Done [JP] Just a single sentence

[magnetdance]

It's this one sentence a guy uses in the Papuwa-kun manga. I love the quote so I'm hoping someone can come up with a better translation than I have.

男は女以上に強い物に惹かれる

My try:
Men are attracted to people with power more than they are to women.

At first I was going with:
More than women, men are attracted to those with power.

But that doesn't sound too good. And can also be read as 'men are attracted to power more than women are', which is incorrect.

Help??

 

[Krelian]

"Men are more attracted to powerful things than women are." but i don't know if it's better than your translation.

 

[mikkih]

Mono: There are different kanji for a person/people and things/stuff.
You may want to adjust your translation accordingly.

 

[noutenki]

Grammatically, the sentence allows two readings:

1. Men feel an attraction to things that are more powerful than women.

2. Men are more attracted to powerful things than women are. In other words, men are more power-hungry than women.

You say 2. is incorrect, but I don't see why it would be: The meaning of the sentence changes with a single comma: 男は、女以上に強い物に惹かれる (meaning 1.) and 男は女以上に、強い物に惹かれる (meaning 2.). Since there is no comma, from a grammar point of view, both meanings are correct.

Now, as mikkih said, 物 is a thing, not a person, so "things more powerful than women" is clumsy and somewhat misogynistic. Besides, what is "more powerful than women": men? guns? dinosaurs? And even if it was 者 or もの instead of 物, "people more powerful than women" is strange, too. The first meaning, however, makes perfect sense.

 

[magnetdance]

Oh wait. Now that I think about it, I should have explained the context as well.

Knowing the character and situation this line was said it I knew it wasn't a comparison between what genders prefer but more like comparing powerful things to fun things. What he's saying at the moment storywise is how 'real men' prefer powerful people (skillful, strong, would help them get ahead in life) over women (enjoyment, sex, alcohol, etc. Having fun but not really moving forward).

I hope that was understandable ^^

 

[noutenki]

In that case I'd go with a less literal translation like "Real men are drawn to power, not to women."