# Do women prefer skillful men or strong men? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 17, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057 "2005-12-17T15:59:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecd19e/32.png) [@Alma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alma)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/21 "2005-12-18T10:00:49Z")
Is this question a metaphor for sex? Either way, I prefer skill. ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRamenMonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@FlyingRamenMonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRamenMonster)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/22 "2005-12-18T15:02:11Z")
Uhh, I’d go with the skill. But they shouldn’t be so wimpy they can’t lift a suitcase. I just don’t want them to be capable only of OG SMASH!!! either. ---
**Author:** ![Ponder\_Stibbons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponder_stibbons/32/343_2.png) [@Ponder\_Stibbons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponder_Stibbons)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/23 "2005-12-18T15:02:52Z")
Either way, I’m screwed. Or not, as the case may be. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/24 "2005-12-18T16:12:18Z")
> [@](#): > > or a man who can negotiate a high gate with one masterful jump at the same location? Well, what kind of skill is it that is going to get him shot at every airport in the country? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/25 "2005-12-18T16:31:21Z")
> [@Ponder Stibbons](#): > > Either way, I’m screwed. Or not, as the case may be. But you’re a wizard, aren’t you? Of course, there IS that whole celibacy thing… (My preference is definitely for skill over strength, too.) ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/26 "2005-12-18T16:47:02Z")
> [@](#): > > or a man who can negotiate a high gate with one masterful jump at the same location? with a saddle on his back? ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2005, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/27 "2005-12-18T19:29:24Z")
I’m not sure I get it either. If you were equating skill and intelligence, then skill, hands down. But by skillful, you seem to mean agile and coordinated, not necessarily a “thinker,” so neither appeals to me. Both types would tend to be shallow and self absorbed. The exterior package is irrelevent, since time changes it. Leaping tall buildings or picking them up, it just doesn’t matter, except to themselves, and maybe other men with low self-esteem. I’d venture to say, most women wouldn’t even notice that there’s a difference. I don’t need help with anything, nor do I need to be protected. Men who assume I’m weak and/or helpless or need to be protected in some way, just annoy me. Your examples seem to illustrate a man’s idea of what a woman might fantasize about. In fact, we don’t imagine ourselves swept onto the cover of a Harlequin Romance©. Give me a guy I can argue the forces of the universe with. As far as I’m concerned the athlete and the muscleman are the same dude. No one I’d want in my house. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2005, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057/28 "2005-12-19T03:24:29Z")
Responding only to protest the question as nonsense to most women. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-women-prefer-skillful-men-or-strong-men/336057.md?page=1)