Why do we like these men? 'Competency porn'.

A pair of confident hands slice a translucent piece of hamachi. Next, a blood orange compote is piped expertly onto the plate. With tweezers, we see the micro-herbs arranged one by one, as much a work of art as any hanging in the Louvre.

Collectively, we swoon. We forget, for a moment, that we're watching a work of fiction, so complete is our devotion to Carmy, played by Jeremy Allen White, on the juggernaut that is The Bear.

Sure, there's a sleepy-eyed sexiness to the anxiety-plagued chef that adds to his allure, but more than anything, it's the surety and single-mindedness with which he hones his craft that makes for such compelling viewing.

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It's also what keeps us fixated on leading men like The Pitt's Dr Robby, played by Noah Wylie, or Law & Order's Detective Elliot Stabler. The men themselves may be flawed, but when it comes to pure skill in their chosen field, they're at the top of their game.

Turns out, there's a name for this: competency porn.

The singular joy of a job well done.

The term itself was actually coined decades earlier by John Rogers, creator of US crime-drama Leverage, who wrote about the phenomenon on his blog in the late noughties.

He argued that the show was designed specifically as "competency porn" to contrast with the "idiot plotting" (where plots only move forward because characters make mistakes) prevalent in other TV dramas, citing his own epiphany while watching shows like Dr. Who where he realised that watching smart people solve problems with their brains is more satisfying than "artificial" drama.

Last week, The Guardian ran an explainer on the term, asserting: "in 2026, when it feels as though the world is moments away from any number of disasters, there is nothing hotter than watching someone do their job really, really well."

Add to that the not-insignificant impact that AI, and its ability to distil something that takes years to learn into a numbered checklist has had on the concept of mastery, and you've got even more reasons for its modern resurgence.

Why women like to watch competent men.

It's not just TV that provides this type of escapism. On TikTok, the appetite for people displaying skilled craftsmanship is almost as rabid as the appetite for people shoving cheese inside baked sweet potatoes (IYKYK).

A man in the wilderness cooking an entire meal from scratch. Someone expertly cleaning a rug with a pressure-washer. A political activist holding his own against a racist, biased news anchor.

And perhaps most notably, the 'high-effort boyfriend' trend, where women document things their partner does that would make your 'low-effort partner' quake in their boots.

@keelygaffney would not change this for the world #relationship #couplegoals ♬ original sound - keely grace

Compare and contrast this with the weaponised incompetence many women experience inside their own homes.

According to ABS data, women spend nearly two hours a day more on unpaid domestic labour than their male counterparts, even when both parents of the household work full-time.

And a 2022 study showed women's desire for their partners significantly decreased when they felt the need to 'mother' their partner or take on more of the mental load due to incompetence — weaponised or not — in the domestic sphere.

In other words: if you have to leave a 'chore list' for your partner in his own house, or explain what time the kids go to bed, or call to remind them about their mother's birthday, or buy gifts for their family because they won't remember — chances are you're pretty horny for the concept of a competent man, even if that competence only extends to slicing a piece of sashimi.

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Yes, this is heteronormative language, and imbalances exist in same-sex partnerships as well. But far and away, the data points to one thing: straight women froth when a man gets it right.

Because whether it's in our own homes, our workplaces or the highest levels of political office, the feeling that no one has a f**king clue what they're doing has never been so pronounced.

Bring on the competent men — may we celebrate them, may we love them, may we know them.

Or as an alternative, here's a thought: why not just put the women in charge instead?

Feature image: HBO Max / Disney+ / Sony Pictures.