In an attempt to diversify my movie preferences, I recently queued up the 1976 Sylvester Stallone flick, Rocky. Never having seen the movie all the way through – and therefore knowing only the bare minimum: that it's my Pennsylvanian duty to run up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art whenever the opportunity presents itself – I was curious as to the actual plot points of the classic film.

As I watched, I was struck by a seemingly superficial observation – or perhaps confusion. I couldn't decide whether or not Rocky was hot. Obviously a subjective (and admittedly a shallow) question, I randomly took to an Instagram poll to help me decide. "Is Rocky hot?" I asked my followers. Spoiler! The results were about as even as Balboa and Creed.

Now, my (limited) experience with Qualtrics is nagging me to address the faults of this "survey." Again, appearance is obviously a subjective matter. Further, I had a relatively low sample size of peers – i.e. Instagram followers – and therefore somewhat skewed demographics of age, sex, etc. All that said, my results were enlightening, since they revealed an almost 50/50 split.

I was struck by the number of male participants that voted "yes," in part because I didn't really expect any male participants at all. Further, I assume, at least to some degree, that all participants (male or female) felt at least somewhat strongly about the matter, since they had the option not to vote at all.

I wonder if the male response says anything about ideal masculinity. Rocky, one could argue, represents the hard-working, meat-punching masculine ideal. Clearly expressing himself physically – and not, for example, intellectually – Rocky still captures the hearts of millions. The proof is in the sequels. Rocky was – and in many ways, still is – a phenomenon that reflects culture. The question is: how appropriate/admirable/attractive is that culture?

There is certainly something to be said about the physical demands of boxing and how easily those can translate to a muscular physique, a disciplined mind, a tough-guy attitude, etc., all of which are sometimes considered "attractive" in our culture. However, I think the character of Rocky Balboa leaves a little something to be desired.

That "little something" is, in short, respect for women. His interactions with Adrian are troubling at best. Need I remind you of the first date? After forcing her to go on the ice-skate date in the first place, he physically restricts her from leaving his apartment after the fact: a dynamic that results in…a passionate kiss? Something's not right here. What message is Rocky sending? That the perfect man doesn't take no for an answer? Like I said, troubling.

For me, Rocky the boyfriend negates Rocky the fighter. Macho is nothing desirable when it transcends the occupation and infiltrates the personal. Frankly, Adrian deserved better.

Now, this article very well may be my equivalent of the Carrie Bradshaw French fry article of Sex and the City season 5, but nonetheless, I think the Rocky debate might shed some important light on so-called attractive masculinity. It's no surprise that our media, particularly film, has been crafting the idea of "the perfect man" for decades, i.e. Nicholas Sparks books, Kate Hudson movies, etc. But that's only all the more reason to really analyze what we're being fed…just like Carrie analyzed those fries.