Gina's Quote Du Jour (Schaeffer & Spiridakis)

Here's my theory...

I think a young brain goes through a growth process as we define our personal "rules of attraction." At any given time, we are attracted to the aspects of other people that appeal to the part of the brain that is learning what it is attracted to. Different aspects (personality, intelligence, sense of humor, and yes, sex appeal, trigger different attractions. Our brains find prototypical examples of these reflected in other people. Those people become our "idols" - the personification of that aspect of attraction.

I'll elaborate on this theory using my own experiences to illustrate...



The first attractions I remember were cute younger characters on the westerns my Grandma Bessie watched. I thought Doug McClure, who played Trampas, on The Virginian, and Buck Taylor, who played Newly on Gunsmoke were the cutest! Their boyish good looks made them accessible to me...I was learning attraction to male features.

 

















Darren McGavin and David Jansen came along next...there was something very macho about these guys. They looked like men and had gruff, authoritative voices...I was learning to be attracted to masculinity.

 

Then began my "sparkle in the eye" attraction...Paul Newman. That's it in this category...just Paul.




 












Next I learned to appreciate charm and sense of humor from Richard Dawson.





 

 

 


There was even a "father figure" category along the way, where it wasn't a sexual attraction, but a "I feel really good about this guy" (like I did about my father.) This category included Jimmy Stewart and Christopher Plummer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By this time I was a teenager, my wandering eye came to a screeching halt when leafing through the pages of a Tiger Beat magazine I first laid eyes on Shaun Cassidy!!!

 



I was absolutely dumbstruck! His appearance was the sum of all those attributes I'd learned to appreciate from the other men all wrapped up into one yummy package...at least to my 14 year old girl's mind. He was masculine without being intimidatingly so, and had sparkling eyes that smiled at me. I was in love!

My crush lasted faithfully for years...as the teen idols came and went, I never looked twice at a Peter Frampton, a Scott Baio, a Leif Garret, a John Travolta, Rick Springfield...who needed them! I had my Shaun!

By the time my Shaun years were over, I was left with an impression about what it was that attracted me in a man. Even though Scott couldn't look less like Shaun Cassidy, it was Shaun (and all those other lovely men) who helped develop my appreciation for the whole man who is my Scott...Thanks, Guys!

He's the man who now lives in my heart as well as my dreams.