Hunky Cowboys

A western-writer friend of mine, Sherry James, sent this to me, and she was tickled to see her favorite hunk made the list–Cowboys. 

Me?  I wasn’t surprised.  I’ve always thought cowboys were sexy, and it has nothing to do with expensive hair cuts or designer labels or a fancy education.  Rather, just the opposite–sweat-sticking clothes, sun-browned skin and muscles earned from hard work done outside, and not in a gym.

This survey by Careerbuilder makes an interesting note:  Whether or not we admit it, what people do for a living affects their sex appeal.

Here are the 10 sexiest jobs, according to the survey.

1. Entertainer/Model
Entertainers and models make a living by looking good, so you can bet they’re easy on the eyes. Their dedication to their dream in such a competitive industry is also attractive. And just take a look at the popularity of TV shows like “America’s Next Top Model” and “Make Me a Supermodel.”

2. Cocktail Waitress
Although it might not seem like an obvious top pick, consider the fact that the waitress is probably dressed in a short skirt and bringing you drinks, which never hurt anybody’s sex appeal.

3. Athlete
Professional athletes are likely in good — no, great — shape. Not to mention they’ve probably been practicing their sport since childhood, so you know they’re disciplined and goal-oriented.

4. Firefighter
Firefighters are brave and selfless. Who wouldn’t find that attractive?

 5. Cowboy
Few archetypes are as ingrained in our culture as the cowboy. He’s masculine, chivalrous and everything else we admired in Western movies.

6. Nurse
Nurses keep you comfortable, make sure you’re healthy and bring you morphine when you’re hurting. That they devote their lives to caring for others and understand all that medical jargon only makes them sexier.

7. Artist
The average artist is doing what makes him happy, not what will bring him fame or money — and that’s pretty sexy. How many occupations can you say that about?

8. Military Professional
Well, they’ve got the ultimate uniform, if you’re into that sort of thing. The military also instills a sense of discipline, so you can count on them to be responsible and dependable.

9. Construction Worker
Didn’t you see that soft drink commercial where all the women stare out their window to watch the construction worker take off his shirt?

10. TV Anchor/Personality
Maybe it’s the way they talk with authority, seem to know everything and make you feel like you’re best friends. (Or maybe it’s the fact that you don’t know if they’re really wearing pants under that desk.)

 So?  Is the survey right?  Do we think of someone being sexy because of their choice of employment?

Do you  have another job to add to the list? 

Or maybe it’s our *perception* of the job that makes the person attractive to us.  What do you think?

Thank you for this opportunity to guest blog on Petticoats and Pistols! Although I don’t get to comment as often as I’d like (I’m usually on late night), I love this site and am learning so much here.

By way of introduction, I’m Mildred Colvin and sometimes write under the pen name M. J. Conner. All eight of my books are Christian romances published by Heartsong Presents at Barbour Publishing. I enjoy writing for Barbour because the stories are fun, yet the conflict the hero and heroine must work through are often the same that many readers face in their spiritual lives. My aim and my prayer is to write in such a way that those who read my books will find laughter and tears within the pages but mostly the gentle touch of God’s love.

In my newest release, Joanna’s Adventure, Clay Shepherd rides back into Cedar Bend, Kansas, hires on at the Circle C Ranch and literally sweeps Joanna off her feet. He doesn’t realize that he didn’t have to carry her across a mud puddle to get her attention. No siree. Joanna has been dreaming about Clay ever since he left town six years ago when they were in their teens. Joanna fell for Clay the first day he slid into the back seat of the old schoolhouse, so his return stirs more than memories. Of course that first kiss under the mistletoe back then didn’t hurt one bit. In fact she still has the pressed sprig of mistletoe in a keepsake box so she will never forget her one and only kiss or the handsome, exciting boy who gave it to her. She sees the grown up Clay as more than exciting. He is romantic and unpredictable with a touch of mystery that tells her just how enticingly dangerous he can be. Joanna doesn’t know what it is, but Clay has something that draws her, and that something is cowboy charisma.

Like Joanna, I’m not immune to the appeal of a cowboy, so when I think of Clay, the term cowboy charisma pops into my mind. What is cowboy charisma? The dictionary defines charisma as “a special magnetic charm or appeal.” So what’s appealing about a guy who tends horses and cows and scoops manure? Could it be those snug-fitting blue jeans with more swagger than stride crossing the barnyard or street? How about the wide-brimmed cowboy hat pulled low, lending an air of mystery when it hides the expression in those dark shadowed eyes? Or maybe the tug of a grin when he notices a pretty gal standing alone at a barn raising and says, “Howdy, ma’am. Care to dance?” What about the thrill at a rodeo of horse and rider who seem in tune as they dance the age-old competition of dominance and submission? After a mere eight seconds that lasts forever the cowboy leaps to the ground with both arms raised in victory with a cocky grin on his face. Who hasn’t experienced a little heart flutter then?

The list could go on and on with physical attributes we find appealing in a cowboy, but like everyone else, the cowboy is more than a shell. He is an inner man with feelings, emotions, and a certain way of thinking. Each man is an individual, but when I thought about the cowboy heroes I’ve brought to life in my stories, I realized they have a lot in common. Maybe that’s because they all adhere to a set of unwritten rules commonly known as The Code of the West. This code is similar to The Golden Rule – do unto others, as you would have others do unto you.

Seems the old time cowboy valued his freedom and believed in minding his own business. He asked no questions of strangers because he wanted to give no answers about his private life. When a cowboy welcomed the stranger at his campfire or table, he expected to be welcomed in turn. His job wasn’t easy to say the least so he learned to cowboyup or in other words, get back on the horse that bucked him off, whether it was an actual horse or life itself. Although the code often became twisted to justify the individual’s need or desire for vengeance and justice, the true cowboys believed in honesty, loyalty, generosity, and fairness. They admired courage, diligence, plain speaking, and commonsense. They respected and protected their womenfolk. In fact one of their rules was that they would never shoot a woman no matter what. Now I like that rule!

Romanticized or not, I am drawn by cowboy charisma. I do enjoy writing a story that has a hero who respects the heroine as well as all women and, imperfect as he is, follows a code that doesn’t always put him first. What do you like to see in a hero? When you read a book or when you create a hero for your own work, what is more important to you? The immediate attraction of the physical or the moral code that drives the man? Maybe both are required. Maybe not. What do you think? Can a hero be unattractive on the outside, but so appealing in his moral code and the way he treats the heroine that we still see a heart-stopping, mighty-good-to-look-at man?

Two names will be drawn from those who comment to each receive an autographed copy of my newest book, JOANNA’S ADVENTURE.

Yes, those men and their marvelous mustaches.  And I’m talking *real* mustaches, not thin scraggly excuses or unshaven stubble or five o’clock shadows.  No, let’s take a look at some mustaches that have taken time and testosterone to cultivate.   

So what is it about a cowboy with a mustache that sets him apart from all the rest?  Mustaches are often culturally associated with wisdom and virility, and it’s not difficult to understand why.  There’s something about a mustache that sings of maturity…masculinity.   A subject that comes up often among writers is the youthful appearance of so many celebrities, cover models and singers.  While there’s no disagreeing that Matthew McConaughey and Ben Affleck  are fine-looking fellows, there’s something about maturity that speaks to us as women. 

Now I know there are those of you who will disagree, in fact a recent survey discovered that an alarming number of women would refuse to kiss a man with a mustache.  So, is facial hair a matter of taste? 

A big argument against mustaches has been that they’re out of style because so many men wore them in the seventies.  The seventies?  Men have been shaving — or not shaving — selectively since the stone age!  Shaving with stone razors was technologically possible from Neolithic times.  The oldest portrait showing a shaved man with a mustache is a Scythian horseman from 300 BC. 

Historically, military men have often worn moustaches; in fact the number of nations, regiments and ranks were equaled only by the number of styles and variations. Generally, the younger men and lower ranks wore the smaller and less elaborate moustaches. As a man advanced in rank, his moustache would become thicker and bushier, until he was permitted to wear a full beard. 

I’ll bet you didn’t know there’s an American Mustache Association.  Neither did I, but they’re gung ho on protecting their rights to bear whiskers.   

At The World Beard & Moustache Championships 2007 there were 6 subcategories in the moustache category: Natural Moustache – may be styled but without aids.

Hungarian Moustache – Big and bushy, beginning from the middle of the upper lip and pulled to the side.

Dalí – narrow, long points bent or curved steeply upward; areas past the corner of the mouth must be shaved.

English – narrow, beginning at the middle of the upper lip the whiskers are very long and pulled to the side, slightly curled; the ends are pointed slightly upward; areas past the corner of the mouth usually shaved. .Imperial – whiskers growing from both the upper lip and cheeks, curled upward

Freestyle – All moustaches that do not match other classes. 

Other types of moustache include:

Fu Manchu – long, downward pointing ends, generally beyond the chin

Pancho Villa – similar to the Fu Manchu but thickerHandlebar – bushy, with small upward pointing ends.

Horseshoe – Often confused with the Fu Manchu style, the horseshoe was possibly popularized by modern cowboys and consists of a full moustache with vertical extensions from the corners of the lips down to the jaw line and resembling an upside-down horseshoe.

Moustachio – bushy moustache, with hair sometimes growing down the sides of the mouth.

Taylor moustache – a thin row of fine dark hairs along the upper lip.

Pencil moustache – narrow, straight and thin like a pencil, closely clipped, outlining the upper lip, with a wide shaven gap between the nose and moustache. Also known as a Mouthbrow.

Walrus – bushy, hanging down over the lips, often entirely covering the mouth. Popular during the American Civil War.

The GG – bushy hair grown only over the corners of the mouth, shaved in the middle. 

Grooming is essential.  Sideburns are optional.  But I prefer a man with a mustache any old time. 

So, what’s your preference?  Clean-shaven or sporting a cookie duster?  Who is your favorite mustachioed hero?  And my final question — have you seen any mustaches on book covers?

Stop back for my follow-up gift for you! :::wink:::wink::: 

Where have all the cowboys gone?

I was raised on Westerns. Bonanza, Rawhide, High Chaparral, The Virginian, The Big Valley and Lancer just to name a few. For me as a child, the Wild West was as close as my TV and my imagination. My favorite toys were my Johnny West, Jane West, Chief Cherokee and their horses, Thunderbolt, Thundercolt and Flame. I even had the cardboard bunkhouse and all the accessories. It’s really too bad a basement flood destroyed all that.

My fantasies were about Heath Barkley, Little Joe and oh my gosh, Johnny Lancer. Does anyone remember the scene were he jumped his palomino over the fence when the opening credits came on? My heart broke when the actor, whose name escapes me at the moment, lost his arm and leg in a motorcycle accident.

Then came a more modern western. Alias Smith and Jones. Both guys were hot and some fancy camera work made Kid Curry the fastest gun in the west. Yummy. And I was so in love with Pete Duel who tragically killed himself.

John Wayne movies could always be counted on for a great mud-slinging, name calling fight, usually with Maureen O’Hara winding up in the mud. And one movie was so good they made it twice, the Rio movies, one with a young hot James Caan and the other with a young hot Ricky Nelson.

Then suddenly westerns disappeared. Occasionally, you could catch one on a Saturday matinee on some random cable channel but they were hard to find until the Hallmark channel came along.

Thank goodness for Silverado. And while I’m not a big fan of Lawrence Kasdan’s screenwriting abilities, the cast was awesome. Brian Dennehy, who was so good, Scott Glenn, a young, hot Kevin Costner, Jeff Fahey as bad guy personified and James Gammon as the leader of the outlaws who had the best line in the movie. “I think there’s only a couple of guys up there and this asshole is one of them.” Loved it!

Young Riders. Young Riders fulfilled my Western needs. With a cast full of hunky guys who knew how to shoot and ride I was hooked. It also got me to thinking about my childhood western fantasies. The one about a girl named Jenny and her brother…

And Chase The Wind became a story. A six book series about cowboys and Indians and the joys and desperations of living and building a nation. I was inspired by Cowboys.

But inspiration is hard to find these days. Open Range was pretty good. I loved the scene were Kevin Costner didn’t waste any time and just killed the bad guy.

Outsider. Tim Daly. Enough said. Nope. Sigh…….Was he great in that movie or what? And somehow my copy is missing. I’ll just have to buy a new one.

And just recently, 3:10 to Yuma. If anything revived the Western, this movie was it. Everything you could want. Well it would have been nice if Christian Bale lived but still, a great, great film. I haven’t seen the new Brad Pitt movie with the impossibly long name but hey, it’s a western and Brad Pitt is in it so it’s got to be good.

In my books I have several cowboys. Jamie, Chase, Ty, Caleb, Jake and Zane. These guys are based on some real life heroes. My sons and their friends. If we lived a hundred and twenty years ago, I’m pretty sure this is how they’d act.

Cowboys. You just gotta love them. I’m pretty sure there’s still several of them around. I even know a few, which is kind of strange considering I live in North Carolina.

Now if I could just find my copy of Outsider….

Cindy Holby author of
Chase The Wind
Wind Of The Wolf
Crosswinds
Windfall
Forgive The Wind
Whirlwind

And her newest release, Rising Wind, which is not about cowboys but frontiersmen who have their own stories to tell.