This wasn't my intention when I posted this question, but it seems like our answers are associated with our gender. The women seem to define manliness as attractive qualities a man can possess? The men define manliness as... I dunno how to explain it... anyone else want to give it a shot?

resourcefullness? is that a word?

These points sum up my thoughts:
* James Bond is a cool name. Angus MacGyver... isn't.
* James Bond is sexy and dangerous. MacGyver is the type of boy that your father would set you up on a blind date with.
* James Bond wears expensive designer suits. MacGyver wears a suede jacket with a polo shirt and blue jeans.
* James Bond drives the coolest cars from Aston Martin, BMW, and Lotus. MacGyver drives a dingy old Jeep, which (to avoid risking coolness) is later replaced by an old station wagon.
* James Bond is supplied high tech-gadgetry by Q Branch that run on nonsensoleum. MacGyver builds his own gadgets from mundane objects (although he also has a pocket Infinite Improbability Drive that he uses on them).
* James Bond has no problem with killing people and legal permission to do it. MacGyver tries to avoid killing people; his villains die (when they die) by accident or by direct application of the Villain Ball. James Bond uses guns while MacGyver doesn't.
* James Bond spends Christmas saving the world from a bioterrorist threat. MacGyver spends Christmas helping a local gym run a charity play.
* James Bond managed to kill his archnemesis eventually. MacGyver's unwillingness to kill anybody is so powerful, it selectively rewrites the laws of the universe to allow Murdoc to survive crumbling buildings, point blank explosions, thousand foot falls, and being submerged in boiling water.
* James Bond saves the world. MacGyver saves the kids of the community from counterfeit baseball cards.

Therefore,
James Bond > Angus MacGyver

*snip*

I would argue that these points don't help in the manliness department. I mean, his name is Angus. That's like being named Beef. What's more manly than red meat?

I'm not really familiar enough with MacGyver to argue against your other points. I do know he didn't kill (or use a gun), and I guess that could be a strike against his manliness.

I know you didn't come up with those on your own. What was your source?

whatever her source is, she's right on the money!

yeah, there's definitely a difference in definitions. Audewie, Aquarius, how do you define "manliness"?

Good call dom: http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/WMG/MacGyver

also from this page:
*On the flip side, James Bond enjoys golf, a sport second only to shuffleboard amongst old retired men. MacGyver enjoys hockey, a sport second only to rugby for brutal violence outside the rules.

I didn't realize MacGyver vs. Bond was a thing. I just tried to pick a famous improviser and a famous "has every tool for the job" guy.

Nope.. i wasn't claiming to have made up them.. that's why I just picked the ones that I thought defined James Bond as more manly.

That's not the same place I found it though. lol

"MacGyver is a near-immortal being who engenders the Starfleet Corps of Engineering."

^^ i lol'd

you did when you didn't cite your source.

nope, that sure doesn't mean that.

ya... it kinda does

IMO, doesn't count on a forum.

Also, not my intention.