The Hunger Games (creative franchise): Are females more naturally drawn to the character traits of Peeta?

Personal preference in "Team Peeta" versus "Team Gale" is going to be (or already is?) a horrible selling point of this movie. Will it come down to Katniss choosing either the strong, silent type or the artistic, communicative guy? Knowing what an independent girl Katniss starts out as, it is surprising whom she ends up with. Peeta is a romantic figure, and he's held in high esteem by a lot of female readers. He wears his heart on his sleeve, he lets Katniss (and the world) know that he's loved her since they were little, and he's looked out for her during her life. Peeta is the sort of guy rom-coms and chick flicks make the buddy-hero-winner. Gale is a guy of few words. He is a guy of action. He is a self-sufficient hunter who rarely expresses his feelings, a quintessential, non-communicative male that most American women depicted in media complain about. He is the anti-romantic. So is there a sizable Gale contingent?  I'm a contingent of one; I find his candor with everyone in his life a positive. He is never condescending with Katniss, treating her as an equal in hunting prowess and learning trapping techniques. He tells Peeta whom Katniss will ultimately end up with; and he builds a bomb that effectively ends a war, regardless of collateral damage. THG also depicts Gale as having many female admirers, much to Katniss's chagrin. By casting heartthrob Liam Hemsworth in the role of Gale, perhaps Lionsgate is trying to assure an audience of "Team Gale" members to balance out a Peeta advantage.

Peeta appealed to me because I think he represents an unconventional paradigm of masculinity, one that is oft-shunned in lieu of the strong, silent and conventional model of masculinity. Also, Peeta is female-gendered meaning he has a lot of typical female traits but it's not parodied or a joke. It's a new type of masculinity that's being promoted (not degraded) and it's awesome. It's the Clark Kent versus Bruce Wayne type of question for those who are comics-versed like me. (and the answer is always and forever Clark Kent who is actually female-gendered despite his strength whereas Lois Lane is male-gendered). I'm 26 and I've grown to appreciate this type of masculinity.

I can assume that it is every girl's dream to have a guy like Peeta whose world revolves around you. Peeta is sweet, compassionate and very showy of his love to Katniss. You just feel secured that he would love you to the end of the world and would like you for who you are. His undying love was his best asset. There is this security that he will never leave you or hurt you. This is why people are more attracted to Peeta. Gale on the other hand is the silent one. Gale is also nice, friendly and compassionate like Peeta but why are fans not as attracted to him? I believe that it's because he has a different way to show his love to Katniss. While Peeta would kiss and would say how much he loves Katniss, Gale on the hand would protect her family whom she loves the most. Gale chose to show his love to Katniss by protecting her family especially Prim. Gale knew that Katniss values her family more than her own life.

I have to examine this more thoroughly to see how often it's true, but here is my theory: Girls are more drawn to characters that show complete devotion to their romantic interest. This is a fantasy that plays to our base desires of fulfillment, right? A partner that provides us with everything we need and want: affection, understanding, protection, importance, and often it's depicted as selfless. All because of love. So it almost doesn't matter what type of character he is.. ALMOST. It definitely does matter somewhat, but as long as he has adimrable traits, if he has that devotion aspect, girls will like him. There are a few reasons why this didn't apply to Gale so much. 1) We didn't get to see him very much in the first book and by the second book Peeta had already won fans over with his total devotion, 2) He had priorities other than Katniss, including his family and wanting to take action against The Capitol, and 3) He *gasp* sometimes disagreed with Katniss! That's not what a totally devoted romantic interest does. Not selfless enough! I'm getting a little chiding here, sorry. Talking about it reminds me why I didn't care for Peeta/Katniss. He had absolutely no explanation as to why he was so in love with Katniss that he was willing to give his life for her before they even talked much, but sure didn't hesitate. Whenever they disagreed it was usually about who should die in whose place (gag). Don't get me wrong, I love me some romance.. but that's where I demand more realism, even in fiction. Their pre-hijacking "relationship" made absolutely no sense to me. But the masses will usually chose the guy who is the most you-are-my-whole-world as the best choice for who she should end up with. In real life that doesn't happen, and all the better for it.. perhaps part of the reason it's so appealing to a lot of girls (even to me, when done in the right way) is because of the escapism aspect. I do think Peeta has very admirable character traits so not knocking on people that like him as a character even if you take Katniss out of the equation, but I think if he had not been hopelessly in love and trying to save Katniss at every turn, and Gale had gotten more of an equal share in the story.. it would be less of a landslide in the Petta:Gale supporter ratio.

I think it's because, in the current society, few guys are as vocal and as expressive as Peeta. He wears his heart on his sleeve while still retaining his masculinity, and he's willing to do anything to keep Katniss alive because he loves her. He can even accept Katniss ending up with Gale if he thinks that'll be better for Katniss. I've read something on the internet that goes something like this, "the realization that no matter how much your boyfriend loves you, it won't amount/equal to how much Peeta loves Katniss."

Having been around the block a few times, Gale is the guy one dates because he's angry and exciting, Peeta is the guy one marries because he's well-balanced and thoughtful and connects on an emotional level.

In the movies, Peeta is not as good looking as Gale and is often presented as "weaker". I believe that men shouldn't be limited to the macho stereotype, but I can admit that women might find men who are clingy and desperate to be less attractive. Peeta, at least in the movies, ends up being the kind of guy that girls feel sorry for, not the kind of guy they date (yes Katniss does date him, but I'm wondering how many girls who hadn't read the books would do the same.) Again, I wish men were able to act in stereotypically feminine ways without criticism, but that isn't what women are attracted to.

A reader would definitely be drawn to Peeta due to his unwavering love for Katniss and his strong ,protective,sacrificial traits. Its harder to see these qualities if one were to be in Katniss's shoes.Though her bonds both with Peeta and Gale were built on the basis of survival(surviving the games with Peeta and poverty with Gale) , she had chosen to partner with Gale which is not the case with Peeta.Hence,she would naturally be drawn more to Gale than Peeta atleast till she knows both of them well enough.