Am I the only one who notices this?

[Kermi]

I think it has to do with people being judgemental and yes, it's mainly because males have the most influence in passing these judgements in society.

You see someone get killed, you judge the killer for what he is: a killer.
You see some 400lb glutton linefeeding big macs down his gullet and you think "wow, look at that chunky ************ go".
You see a woman in a miniskirt, boob tube and fishnets and you're like "look at that whore". You don't judge the guy paying her for sex, because hey, he's just horny and that's harmless right? People who are fanatical or puritanical will judge the prostitute for offering her services: as if they believe that if there were no prostitutes, the men wouldn't be driven to temptation.

I discussed this briefly with my wife before posting and she feels quite the opposite: the men are the ones guilty of lust, and there's a good chance that a whole bunch of guys who regularly visit prostitutes would probably instead be sex offenders if they weren't able to pay someone to take care of their 'needs'.

She also feels that prostitutes are actually quite intelligent. Most women give up sex for free, or for some sort of obligation derived of commitment. Prostitutes are making a living out of it, and let's face it, for a guy horny enough to pay for it and no patience to develop a sexual relationship, she probably doesn't have to work very hard either, at least not from a physical viewpoint - I'm sure the emotional toll is quite difficult to manage, at least at first.

 

[fletch_talon]

Men are generally more lustful than women, who generally place more focus on emotional needs.
Therefore the personification of lust is a form which tempts men into lustful acts.

 

[Lilani]

I think it's gender roles at its finest. Because yes, lust is usually a sexy woman, but let's have a look at another deadly sin. Wrath, for example.

In Fullmetal Alchemist, anyway, wrath takes the form of a large, muscular man who can slice and dice people up without giving it a second thought. Sound familiar? And even better, which do you think can personify wrath the best? A man or a woman?

It's all a visual thing. Women have more features and ways of carrying themselves that can bring out the lust in others in subtle ways, and men are generally more prone to aggressive behavior, and can have more visual features than women to show they're ready to fight anybody who gets in their way.

 

[Something Amyss]

You're far from the only one to notice this.

Anyway, sex sells. I can imagine all the homophobic little boys playing games like Dante's Inferno and seeing lust as a dude. The reaction is priceless. A little scary, but priceless.

 

[Erana]

I think it has to do with people being judgemental and yes, it's mainly because males have the most influence in passing these judgements in society.

You see someone get killed, you judge the killer for what he is: a killer.
You see some 400lb glutton linefeeding big macs down his gullet and you think "wow, look at that chunky ************ go".
You see a woman in a miniskirt, boob tube and fishnets and you're like "look at that whore". You don't judge the guy paying her for sex, because hey, he's just horny and that's harmless right? People who are fanatical or puritanical will judge the prostitute for offering her services: as if they believe that if there were no prostitutes, the men wouldn't be driven to temptation.

I discussed this briefly with my wife before posting and she feels quite the opposite: the men are the ones guilty of lust, and there's a good chance that a whole bunch of guys who regularly visit prostitutes would probably instead be sex offenders if they weren't able to pay someone to take care of their 'needs'.

She also feels that prostitutes are actually quite intelligent. Most women give up sex for free, or for some sort of obligation derived of commitment. Prostitutes are making a living out of it, and let's face it, for a guy horny enough to pay for it and no patience to develop a sexual relationship, she probably doesn't have to work very hard either, at least not from a physical viewpoint - I'm sure the emotional toll is quite difficult to manage, at least at first.

Let's not hesitate to point out that even so far as a few decades ago, it was socially accepted that any sexual issue was always the woman's fault- Girl gets pregnant in the 60's? She's a seductive whore, trying to trap and ruin the poor young man's life. And a little further back, rape wasn't rape, it was an aweful woman who was just being too attractive. People would say that not only did she bring it upon herself, that the victim actually caused the sexual assault.

So yeah, this is the manifestation of olden stuffs.

Of course, (most often) the protagonist of the examples cited in the opening are male, meaning the tension between main character and foocubus would prolly be more relevent if they were of opposite sex.

 

[DuctTapeJedi]

You also didn't read my P.S. obviously.
Scientifically speaking, men are more easily manipulated by women than vice versa.

Dude, let's all just chill with the passive aggressive attacks, that's not why I started this thread.

 

[NewClassic_v1legacy]

It seems that any time lust is personified, it's always an attractive female that's demonized.

Part of the problem, I would think, is the fact that it is a lot easier to hit the common ground of universal male attraction than universal female attraction. Some girls like muscles, some don't, some like certain hair, others blue collar, some corporate. The ranges vary, pretty wildly, and it's hard to pin down a single object of lust among even a high percentage of women. The spectrum's pretty broad.

Conversely, actresses like Angelina Jolee, Megan Fox, and Jessica Alba prove that it's pretty easy to hit a decent catch-all for the male population. Because of this, it's easier to write a woman that can inspire lust, and subsequently act on it as a personification. It's easy to write, pretty successful in the long and short runs, and an easy way to get viewership. It's not fair, nor is it equal, but it's pretty easy to characterize.

By extension, it's easier to imagine a fat, slovenly thirty-something who sits on a couch and drinks beer between eating competitions. The image is easy to conjure, easy to disassociate from, and easy to characterize. The current champion eater is actually a 200-pound (98kg) college student. Certainly not thin, but not the beer gut and no-neck image you traditionally see for gluttons. It's just easy to characterize.

Doesn't mean it's right or accurate, just that's functional.

 

[Verp]

Well, while nowadays things are perceived differently, western people used to consider women to be the more lustful and carnal gender, not men. Take the Romans, for an example -- men were consider the well grounded and logical gender and women were seen as impulsive cock-chasing hedonists which was why they weren't to be involved in any kind of political decision-making.

Think about this for a second -- haven't the roles changed around a lot? Doesn't the media, for example, often portray women to be closer to earth a lot of the time, remaining calm and collected while men are the impulsive jesters who think with their other head?

Things just change over time.