Being John Malkovich and why it’s what women really want

Forget the nice hug and cup of tea — females want a sexy male, says Suzanne Harrington, but not a Himbo — smart, funny guys are more likely to hit the spot.

WHAT kind of man attracts women? Gyms are full of men working very hard to create a look they think women find hot — deeply defined six-packs, pecs, abs, Popeye arms. Some gym guys end up shaped like Brutus the dog from Tom & Jerry, stuffed full of steroids and perhaps dealing with athletica nervosa, a kind of body dysmorphia brought on by reading too many men’s fitness magazines.

The myth of the six-pack is popped in a new book by New York-based cultural historian Betsy Prioleau. Swoon: Great Seducers and Why Women Love Them looks at what really attracts women. Referring to a 2004 cross-cultural DNA study at the University of Arizona, Prioleau cuts through what she terms the mildewed myths and caricatures, to tell us that: “Ladykillers come with a PG warning. They’re not moral guardians, straight arrows or docile house cats. They take us into X-rated territory and the dark corners of our psyche, and they aren’t always politically correct. But they’re a select fraternity who love women and enchant them.”