Hey,
I just found this forum a few days ago, so this'll be my first post. Thanks to det for putting this together. I never expected to be able to discuss this topic with others, and I appreciate the opportunity.
I'm probably a little older than most on here, and when I first became aware of the "reaction" to what we're calling ryona, there weren't computer games (or even personal computers), just comics, magazines and TV or movies. I was eight, on a cross-country road trip, when I had my "awakening". In the early seventies, there was a period where Wonder Woman gave up her powers and fought crime as a normal woman, wearing an assortment of all white outfits. I bought one of these comics on the trip, and a particular panel in it had a profound effect on me. This huge, armored sort of Norse fighter dude backhanded Diana during a fight. The panel that got me showed her kneeling with her head hung forward, long dark hair hiding her face from the guy, with her fingertips touching her cheek where he had slapped her. The image ignited feelings in me that i hadn't experienced before. It was exiting, dangerous, taboo and ... something else too.
A lot of time has passed since then, but the feelings are still there. I've spent time trying to understand where this comes from and I'm of the mind that it's less environmental than genetic. I think that if it hadn't been that one image that I described, it would have been something else along the same lines that would have set me off. As for why it's a turn-on, that's a pretty complex question. Women in general are smaller, less strong and less aggressive than men, so a woman choosing to fight is a bold move. It makes her the underdog, which is exciting. Also, a woman is putting more on the line, in a way. If a male hero loses, the bad guy gets away. If a female hero loses, well, it leaves her vulnerable to other forms of attack. It's so brave of a woman to put herself in that position. So the idea of a woman risking all that, bravely depending on her strength, skill and smarts, and then having a fight start to go against her ... it gives me this intense feeling of oh no, what's going to happen now? Will she be defeated? And if she is, what then? Then there's the facial expressions and sounds when she is losing, which can be just like the sounds and expressions during sex. That's an important component for me.
I don't know if any of that really adds anything to the discussion, but it felt good to finally talk about it. Thanks.