The number of column inches guzzled up by what women want is at an all-time high. There's almost nothing we don't know about each other's spending habits, aspirations, attitude to housework and alcohol intake.
But for a while now there's been an eerie silence on the subject of what women want when it comes to men, and there's a good reason for this. We're living in what you might call a transitional phase. We thought we had it nailed: we'd arrived at a place where men were domesticated and in touch with their feelings. But here we are, back at the drawing board, still trying to work out the combination of qualities we want in a modern man.
Here's a quick reminder of the story so far. Cast your mind way back to the unreconstructed male, who would rather eat a kangaroo's testicle than be seen carrying a baby in a papoose. Now fast forward to the 1990s and you've got New Man, who turned out to be slightly too limp for our tastes. Cut to the end of the century and New Man had adapted to become Just Gay Enough Man, and his urban offshoot Metrosexual Man, the confident cook, papoose-wearer and
Heat-browser we now think of as the model of contemporary manhood. Eureka! Mission accomplished.
Only this is the point where we fickle women got into trouble. No sooner did we have it all - the bloke who was happy to sit outside the changing room for hours on end, to snuggle up for re-runs of
Sex And The City and rustle us up low-fat, low-carb dinners - than we realised we might have got more than we bargained for. Or, to put it another way, if you turn your man into a well-moisturised, diet-conscious dab hand in the kitchen you shouldn't be surprised when he doesn't throw you down on the carpet and have his way with you. Or square up to the hoodie boys on the BMXs outside your front door. Or cushion the barbed wire fence with his coat for you to cross.
The realisation has hit that the ones who willingly accompany you on the spa holiday - and don't then skulk in the bedroom watching Sky - are very convenient but (surprise!) lacking in that essential ingredient which makes the male sex more attractive than our girlfriends. So, what we're looking for now is a man who is in touch with his masculine side - in just the right ways. My proof is the behaviour of friends, several of whom I have caught lately raising their eyes to heaven when their Just Gay Enough husbands fuss about what to wear, or cook, or who to ask for dinner.
"Wouldn't it be a relief if he just got a beer and watched the football?" one of them joked recently. Only she was serious. Not one of us regrets the cleaner feet, the tidier nose hair and the positive influences of Jamie Oliver and Gap, but image issues, clothes crises, entertaining paranoia etc are strictly our bag. The moment a man starts to care about all that stuff, you simply can't fancy him.
The new Just Man Enough Man has a delicate tightrope to walk. He must be interested in sport, but not in watching it too much. He should know all about computers, car maintenance and DIY the spend only the minimum of time involved in any of the above. He needs to have a healthy respect for body hair (unlike Metrosexual Man, who is responsible for making our follicle count women's most pressing concern), as well as love handles, laughter lines and unassisted bosoms. As far as I'm concerned, he should also be indifferent to his hair (as opposed to an accomplished blow-drier), bad weather (macs and umbrellas are
not sexy) and the art of packing beautifully.
But most of all, Just Man Enough Man must not let us call all the shots, all the time. If you look around, you'll notice roughly 80 per cent of husbands would not buy a toothbrush without their wife's permission and that's not counting the ones who aren't allowed to see old friends, wear shoes in the house, or eat dairy. Women, as much as men, are now gagging to rectify that situation. They regret beating the Bob Geldof out of their partners because, however nice it is to be in control, it makes them feel like a lot of Nurse Ratchets. Just Man Enough Man isn't afraid to leave the loo seat up, or the wet towel on the bed, or to refuse to hang out with your friends from yoga, and about time too. If there's one thing a girl likes more than getting her own way, it's a man who can't help but be manly.