Sequential Tart has a nice roundup of what shoujo manga comics professionals are reading. The longest quote is from ElfQuest creator Wendy Pini, who opines that
Extroverted girls who fantasize about dating the captain of the football team are probably less likely to be attracted to the aesthetics of shojo manga than are the more introverted, thoughtful types who are enticed, rather than put off, by gender-bender fantasies.