(Why) do Asian women prefer femine over masculine guys?

From watching Starcraft fangirls and reading the comments of the female members of Eastern Asian origin here on FAKKU, I noticed that the male beauty ideals in Eastern Asia differ quite a lot from the ideals here in Europe, even when adjusting the "racial" traits. Eastern Asian women seem to prefer feminine guys over masculine guys. So, what is the reason behind it? Is it culture, trends, genetics or do EA women prefer loyal men over good lovers (see below)?

There was a recent morphological study, with feminine and masculine male faces, and the women were to attribute characteristics to the faces. The women attributed traits like "loyalty" and "affection" to the feminine faces, and traits like "a good lover" to the masculine faces.

I actually planned to make this a huge topic, compare models from high-fashion industry, compare physiological traits of both "racial" and sexually dimorphic origin, and stuff like that, but "no fuck would be given" anyway.

So, feel free to enrich my knowledge, especially if you are an EA woman. And if you have no constructive comment to make, please refrain from making any comment at all.

Thank you in advance

I'm actually interested in this. If you'd indulge an aging man, I'd appreciate the effort.

Edit: It seems a majority of threads that bring 'hard' evidence forth and are long don't get much attention unless they are controversial. Even more threads are just "what if...", "maybe...", and the all-important million "herp derp, religion posts", and don't really belong in here anyways.

Yeah, I find this to be more interesting than a lot of the utter shit posted in here on a daily basis. Yes, I'd appreciate more threads if creators took the time to bring about more evidence or a more readable and educated opinion.

Balls.

As Space said (we often agree <3), I would actually appreciate informations on that subject, especially because I'm not an Asian woman, and can't really picture what are the criterias used, about the "good lover" criteria for example. I'm especially interested as to whether it is a cultural/traditional influence, or more a social/economic influence.

@Space Cowboy:
You have a very healthy and progressive attitude, I feel the same about most of the topics here. I lol'd on the "herp derp, religion posts" comment. I am always glad to find someone who likes educated discussions. So I will indulge an aging man. :)

But it will take some time, since the topic is quite big, and I haven't yet researched the male EA high-fashion industry. I also guess many people here don't even know how sexual dimorphism in humans works, so that will have to be dealt with as well. Any help by someone who can read/write EA languages would be appreciated.

I also like your Avatar, from which manga is it?

I wish it was from a manga ): The closest I think I could match this to would be Tetsuo's freak out. It's actually a graffiti artist's piece some where in the world. I just took a big image and downscaled it using Fakku!'s uploader.

I eagerly await your presentation <3 (and I'll look into what sexual dimorphism is myself a bit, also).

Edit: Oh, okay. I get the basic concept, I had just never heard of the word 'dimorphism'. MAYBE THEY'RE ALL CLOSET LESBIANS, BUT TO KEEP REPRODUCING, THEY SETTLE FOR ANDROGYNOUS, FEMINIST MEN. i kid

I like my hunks lean.

But I dunno. Maybe Asian males just have less angular faces in general?

Prettyboys are less likely to rape them?

Sounds like I'm joking, but perhaps there is some deep-seated psychological association that testosterone = rape, simply due to the prominence of those kinds of stories found in their porn.

Elaboration:


I think that more or less explains it.

Lemme know if you got beef with my statements and I'll attempt to clarify accordingly.

@Tegumi:
Yes, they do indeed. Asians in general tend to have "broader" and "rounder" faces, which is considered feminine, while Caucasians tend to have "narrower" and "squarer" faces, which is considered masculine. But this does not matter, because even within EA the feminine guys are favored. F.e. in the Starcraft pro scene the "Prettyboys" get most the fan-girls. If you juxtapose this to f.e. European/US boy-bands - there the masculine members of the band have the most fan-girls. Also, what do you mean with your first sentence? That you like skinny guys? Is this just you, or a preference in general towards male partners?

@PumpJack McGee:
Very good though process, and good arguments, although I have to disagree with some of them. Patriarchal societies existed as you already pointed out, everywhere. To contrast the feminine woman, a masculine man is needed to protect her. Women are wary of men, so they get the most masculine man for themselves.

Masculine facial traits don't just "look aggressive", they have a practical use in stabilizing the skull, and increasing the chances for surviving a fight.

The very masculine men were always a beauty ideal in Europe, even when you ask people that lived before the era of entertainment. I think that the Western culture has had a good deal of influence in Eastern Asia regarding this topic, so one could assume that the beauty ideal in EA was even more towards feminine before the Western influence. No matter how you take it, you still have this gap, and this is why I started this thread in the first place - because I can't answer it.

History could have an answer, but not a very good one: EA has much less been in war with itself than Europe. In EA you had big dynasties waging war occasionally, in Europe you had tribes and cities fighting each other non-stop. In these little skirmishes masculine traits could have proven as progressive, while in the more civilized EA feminine traits were superior to masculine in daily life.

I see enough masculine models in EA as well. Are they the norm/the archetype, or just a product of Western influence? What is "the male ideal" in EA after all?

@neyapuckachinha:
I just dug out the link, here is the study I was talking about:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070808082047.htm

Compounded with my response, I think you may have just answered your own question.

After all, the environment we grow up in has an immense influence upon our behaviour, including attraction.

Since people of the same region tend to develop similar features, due to genetic heritage, it only makes sense that Oriental people would be attracted to other Oriental people; otherwise, people just wouldn't breed since they'd be looking for something that simply isn't available in their area, and the population would dwindle. (I use 'Oriental' because a pet peeve of mine is that people forget 'Asia' encompasses Russia and the Middle East as well).

As for what features are deemed 'masculine' or 'feminine', that could be an entirely new debate, but your input upon that can stand.

@PumpJack McGee:
You misunderstood something. It would be absurd to demand from any woman to intrinsically be more attracted to something that is "not available in their area". The problem is that women in Asia seem to be less attracted to MASCULINITY itself. There are as much masculine men in EA as anywhere else. They may, compared to Caucasians, look less masculine, but they still should be "demanded" in EA, as masculine Europeans in Europe. But they aren't. The task is to find out why, and merely the historic socio-political circumstances seem not the be enough.

But one of the major questions is still not answered: How much are EA woman actually attracted to FEMININITY?

Anyways, speaking in majority, if I had to guess, they prefer feminine guys mostly because of culture about the male being much more dominant in Eastern Asia. Technology has affected Eastern Asia, being very technologically behind, and because of it, also affected people's values, attitudes, and whatnot. It changes peoples' lifestyles, and causes a chain reaction among things, like the culture of men deciding who they want to marry, and how men are the ones that do everything outside of the house. The women then probably want to either feel equal or dominant to the man, so this is why I think Eastern Asian women prefer feminine men over masculine men.

Again, just a theory.

Thanks I'll read that and the thread tomorrow, it's quite late here, but it's an interesting topic. All I can say for now is that even if it's a tendency, or a movement that is noticed within a certain fringe of the population, it can not be taken as a general truth. Even with surveys and solid sources, there are never an exhaustive answer to such a subjective question.

I've never seen an asian woman with a femine man before. most of the dudes were pretty butch in fact. but maybe it's different in other parts of the world.

Hm. I see your point.

Nevertheless, I still believe that- when you get right down to it- it's a question of security and perceived threats. Like the 'gay friend' girls here like so much.

They're attracted to feminine guys because they're easier to relate to and are less intimidating. Perhaps the thinking over there is that masculine men are just a bunch of muscleheads. I honestly can't say- best bet would be to ask EA women, really. I'm fairly certain there's at least one...


Tangent:
As for the 'protector' element that you mentioned earlier- while that may be true, such a role is quickly become less and less of a concern in these times- and what women desire out of their men is shifting. Even the definition of what it is to be a man is becoming quite blurred. (Another topic of note)

Soon enough, the only real universal requirement of a man would be his penis.

And even that may become something of question.

http://www.alittlelab.com/

This may be of interest.

Hi buddies, a greeting from France in Chinese, Ni men hao :D

Well, I have to admit that I havn't read all ur guys' replies, but I'm interested in this topic.
Then, at first I'd post a question, when you, my dear friends, mentioning feminine and masculin guys or something likely, what, do you actually mean? Is that saying Faces? Dressing styles? or Behaviors?

Because Asian masculine men don't look nearly as good as caucasian and black masculine men.

This question is stupid. Its like asking "Why do western women like masculine guys over feminine guys?" Its all about preference.

I don't think feminine guys as much as balanced between feminine and masculine. Too masculine is kinda out of balance for East Asian cultures, we aren't really impressed with muscles mass and the sort as much as westerners.

i don't really prefer it myself as as eastern Asian female myself.I would rather my men to actually look like men.I think the media and how they environment around the specific type of person makes a difference as well.