Illustration: Peter C. Espina/GT

It seems like all my girlfriends want to talk about nowadays is Do Min-joon, a fictional character in the latest popular South Korean TV drama series You Who Came From The Stars.

Although my days of being a fan of South Korean dramas are long gone, I decided to make an exception and watch a few episodes of the show to see what all the fuss is about.

One of the series' main characters is handsome college professor Do Min-joon, played by Kim Soo-hyun. Do, an alien who lands on Earth during the 17th century, falls in love with famous actress Cheon Song-yi, the stuck-up girl next door played by Jun Ji-hyun.

As a 400-year-old, Do's clearly sophisticated. He's rich from saving money for centuries and is literally the first businessman to invest in real estate. He's blind to the beauty of other women and doesn't have any relatives, ruling out the possibility of annoying in-laws.

And as if he isn't already the perfect boyfriend, Do can even freeze time and see into future.

He is a god who tolerates his goddess's ignorance and pride. Seen as a heartthrob to his legions of adoring female fans, he combines sexiness with sophistication - something rare among men in the real world.

In the shadows of Do, all other fictional male stars are dwarfed by his brilliance. I therefore don't judge any friends obsessed with You Who Came From The Stars, or any other South Korean drama series for that matter. Female viewers are just in need of some man candy who can paralyze their brains.

What kind of men do women like? In ancient times, it was the best hunters and gatherers who guaranteed a stable life and strong genes for the next generation. In the modern era, women must search the depths of their souls and ask themselves what kind of men they want. However, the timeless stereotype of Prince Charming on a white horse perpetuated by TV dramas still sends many women's hearts aflutter.

Sadly, this reveals that modern women aren't all that independent after all. In this patriarchal society, many women are still looking for and dreaming of a host for their basic needs. Some want to be the ignorant yet blessed girl who is taken care of by their strong, chiseled-jaw hero. It hardly makes for good TV viewing among feminists, but it's what we tune in to again and again.

As women become as powerful as men, they are starting to prioritize aesthetic traits. There are beefcake studs on the covers of men's magazines, pop stars flashing their rock-hard abs and dreamy male characters in fictional literature and TV series.

Women are the target audience for soap operas, and everything is tailored to their needs.

Clearly, TV screenwriters are aware of and exploit this. South Korean dramas have been selling good-looking men and heartthrobs to women since as long as they have been around.

One girlfriend of mine even opined to me recently that South Korean soap operas are "like porn for women." Welcome to the age of men being pretty for women.

What can I say? Men on this planet obviously fail to meet the tastes of women, who must instead look to 400-year-old bachelor aliens from outer space.

With good looks, money, loyalty to his woman and super powers, Do is every woman's most "perfect boyfriend" in the universe. I'm just anxious to see what the almighty studs of South Korean dramas will be like next year.

This article was published on the Global Times Metropolitan section Two Cents page, a space for reader submissions, including opinion, humor and satire. The ideas expressed are those of the author alone, and do not represent the position of the Global Times.