For this blog post, I set out to find what is considered to be the ideal "romantic man". So like anyone else in the 21st century, I went to Google and typed in "romantic man". This was my result.
Just in case this picture isn't clear enough, this is Johnny Depp and he is a romantic man. One thing I noticed right away was how feminine Johnny Depp looks in this picture. He is basically a woman with a little bit of facial hair. He has perfect skin, his hair is blowing in the wind, he is wearing a very feminine shirt with his chest exposed, and he is surrounded by flowers.
This brings us back to the question, "What exactly do heterosexual women consider to be a romantic man?" Women want their men to be big, strong, and manly all the while wanting them to be in touch with their feminine side. A woman wants a man who is sensitive and not afraid to express his emotions. He should be able to write a love song and fix her car. Women ask a lot when it comes to the ideal man. They want the best of both worlds. Everything that is good about a woman such as the ability to express emotions and affection, and everything that is good about a man such as strength and dependability. It seems as though women want their men to be as similar as possible to a woman while still maintaining their strong manly features.
The ideal romantic man is a bi-polar concoction of both socially-constructed "masculine" and "feminine" characteristics. Perhaps what is truly considered romantic is for the partners to be equal to one another. By taking on characteristics of both parties, the ideal man becomes someone who can understand the points of views of both men and women and is thus more in-tuned with his partner's feelings.
It is very interesting to me that this was the first picture to pop up on Google. It is not my idea of romantic at all. Personally, I think Johnny Depp is very attractive, but not in this picture. I prefer a man to be much more masculine, more like he is the the Pirates of the Caribbean. This picture matches so well with what Robin's romantic list included; nature, feminine, art, individual self, ect. Maybe there are different forms or views of romanticism? Because before this 'romantic list', I would not have agreed that this was romantic whatsoever. Very good observation on how feminine he looks here!
ReplyDelete