Robert Stacy McCain

March 19, 2009

“Men want access to women so they make the effort, or sometimes do. Many men give up. The benefits of companionship don’t outweigh the challenges the relationship brings. . . . There has been a concerted attempt to demonize typically masculine behavior. Worst of all, many men seem to have conceded the argument.”
—Dr. Melissa Clouthier

Why do women love Bad Boys? Why do “nice guys finish last” with the ladies, while no woman can resist the charm of a “black-hearted varmint” like Rhett Butler?

What makes the Bad Boy attractive is this: His defiance of the niceties of social convention, his boldness, his frank and manly unwillingness to curry favor by trying to seem what he is not—these attributes of the outlaw suggest the potential of future greatness. Those who never dare, never do, and the Bad Boy’s daring itself is the raw material of achievement.

What if, beneath the rugged veneer of the proud renegade, a woman espies something more tender, honest and decent than is apparent to those who judge superficially? Well, then, if she can win his love, she will have gotten herself a genuine romantic bargain. And, as you know, no woman can resist a bargain.