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The majokko genre was born in the contest of shoujo manga and anime aimed at girls.
Originally it didn't feature any form of combat at all, which is why it never attracted a male audience on top of featuring all the common characteristic of shoujo manga.
The first who changed it all was Sailor Moon which featured a group of magical girls (as opposed to a single one) who must "fight" together against a common foe, using a format very similar to anime like Saint Seiya or Samurai Troopers.
Until then even in Japan it was considered unusual for a boy to like mahou shoujo anime and manga. I remember an interview with Naoko Takeuchi where she stated she was very surprised when she noticed that there were boys among her fans.
After that it became somewhat less uncommon for that to happen and producers of magical girls show started to try and appeal female and male audience alike.
But to be completely honest the idea that you can have "girly" anime and manga aimed at a male audience is fairly recent even in Japan.
If you could travel back in time 20 years ago I doubt you'd find anyone that would consider K-on a seinen manga.
Not surprisingly, this conception is still absolutely alien to the western world.
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