History Main / WomenPreferStrongMen

Compare AllAmazonsWantHercules, where the (Amazonian) woman would only settle for a man who is stronger than her and AllGirlsWantBadboys, where it's his strong ''personality'' that attracts her. Contrast WeaknessTurnsHerOn and the genderflip, AmazonChaser, where a guy is attracted to strong girls.

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* In ''Webcomic/SailorSun'', after a GenderBender transformation Bay is disturbed to discover [[TheMindIsAPlaythingOfTheBody she is now really attracted to]] muscular guys.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ToyStory3 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prefermuscle_2893.jpg]]]]

Even works applying this assumption may still portray women as befriending weak guys and consider them "cute" in a very literal sense of the word but it will still present a in-universe obstacle to weak guys looking for a date.

* Possible with Bulma in ''DragonBall''; it would explain her falling for Vegeta, recently a genocidal villain, in DragonballZ. He is in a different league than her previous boyfriend, Yamcha, a much lower threat.

Compare AllAmazonsWantHercules, where the (Amazonian) woman would only settle for a man who is stronger than her. Contrast WeaknessTurnsHerOn and the genderflip, AmazonChaser, where a guy is attracted to strong girls.

* In ''Series/TheBigBangTheory'', all of Penny's ex-boyfriends are dumb, muscular people. Then inverted, when she [[spoiler:falls for Leonard, they become an item, and she finds it very hard to go back to dating such idiots]].

* ''{{Friends}}'': Inverted with Monica when her boyfriend Pete trains to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion. (He doesn't do a good job, but is still a lot stronger than before). Monica hates seeing him hurt, and prefers him when was sweet and geeky. They eventually break up because of it. A similar case happened with her husband [[{{Adorkable}} Chandler]]. When he and Ross are armwrestling, Monica says she loves his sensitivity and kindess not strength. From his end, he happily admits that she is freakishly strong and could kick his ass.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/ToyStory3 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prefermuscle_2893.jpg]]]]

ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin. This trope is behind the stereotrope that any given girl would prefer to date the captain of the football team instead of the captain of the chess team. The former is bigger, broader, and more physically fit. Back in the day, this is the kind of guy that would spear boars or kill bandits, i.e. a more practical husband. This is no longer the case in many soceities but the distinction remains.

Compare AllAmazonsWantHercules, where the (Amazonian) woman would only settle for a man who is stronger than her. Contrast WeaknessTurnsHerOn and the genderflip, AmazonChaser, where a guy is attracted to strong girls.

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* Possible with Bulma in ''DragonBall''; it would explain her falling for Vegeta, recently a genocidal villain, in DragonballZ. He is in a different league than her previous boyfriend, Yamcha, a much lower threat.

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* ''{{Friends}}'': Inverted with Monica when her boyfriend Pete trains to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion. (He doesn't do a good job, but is still a lot stronger than before). Monica hates seeing him hurt, and prefers him when was sweet and geeky. They eventually break up because of it. A similar case happened with her husband [[{{Adorkable}} Chandler]]. When he and Ross are armwrestling, Monica says she loves his sensitivity and kindess not strength. From his end, he happily admits that she is freakishly strong and could kick his ass.

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Contrast WeaknessTurnsHerOn and the genderflip, AmazonChaser, where a guy is attracted to strong girls.

* In ''Webcomic/SailorSun'', after a GenderBender transformation Bay is disturbed to discover [[TheMindIsThePlaythingOfTheBody she is now really attracted to]] muscular guys.

* In ''SailorSun'', after a GenderBender transformation Bay is disturbed to discover [[TheMindIsThePlaythingOfTheBody she is now really attracted to]] muscular guys.

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' episode ''Muscle Beach Tom'' (another BeachEpisode example), Tom and Butch try to out-do each other with feats of strength in order to impress a female cat.

There's AllAmazonsWantHercules for the idea that strong women want men stronger than themselves, but an even older stereotype goes even further. The crucial part isn't being stronger than the woman in question, it's being strong, period. In turn, even a weak woman isn't going to be impressed by a guy merely stronger than her; he has to be fairly strong as far as guys go, too.

It all goes back to the old stereotype, at least as far as dating goes, no matter how weak or strong the woman herself is.

Note the phrase "as far as dating goes." Even works applying this assumption may still portray women as befriending weak guys, or perhaps even considering them "cute" in a very literal sense of the word; but it will still present a major in-universe obstacle to weak guys looking for a date.

* ''{{Friends}}'': Subverted with Monica when her boyfriend Pete trains to become the Ultimate Fighting Champion. (He doesn't do a good job, but is still a lot stronger than before). Monica hates seeing him hurt, and prefers him when was sweet and geeky. They eventually break up because of it.
** Also subverted with her husband [[{{Adorkable}} Chandler]]. When he and Ross are armwrestling, Monica says she loves his sensitivity and kindess not strength. From his end, he happily admits that she is freakishly strong and could kick his ass.

* In ''SailorSun'', after a GenderBender transformation Bay is rather disturbed to discover [[TheMindIsThePlaythingOfTheBody she is now apparently really attracted to]] muscular guys.

* In the ''DaffyDuck'' short "Muscle Tussle," Daffy's girlfriend is swept off her feet by a muscular beach hunk.
** This short has a cruel subversion though. Daffy makes himself stronger, and beats up the rival. Daffy's girlfriend still stays with the rival because she feels sorry for him now that he's weak.

It all goes back to the old stereotype that [[TitleDrop women prefer strong men]], at least as far as dating goes, no matter how weak or strong the woman herself is.

** Also subverted with her husband [[{{Adorkable}} Chandler]]. When he and Ross are armwrestling, Monica says its his sensitivity and kindess she loves, not stength. From his end, he happily admits that she is freakishly strong and could kick his ass.

** Also subverted with her husband, the ''{{Adorkable}}'' Chandler. When he and Ross are armwrestling, Monica says its his sensitivity and kindess she loves, not stength. From his end, he happily admits that she is freakishly strong and could kick his ass.

* This is a major point in an episode of ''NoahsArc''. When Wade and noah briefly live together for the first time, Noah sees all the beauty products Wade uses. Noah later comments with his friends about how the whole "metrosexuality" thing is a bit of turn off and prefers a strong, rugged man.

[[quoteright:350:[[ToyStory3 http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/prefermuscle_2893.jpg]]]]

* The pictured example from ''ToyStory3'' is more of a parodical example.

* In ''TheBigBangTheory'', all of Penny's ex-boyfriends are dumb, muscular people. Then inverted, when she [[spoiler:falls for Leonard, they become an item, and she finds it very hard to go back to dating such idiots]].

* In the ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' episode ''Muscle Beach Tom'' (another BeachEpisode example), Tom and Butch try to out-do each other with feats of strength in order to impress a female cat.

There's AllAmazonsWantHercules for the idea that strong women want men stronger than themselves, but an even older stereotype goes even further; that the crucial part isn't even just being significantly stronger than the woman he's trying to win over; it's being strong, period. In turn, even a weak woman isn't going to be impressed by a guy merely stronger than her; he has to be fairly strong as far as guys go, too.

Contrast WeaknessTurnsHerOn.

* Possible with Bulma in ''DragonBall'', which might explain her falling for Vegeta, recently a genocidal villain, in DragonballZ.

* In ''TheBigBangTheory'', all of Penny's ex-boyfriends are dumb, muscular people. Then subverted, when she [[spoiler:falls for Leonard, they become an item, and she finds it very hard to go back to dating such idiots]].

* A central trope throughout all ''{{Popeye}}'' cartoons, with Popeye and Bluto trying to perform greater feats of strength to impress Olive Oyl.

* In ''TheBigBangTheory'', all of Penny's ex-boyfriends are dumb, muscular people.

* This is a major point in an episode of ''NoahsArc''. When Wade and noah briefly live together for the first time, Noah sees all the beauty products Wade uses. Noah later comments with his friends about how the whole "metrosexuality" thing is a bit of turn off.