Last week I spoke about the way Game of Thrones engages with feminism, specifically through its use of Daenerys Targaryen to portray the ultimate western feminist “badass” fantasy: an alpha male lover, tremendous power/influence, dominion over men and tremendous unearned privilege were all part of the equation there.
Today I want to discuss how Game of Thrones depicts the counterpart to this fantasy: the ultimate beta male/white knight, the nightmare that accompanies the feminist dream.
Ser Jorah Mormont is a an exiled Westerosi knight who has advised Daenerys since her wedding with Khal Drogo. On paper, he’s an OK guy: he looks alright, is a skilled fighter, possesses vast amounts of knowledge and comes from a solid “highborn” (noble) pedigree. He’s also loyal, patient and devoted, qualities that enable him to make Daenerys’ transition into life as a Queen possible and keep her alive in the process. It isn’t implausible to conclude that she would be dead without him.
The problem is that, during this process, he put Daenerys on a tremendous pedestal and subsequently became one of the more cringe-worthy cases of betatude on television today. How so?
1. He is the ever-present servant.
The man is always present and ever diligent in service to his queen, constantly professing his subordination to her and his will to serve her loyally and eternally. He seems to verbally reaffirm this commitment in just about every other episode.
You could say that he’s just doing his job. The problem, of course, is that he sees Daenerys as more than a boss, and women do not respect men that are easily controlled. Mormont’s position as the “ever-present servant” to his beloved queen sets up a cringe-worthy dynamic in which his pedestalization and the romantic tension it creates clashes with his subservient role and Daenerys’ innate tendency to be sexually repulsed by it.
2. He pines silently for a single woman.
Jorah has been out in the non-Westerosi world for many years now and understands it very well. He’s an exotic, respected and knowledgeable traveler who, if he wanted, could probably enjoy a number of sexual options across the many lands he has traveled.
Aside from the pay-for-play scene (whores are well used in the show by men with less to offer than him), there are probably plenty of attractive non-working girls in Essos who could have given it up or, if he so chose, started a family with him. Mormont spent an inordinate amount of time among the Dothraki, a people whose women are not portrayed as sexually conservative or shy in the story.
Instead of taking advantage of this, Mormont chooses to pine for Daenerys, the only girl who seems to exist across the many lands he travels with her. He doesn’t explore other sexual options and instead spends his time wishing, hoping and then heaping profuse amounts of praise upon his princess (and often getting out-dueled for her affection).
The result of all this, of course, is a sexually frustrating existence of the kind familiar to many a beta male.
3. That woman wants little to do with him, and it shows.
Women hate beta males. Daenerys Targaryen, mother of dragons or not, is a woman, and Jorah Mormont is most certainly a beta male. This sets up a number of cringe-inducing interactions in the story as Jorah’s thinly veiled infatuation and very clear devotion to his queen meets with her natural tendency to want nothing to do sexually with such a man.
Aside from any natural repulsion to betas (the evolutionary sources of which are well documented in the manosphere), Daenerys’ conditioning may also explain her inability to warm to Jorah Mormont. After all, her first romantic and sexual experiences came courtesy of this guy:
How can Jorah be expected to compete with that?
In pursuing the goal of self-improvement, it is important to keep a metaphorical map in mind. This map should track your destination, your current location and the points behind you that you seek to distance yourself from.
Jorah Mormont represents one of the points that should always be in your rearview mirror. He is everything that the male concerned with self-improvement should strive not to be: supplicating, needy, plagued with oneitis for a woman who asserts near total control over him and easily overshadowed by more substantial men.
It is in the interest of every male concerned with self-improvement to consciously avoid falling into these patterns of behavior. A Mormont-esque lifetime of sexual frustration awaits those who fail to do so.
Don’t Miss: How Game Of Thrones Depicts The Ultimate Feminist
Saw those clips. First I’ve ever watched of Game of Thrones. Fuck it’s gay. Reminds me of Days of our Lives, which, admittedly, was a blast to watch while stoned.
It is a pretty bad show. I watched the entire first season just to be fair, and it’s awful.
Just so we have a baseline, what do you consider a good TV show? 🙂
Don’t watch tv anymore, just download movies and shit. Watching old episodes of the Tom Green show right now (the Canadian stuff), not good but it keeps me entertained. BBC version of the Office was good. First season of Entourage was alright. Uh, that’s all I can think of right now.
Oh yeah, first two seasons of Arrested Development were great, also, Monty Python was good.
Oh yeah, first two seasons of Arrested Development were great, also, Monty Python was good.
Forgot the best show of all time: South Park. If you disagree you can go lick the cheese from your granny’s asshole.
First 1.5 seasons of Arrested Development.
The Sopranos, more or less.
Seinfeld.
Breaking Bad.
+1 for Seinfeld.
You’re crazy man this show has everything from sword fighting to winter zombies to doggystyle. Plus season 1 was just the surface, it keeps getting better.
You play WOW, right?
Haha no and I don’t think they attract the same crowd either.
Alright, second guess: You thought The Hobbit rocked?
O-face,
Grow up bro. Your shaming attempts are almost fat-feminist tier.
So you like the Hobbit then? Nothing wrong with that. I think it fucking sucks but, hey, each to their own.
I have to agree: it’s pure soap opera. My sister grew up watching Days of our Lives and I saw the connection in Season 1: Split characters into groups of two and threes then force them to interact over bullshit relationship and interpersonal dramas in a limited number of standing sets. If anything that sounds expensive happens, it usually always happens off-screen and then the characters tell the audience what happened.
Add the unrealistic Girl Power vibe of the whole thing, and I honestly can’t figure out why guys won’t STFU about it.
I think because it’s fantasy, and it’s rare to see a fantasy show that is as big and well-marketed and takes itself as seriously as GoT does, and the types of people that fantasy appeals to: nerds. Low on the totem pole men.
I’ve met people with whom I briefly discussed the show, giving very little of my opinion regarding its artistic merit as most people don’t like when you criticize something they like. One was my sister, the other was her orbiting friend who always wears a fedora and ripped jeans and a t-shirt, and is fat.
yah but swords and dragons
Hilarious. I’ve never seen it and probably never will. But even my submissive, subservient foreign bride does that eye glaze-over thing if I treat her nicely when she is pissed.
A woman’s eyes will tell you more truth than her hamster ever will.
That’s why I watch them more than anything.
Beware of the woman that smiles, but it is not reflected in her eyes.
White knighting should be made a crime. f****, even women hate white knighting. Let’s give them what they want.
Every time I lost my rag and yelled at a biatch, she fell just a little bit more for me. Even when we’re working on the job just as colleagues. Let’s face it, most women are not sane and won’t be able to truly love you unless you are able to become a narcissistic sociopathic psychopath.
Narcissistic sociopathic psychopath is too many things to remember.
Be a leader…that’s basically what those three traits put together are.
Women want niceness and sensitivity, but not in huge, constant doses. If you do that they end up despising and looking down on you, for some reason.
the following sad example, i was going to post it under the recent
Japanese girl article, but saw it even more related to this ultimate
white knight beta nightmare article, here it goes; an irish friend of
mine (slightly shorter, and fatter than average, though hardly anyone in
ireland is in a healthy shape), had succession of relationships with
asian girls. He met a Japanese girl, and they were “in love,” this
friend of mine would call me a “socialist” for not settling down and
getting married and having children in our mid 20s (needless to say, he
didnt have the resources or organization to do any of this), who only
requires vapid uninhibited sex/ONS. The friend would obviously consider
this gf an ultimate priority in his life, (increasingly/implicitly
putting any former social life aside) only travelling if it was to see
her (she lived in japan, and yes, he travelled all the way there).
whenever i(the only 1 politically incorrect enough to crtiticize his
long distance romance), he would get all upset and angry the second i
brought up the subject, and “are you calling my gf a liar!” is the
response i would get, if i had a different opinion to her(when she
wasn’t even around, thousands of kms away).
after thousands spent on
airfare, after about 2 years she came to live with him in his
appartement… for FREE (major beta alert!). she worked in a sushi
restaurant at first (turned out she fucked a waiter), got fired and
fucked the chef in the next place she worked in. she came up with some
shit like she still loved him when he found out. now, (after he moved
out of his own place due to the “emotional shock, he’s become a more
decent guy again, now that he’s not with her anymore.(even if i’d expect
some kind of explanation+apology from those “nice guy” beta friends, as
i’m sure a lot of readers here have; who are decent guys who get all
romantic and idealistic for months about a girl, show their long time
friends less respect than to the girl they are with (in the example
above, who knows how many men she was fucked by over the months she was
in japan), and then show back up right after months, and talk to you as
if you’d regularly been hangin out recently amongst your homies, and ask
you “where’s the party tonight?” (where tbh, any1 would feel like
answering; i told you your gf wasn’t an angel to worship… so you
don’t consider your friends anymore as disposable next to your romantic
trip?)
as for japanese girls in general, my friend told me me
according to his extensive research, testimonials they all cheat. idk,
i’ve had 0 experience with any japanese, or other asian.
“Women hate beta males.”
Unrelated to the article, but god that links to one of the most omega sites I’ve ever seen. Some A-list frustration going on over there.
Really.
the guy is upset about conspiracy theories ruining the MRM by ‘sidetracking’ it, but devotes much of his MRM blog to discussing game, which he thinks is a conspiracy. unlike other conspiracy theories, such as the jews/rothschilds/central bank ruling the world, anybody can prove that game is real by actually running it. But this guy doesnt and has never even tried.this is in spite of demanding proof from pickup artists that game is real, while disparaging roissy (who regularly provided studies proving various game concepts). he doesnt get laid, but feels as if he is qualified to speak about what works and what doesnt when it comes to getting laid.
the funniest part is that throughout all of this, he accuses pickup artists of being schizophrenic. anyone who knows anything about schizophrenics knows that the telltale sign of schizophrenia is disqualifying everything you say/do, which is exactly what the author of that blog does.
most of my experience with the MRM comes from the spearhead, so i didnt understand why people in the manosphere hated them so much, but if this is the standard MRA i can see why…
it is a slightly unusual situation… if he banged her, she’d be degraded to some extent….no longer the powerful queen, just his wife…. if he brought his own wife on board, that would be a burden to the mission… he is a man on a mission, not a man that wants to start a family…..
i guess the solution would to be her secret lover….. he missed his chance after drogo died….. that would have made the story more interesting….
if they’d been lovers and she’d taken on other men only for manipulation and political reasons… the story would have way more depth…. a bonnie and clyde feel to it….
as it stands he’s just a guy that wants revenge for his exile, and he’s beta’d himself to do it…..
manosphere goes mainstream
http://live.wsj.com/video/opinion-why-men-are-boycotting-marriage/F819DD1F-1FC8-41E7-9FCC-707DEDD9821E.html?mod=WSJ_article_outbrain&obref=obnetwork#!F819DD1F-1FC8-41E7-9FCC-707DEDD9821E
… and it’s simply one woman talking to another in a superficial, chatty way about What Men Want.
just remember, without the GOVERNMENT protecting women, there’d be very few “betas”. If we want a woman, we can just take her. If she talks shit, we can beat her.
Western women are schizophrenic. They demand the government to emasculate the men, and then whine about how “there’s no real men, strong men, left”.
Why do you faggots even waste time with such dumb cunts? Totally BOYCOTT western women, and instead of wasting your money on such stupid cunts (you are also feeding their egos by giving them attention), save it and travel to Thailand or Russia or whatever and meet nad bang women there.
Western women are out of control and must be boycotted, otherwise their ego complexes will continue to grow. You faggots are doing no one a favor by continuing to pander to western women.
If you think that is good, wait until the economy (potentially) fails, and Drogos rise up the world over scaring the hell out of everyone. There is a reason why many Americans don’t go to Africa, the dictatorial and malicious nature over there has been feminist narratived to death in our “culture.” The women and men here all altogether nonplussed about the unknown.
Why they fawn over the brave men (and women hahahahahaha) of our armed forces. They keep the bad boogeymen away by dying, so these Westernized pussies don’t have to die because of them.
Now they have attacked their own warriors by putting women of all ranks over them in headship 9Read potential FRA with no consequence, like E-1 Sally can bust up O-10 super warrior). I guess women here only saw the movie of Troy, and it was lost on them what happens when the rulers diss their greatest warriors…..they don’t show up:
Good luck with that.
I have no idea what you just said.
Yeah, it was a little verbose. Here’s the simplified version: Chinese women are dirty little imbred sluts and if you’re going to fuck one you should only cum on their face. In the second paragraph Jesse went on to say: Chinese men have small dicks and are eaten up with rage at the western man’s large penis. And the last paragraph Jesse described how to abort Chinese baby’s that are 6 months +. Yeah, he took it a little far, but some good advice there.
Why so much unprovoked bitterness?
Face it, China is the future while whites are going down the tube. Raging on the internet isn’t going to change reality.
Slave, slave, slave, suicide, slave, slave, suicide, slave, slave.
These “slaves” are about to surpass your country as superpower. So what does that make you?
Hold on. Let me get another jug for all your white tears.
Not American, ching chong. Hang on, why do you have time to write to me? Aren’t you meant to be making my ipod right now, yella-fella? And I need new shoes, cunt. Make me some god-damn shoes. Ooh, gonna cwy to your mommy? Oh, that’s right, she committed suicide after 96 straight hours of sewing t-shirts.
Man, I envy you Chinese, you got soooo much future.
Hang on, do you really think you make more money than me? Look at yourself, hanging onto my every post because you got hurt in the other thread.
Need a tissue?
Nah, keep it. You’ll need it for when you’re wanking to western porn.
Porn? I prefer to spend my seed inside Western women. Gotta do my part and contribute to that white genocide, you know.
HAhahaha. First you’ll have to find a Western girl who won’t laugh her ass off when she sees your Asian size dick.
China has an export economy totally dependent on western purchasing power. If the status of the west suffers so will China. It’s possible that if the west falls then China will go down as well unless the Chinese can get their own form of the petrol dollar.
Who said anything about the West falling? China’s rise has been nothing if not peaceful. She will conquer without destroying, and her enemies will strain to offer any insult better than “Your people are too industrious and productive.”
She will continue to supply ipods, shoes, tshirts, and whatever else the world might need, because she knows that the world belongs to those who produce value, not those who sit behind their computer screens cradling their microgenitalia bragging about how their culture produces the best pornography.
Let’s not advocate rape or beating women, it just brings bad attention to the movement.
What I want are just sensible women who don’t whine about every little thing, base their opinions on reason instead of feelings or the latest liberal value.
Hark! ‘Tis the magical unicorn I see! Let us be off and sport with this rare creature and catch it if we may!
This was fucking funny! True, and fucking funny!
I agree with your points, Athlone, most women are repulsed by betas, and Jorah’s behaviour – when Danny is present, at least – is excruciatingly beta. Maybe only Samwell Tarly can beat him in that department.
Tactically speaking, it would be a bad move for Danny to take this man as a lover. Jorah was exiled because he was selling people to be enslaved, which is a heinous crime in Westeros. He dishonoured himself and his house. And she’s got a thing with slavery, and “Breaker of Chains” is one of the 2429348290348 titles that come with her name. A consort like him is no good for her reputation, and having a good reputation and being loved is one her key strategies to get power and support (by contrast, Joffrey’s and Cersei’s strategy is only to be feared). I believe she’ll count on that when she gets to Westeros too.
But sure, your analisys is about the way she feels about him, not her strategies.
It’s good to remember that Jorah betrayed Daenerys. He only went after her and Viserys to spy on them for his personal gain. He was selling secret reports to Varys and hoped to earn a royal pardon from King Robert. When King Robert was informed, via Jorah, that Daenerys was preagnant with Drogo’s child, he decided to have her killed. But then Jorah was falling in love with her, so he thwarted the King’s plans. She doesn’t know that in the show yet.
So, despite his beta behaviour, Jorah is not a genuinely nice/honoured dude. He’s not on the same moral level that Robb, Ned, Brienne, Jon Snow and even Sammuel Tarly are; he’s more on the grey side.
i could make love to a slave. totally. in fact id prefer it. i could think of a MILLION reasons why its better. but no room for that so i will only list a few.
she cooks. she cleans. and she cant tell me no.
she lives to please, literally thats all she lives to do.
she calls the cops, all i gotta do is show proof of ownership.
when im tired of her at least i can get my money back. provided i dont bruise her up. use that money for an upgrade.
SPOILER: Jorah was selling people to be enslaved because he went broke. And why he went broke? He was spending all he had and more to please his highborn wife who was bored with him and his remote island home. Then she dumped him and married some rich guy from the Free Cities.
Haha, that’s true. The show mirrors real life, betas are unnable to learn with their past experiences, they’re surprisingly immune to them.
Jorah is a very interesting character. My thing with Jorah is that he’s a man with beta behavior AND weak morals.
Betas humilliate and embarass themselves, they might even ruin themselves for a oneitis. But putting all morals aside and ruining other people’s lives is something else entirely.
There are some moral boundaries you simply do not cross. It was Jorah’s choice to sell people as slaves. We can’t blame anyone else for his decision, not even the high-maintenance bitch he was in love with. That’s what personal responsibility is about.
I feel sorry for betas who are genuinely nice and generous guys. I have some friends like that; being good is part of who they are, it’s not something they fake occasionaly when it suits them. They are nice indeed, and not just with the bitches they want to fuck. It really sucks to see them getting all the shit they get.
However, I have no respect nor pity for man with beta behaviour AND weak morals.
i really think that the definition should be reexamined.
after all, beta is only the second letter and people act as though these are among the worst qualities one can exhibit.
it is completely unrealistic for their to be more than just a few alphas and i find it even worse than ‘beta’ when people act as though they are hot shit as opposed to owning up to who they really are.
scottie pippen was beta. lou gehrig was beta.
either kobe bryant or shaq was beta. i guess that one depends on your opinion.
plenty of other examples in sports.
just because you are second to michael jordan, that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
its important to be YOUR best.
we cannot ALL be the greatest ever.
lol i read man blogs and watch game of thrones i am playa level expert
I must be old. This show does not engage me at all.
Nah. It’s just politics in a fantasy setting. It’s not that great.
you are citing a fantasy tv show to demonstrate examples of gender dynamic in real life? is tv where you re-enforce your beliefs to yourself?
bad place to start brah. you are just asking for comments like this.
anybody know how to subscribe via rss only to certain writers on this site?
“you are citing a fantasy tv show to demonstrate examples of gender
dynamic in real life?”
Yes, he is. So what?
“is tv where you re-enforce your beliefs to
yourself?”
No. it isn’t.
http://i.imgur.com/8p5Ds.gif
touché.
Women might be repulsed by male slaves(who pressure all men to be slaves, too,) but women don’t seek to push them away. Women use male slaves for everything they can.
A woman pushes all the men in her life to be white knight manginas. She hopes to pursue affairs with desirable men outside of her circle, only to discover that most men were turned into Michael Ceras by women who did exactly as she did. The failure of women to comprehend basic math knows no bounds.
Obviously, people can dislike the show for all I care, but a serious question for the “haters” (the people with ingenious comments like “its totally gay lol, modern feminist propaganda lol): you do realize that the show is based on the book series that started in the early 90’s, and that Martin has been writing similarly themed fiction way back in the 70’s? And that most of the characters, good or bad, end up paying a price for their mistakes(because in real world, unlike a feminist utopia, people face the consequence of their actions)?
If you aren’t aware of any of this why are you even wasting everybody’s time commenting about it? I’m sure you have way cooler things to do, for example spitting cheesy pickup lines to a drunk slut in a local bar and pretending that it’s your social suaveness that gets you laid, and not the intoxication and the loose morals on the sluts’ part.
Also, the argument that “it’s a book, it sucks, that’s gay lol” doesn’t prove your superior intelligence; it only proves your ignorance about the fact that good literature(and art in general) reflects life, for better or worse. But then again, you probably think that Shakespeare or Wilde didn’t have nearly as good as grasp on social dynamics as the author of the new “how to get laid like a god in 3 easy steps” article complete with pictures for easier understanding.
Either way, GOT portrays social dynamics pretty accurately. Jorah acts like a beta and gets friendzoned; Daario acts like a douchebag and gets the girl. Just like in the real world. What’s there not to understand? If nothing, GRRM tells it as the way it is.
Alright, here goes: With internet dating if you’ve got a bad picture, a generic profile write-up and spit cheesy lines like, “Girl I’m going to make you sweat, sweat till you can’t sweat no more. And if you dry out I’m going to push it some more,” you’re probably not going to get very far – just like in real life. And vice versa… just like in real life.
And yet, internet dating’s fucking gay as shit. Yeah, there are exceptions, like when you’re going to be travelling and want to hook up some fuck-buddy’s before you even get there. But, in general, it’s gay as fuck.
There, did that explain it clearly enough for you? Fantasy=gay, reality=less gay.
idk about all this but I really want to own a dragon
Haha, Ser Jorah is an even bigger Beta than he appears in the show. If they explore his past in the upcoming seasons, you will see that he is beta to the max.
However, I don’t agree that Game of Thrones(the books at least) embraces feminism. In the book, Dany is portrayed as a lonely troubled girl who cries a lot and craves cock, who must make harsh decisions and put on a strong face in a cold world. Quite far from the superwoman portrayed in the show
Well said.
Damn those last 4 pictures were fucking hilarious hahaha. Man I can relate to this, I use to act so “beta” with girls in high school 3yrs ago. Makes me cringe when I remember being needy with the girls I was dating, having oneitis syndrome, etc. Thank goodness I discovered self improvement by accident
Athlone I love your analysis of Game of Thrones
thats the biggest load of bullshit one yet.
is there supposed to be nothing but alphas?
or worse, should everyone be so fucking pretentious and full of shit that they act like alphas?
women are not just fucked in the head because they are all wired to go after the same 3 people. they are fucked up because everyone is full of shit.
the pedestal is an alternative to complete subjugation and servitude. it has its flaws but otherwise there is no respect between anyone.
how the fuck do people live together? most of the time they don’t live in harmony and are not united.
beta? don’t you know any more letters than just the first two malaka??
fuck dude.. i’d probably more accurately fit into something closer to anywhere between delta and omega.
but i’m not gonna go around with great delusions and i don’t think it serves any good in the long run acting as though you are the absolute shit regardless if you are the prime specimen or not. the way i see it, we are all one.
women are all going to go for the guy who doesn’t appreciate them at all and doesn’t really give a fuck about anyone but himself? well that fucking sucks but it is their problem as much as it is mine.
that’s no way to find equal life partners that truly respect and care about each other.
you can enjoy the hollow endless conquest for poon. i will be the hopeless romantic ser lord captain save a ho the righteous.
i may not play a significant part in evolution. i may not even be respected by the women i love. but i will respect myself for actually trying to connect with the person and not just the genitals they are attached to.
i just thought that i would add that; yes the whole alpha male theory has a lot of proof to support it. but it isn’t the whole truth.
women also find boy bands and justin beiber irresistible.
so alpha is not the whole equation. popularity, status and how desired someone is by others plays a large role in what women find desirable.
lets face it, 99% of the guys acting and posturing as though they are alpha, are really betas cleaning up on the scraps left behind by the true alphas.
there are only so much alphas to go around and even they cannot screw more than a couple dozen horny women each night.
the true alpha isn’t the least bit concerned or threatened by others opinions of them.
they do not need advice. their score has already been tallied.
and yet, the alpha female… well all women are convinced that they are both alpha as well as omega. alpha because every male relentlessly tries to screw them regardless of their qualities. all the way to omega because of women’s innate shame and insecurities.
cut off protection. let the enemy rape her. cut off provision. share with her none of the gazelle carcass.
To the original poster, you’ve misconstrued the character and are assuming the character is a “beta male” vis a vis Drogo and Daario. This is partly because the show has had to gloss over certain pieces of character background. As of season 3 they also chose to remove certain scenes between Jorah and Daenerys.
To be blunt, Jorah is not some awkward nerd nervously pining over Daenerys and being overshadowed by better men.
Firstly, this character has fought in two of the most major wars of the series, including fighting at the Trident against the Targaryens and was also one of the first men into the breach at Pyke against the Greyjoys. Which means the character has killed a lot of people and continues to do so in Danys POV. You’re also very wrong to say that the character doesn’t excel in typical masculine pursuits. In the books it is made clear that Jorah won the tourney of Lannisport and broke 16 lances against Jamie Lannister. Winning this was how he won the heart of his second wife, the beautiful Lynesse Hightower, who was of far higher station than him. Thats pretty impressive by any measure and given that winning a tourney is like winning the superbowl in this society. So the characters achievements are not those of a “beta male” that all men should aspire not to be.
As regards the putting “Dany on a pedestal” and not sleeping with other women; two things. One, in a later book Jorah is shown as having been sleeping with a whore with silver hair and in his backstory he is supposed to have been promiscuous “I had my share of fishwives and crofters daughters” on bear island. In fact he is bluntly honest to Dany that this included during his first marriage as this was a dutiful arranged couple. But the main thing is, of course he puts Dany on a pedestal. She is the main female character and his Queen who has supernatural powers and birthed dragons into the world. It is repeatedly established in the books that she is THE most beautiful woman in the world. That requires some measure of respect. Indeed, Dany herself doesn’t seem to mind OTT statements and seems to appreciate this. Drogo calls her “moon of my life” and Daarios flamboyant professions of love certainly draw her interest. Plus, Dany was deeply in love with Khal Drogo and if you read her POV she is still in mourning. So its not surprising that Jorah doesn’t try to make an advance when Dany is in such a state. You also have to remember that Jorah wants to get home and was spying on Daenerys. In the early books, even after the dragons are born, it is still very unlikely that Dany could triumph against the Baratheons and so admitting his feelings is clearly tied to finally throwing his lot completely in with Dany. Finally, book Jorah does make an advance on Dany during the first chapter of ASOS, for whatever reason the show producers chose to remove that scene and a lot of the interaction between them which follows. So its unfair to argue that Jorahs behavior represents a lack of him manning up and being honest with his feelings.
As for the submissive behavior. He is her knight and sworn to obey her. It is his job to do what she says. Khal Drogo and Daario are not bound in a similar way (her dothraki bloodriders are however and they are equally deferntial to her). This is by definition not an equal relationship. Indeed, you’ve got to remember that Dany only settles in to her relationship with Drogo once she sexually dominates him and he becomes much more meek towards her. Whilst with Daario, she frequently gets frustrated and annoyed at the characters willful and dominant behavior. Again, going off the books, Jorah is anything but weak and submissive in general. He threatens to cut Viserys hands off if he takes the dragon eggs. When Dany is going into labor he says he will cut the midwives heads off if they don’t come. When he dons his armor, a dothraki insults him as a coward and after an exchange of words it ends in a fight and him killing the man. In fact he is quite thuggish. Also, Dany is supposed to have come to believe that Jorah was telling her advice that would make her doubt other men and have to rely on just him; after he tells her that Daario could tell the Yunkish about their surprise attack. This is IMO debatable but certainly to Danys mind Jorah is slightly controlling and patronizing of her. “I will always be his cub to him” and Dany wonders whether he really thinks of her as her queen at all. Again, a lot of this nuance and conflict is glossed over in the show and especially in the latest season due to each character only having a few minutes per episode.
Incidently, physically Ian Glein looks nothing like book Jorah. In the books he is meant to look like his sigil (bear). This huge muscle bound hairy guy with a balding scalp (although he is still a head shorter than Drogo; but then Drogo is a space marine :D). Glein is less physically impressive and I certainly noticed this with how Daario’s actor was much taller and well built than him. Things like this convey the wrong impression to show viewers.
But I digress. As I said before, Jorah is not some awkward nerd as you seem to be implying. This is purely because of how the show chose to portray Jorah and through not telling the characters backstory. Danys problem with Jorah is not that he is not a masculine character or a nerd or lacks sexual experience; her problem is that he is supposed to be not physically attractive “his big ugly face” as she thinks at one point.
Elric by Michael Moorcock was and always will be my favorite fantasy epic aside from Tolkien. Never could get into Game of Thrones. In the novels the fight scenes are terrible, reading like a Dungeons & Dragons exchange of hit points and armor class. The show has a lot of violence and sex that seems gratuitous. And the characters all seem like power hungry moral nihilists. The only one I liked was Ned Stark. I would have thought it was friggin awesome when I was 18. Maybe I’m just getting old.