvious that the appeal will be very different.

I used to say that I preferred beta males, but that's not really it; I like guys (and women!) who are adept enough to play society's game adequately to get what they want (within the bounds of a reasonable morality), but who are not blinded by it. Intelligence and savvy are really important, as is a sense of humor- that shows perspective.

My husband showed his chops this way when he got our kid full hospitalization coverage for a couple of her mental health incidents when the insurance company was fighting it tooth and nail- AND we managed to get her into a group home that I'm convinced saved her life, literally. That took us both seeing the rules and being successful at playing them.