1) They want to tame the beast.
I recognize the impulse, but I think it's a conscious rationalization of the deeper wish that some of that agression might rub off on one.
2) Repetition compulsion tied to the need to rehearse and master the childhood experience of the "absent father" -- absent because at work or, more commonly, emotionally absent.
That doesn't really compute as absent fathers affect both male and female children, but we do not see the male attraction to dangerous women.
My theory/revelation:
Women, being culturally constructed into passivity, compensate by associating with aggressive/inconsiderate/wild men. As noted in (1) above, the wish is to experience aggression by proxy, and hence the attraction to that kind of male. Perhaps there's also the expectation that dangerous men are less repressed and therefore would make more passionate lovers, but that may be more of a personal non-sequitur.
I'm hoping, actually, that my "noticing" this has something to do with the fact that I have outgrown it....but what do you all think about the theory itself--based on experience (not wonk studies please)? If I'm right, it would also follow that women who are capable of self-assertion are less likely to be attracted to these kinds of men.
Joanna