Hero appeal OVER TIME

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ZannaPerry

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I've noticed that a lot of the romances I am starting to get into have been reissued and I look at the old covers and MOSTLY ALL of the older ones have artwork of the ideal male hero, but the thing is they all have long hair, completely muscular, and to me not looking very sexy, more femine and funny-looking.

Has the ideal Hero figure/appeal changed over time? Because I don't find long haired men to be very sex. Maybe I'm young, maybe I'd prefer a man with a different look other than long hair. To me, the hero and heroine have to look completely different. Not have them BOTH look lady-like.

Anyone else like the older version of the ideal hero or the now?
 

johnnysannie

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Maybe I'm old ;) but I still think long hair can be sexy on a guy. That said, my husband has short hair and always has. I suppose that as women our taste in heroes is as varied as our taste in men. Some like long hair, some short, some like blondes, some like jet black hair, some like muscular, some don't, etc.

I do think that the type of hero in fashion often changes like everything else, though.
 

Rizzo

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I agree that it's different for everyone, that being said, I'm not much into a guy with better looking hair than my own, Fabio never really did it for me lol
 

Susan Gable

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There are certain real bad boy heroes who really do it for me with long hair. Fabio, no.

Adrian Paul as Duncan McLeod, yes.

Ummmm...Lorenzo Lamos in Renegade. Total yum.

Antonio Bandaras with long hair, yep.

But I like my guys with their long hair pulled back.

That said, I also think some guys can make bald look sexier than hell. :) It all depends on the guy.

Susan G.
 

smlgr8

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Long hair on a guy? Um, no. I know women who swoon over long hair on a guy. One friend used to go gaga over Steve Perry of Journey's long hair. I've never found it appealing.

I like hair. I don't go for the buzz cut, but shorter hair on the guy is better to me.
 

Sassee

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Shoulder length I can deal with (see recent hair style trends) but yeah long hair doesn't do it for me either.

Maybe they're trying to say, look, he's wild, he has long hair! Or something. Not sure.

Though the hair on a cover model is hardly the first thing I look at when I pick up a book.
 

ZannaPerry

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This topic came up because I am about to read another romance and the book is the original cover and of course has been reissued over time. I turned the first page of the book, and there's this artwork of a man holding a shovel and his hair is blowing in the wind. I think that is such a big turn off for the guy to be prettier than the woman. Men are suppose to be MEN, rugged, dark, not hair blowing in the wind and their chest all puffed up. Looks surreal.

And I agree with Rizzo...I can't see myself dating a man who takes better care of himself (looks wise) than me.

And I don't distest all men with long hair, just not longer than my own. Shaggy hair over the eyes, or shoulder length is fine with me but not hair that's blowing in the wind. So un-manly. SOME men can pull it off real well, but others not so much.
 

kristie911

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That said, I also think some guys can make bald look sexier than hell. :) It all depends on the guy.

I agree...Bruce Willis, yum. III, double yum. ;)

But no, the Fabio look doesn't do a thing for me. And the chistled pecs that make the guy look like he has bigger boobs than me, definite no.
 

smlgr8

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Fabio - oh, yuck!:tongue

You know I've never met a woman that acutally likes Fabio though I am sure there must be some as he used to adorn lots of romance novels (Johanna Lindsay's for example). I actually saw him in person a few years ago in Hollywood and he was just as unappealing in person.
 

Gillhoughly

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Count your blessings. At least the guys on the covers today are interested in sweaty snuggle-bunnies.

Otherwise it could still be like....


"Gosh, I hope that li'l filly don't notice that muh hat's too small!"
2205.jpg


Or

"Wait 'til she finds out I'm her twin brother AND gay!"
1896.jpg


Or

"You want gay...I'll give you GAY, yummy-cakes!
My hair is better than hers and
check out my totally fabulous Ascot!"
1972.jpg


Or

"Meh-- Who needs a guy when you have
a very special telephoto lens?"
1053.jpg
 
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Sonarbabe

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Fabio--ick.

I don't mind a bit shaggy on a guy. Sort of like Josh Groban. Mmm, nice.

As for bald? Give me Vin Diesel ANY day. Meow!

0102_josh_groban_d.jpg




tn2_vin_diesel_4.jpg
 

kristie911

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Josh Grobin looks more attractive when he's singing...I guess it's the voice that does it for me.

Vin is just super yummy! Ugh, just one night...what I wouldn't give for just one night. *sigh*
 

Cathy C

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:ROFL: I have to laugh here because this is something that Cie and I constantly struggle against. She LOVESLOVESLOVES (!) guys with long hair---in real life, and in our books. While she thinks Fabio is sort of creepy (prefers the dark and brooding biker type) this is something we constantly argue about. Given her choice, every single male, in every single one of our books, would have hair down to their butt. I plead and plead for sanity, because how many guys in REAL life have hair that long (outside of an actor or cover model?)

The biggest fight we ever got into as co-authors was what I did to the hero in Captive Moon. Antoine, as she envisioned him in earlier books, had long hair. Waist length or longer. But it just didn't work for my vision of him, because while somewhat vain, it would be a nuisance in his job. So, I created a "bet" between him and a friend, on who could grow their hair the longest in the shortest time. But because the book ends in a fiery scene created by the heroine, it winds up getting burned mostly off. So, in the final scene, he has short hair---and I made it his preference. Wow, was she hot about that . . . because how could any male NOT want long hair? LOL!

I can take it or leave it, personally, but thought you'd enjoy the tale. ;)
 

aliajohnson

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The biggest fight we ever got into as co-authors was what I did to the hero in Captive Moon. Antoine, as she envisioned him in earlier books, had long hair. Waist length or longer. But it just didn't work for my vision of him, because while somewhat vain, it would be a nuisance in his job. So, I created a "bet" between him and a friend, on who could grow their hair the longest in the shortest time. But because the book ends in a fiery scene created by the heroine, it winds up getting burned mostly off. So, in the final scene, he has short hair---and I made it his preference. Wow, was she hot about that . . . because how could any male NOT want long hair? LOL!

:roll:

I can only imagine. Those women I know who really love long hair on their men, really love long hair on their men.

I too, can take it or leave it. If it's Adrian Paul, as Susan pointed out, I'll take it. If it's Fabio, I'd just as soon leave it.
 

Gillhoughly

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I make a point of never getting involved with any man (fictional or otherwise) whose hair is better looking than mine.

In real life, soon as I see a dude with long locks in this century my gaydar goes whoop-whoop-whoop!

And should he prove to be straight, chances are excellent he's gonna spend way more time in the bathroom messing with his hair than with ME.
 

Stlight

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I like long hair on guys, I always have, but I don’t care for it when it’s longer than my hair. Actually, that’s not hard, my hair is waist length. But I also have seen some pretty sexy guys with little or no hair - the Captain on Star Trek Second Generation comes to mind and of course I can't think how to spell his name. anybody?

Advertising made Mr. Clean because his image was supposed to appeal to women as a sexy hero to have around the house.

What makes a guy sexy and a hero is more how he acts and thinks and if he’s fortunate, what he says, than what he looks like.

That said, I’ve seen a few romance book covers, usually medieval that could sell as posters for dorm rooms and the linen closet no one goes into but…

Stlight
 

Sonarbabe

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But I also have seen some pretty sexy guys with little or no hair - the Captain on Star Trek Second Generation comes to mind and of course I can't think how to spell his name. anybody?

Stlight

Jean Luc Picard---Patrick Stewart

My husband is a Trekkie:)
 

Sonarbabe

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You know, I just can't get into the long, LONG hair on guys. I mean, when my hair was down to my waist, I would end up leaving the most disgusting hairballs at the bottom of the bathtub drain--still do, they're just shorter. Now you couple my hairball's with a guy's hairballs and I'll be yakking up my Sugar Smacks. :e2cry:
 

Gillhoughly

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You reminded me of the time I roomed with a gay friend who had the most lush, shiny, thickest head of black hair that was so long he could sit on it.

It was utterly gorgeous.

But being a man he never cleaned the damn bathtub out. When it was my turn for a shower I always had to contend with long trailing black snakes.

They always looked like they were trying to swim upstream to spawn!

.
 

Manat

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Ah, Johnny Depp with longhair, in the Libertine, Chocolate, Gilbert Grape, Pirates 1,2, and 3. It doesn't get any better as far as I'm concerened. I LIKE that he's prettier than me. As to older covers, some periods of history men wore long hair as a matter of course so depending on the time period it might be what's appropriate. You wouldn't expect to see a Cavalier in a buzzcut any more than a heroine with a nice little shag.
 
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