Ladies,how do you Want your men? cute or rugged?

By TONY MASIKONDE

Last week on Wednesday, I had an appointment with one of Frao’s best pals — an annoying insurance sales guy.

The man has pestered me for the last two months and I had finally given in, and agreed to meet him. If this was the only way to cut two calls per day to my phone besides having to look for intelligent explanations as to why I could not meet him that week, it was well worth it.

So as I waited for the insurance miscreant, Stacy the saloon tycoon and two lady friends of hers named Jacque and Pauline joined me.

We engaged in the usual pleasantries, and then touched on the rising cost of basic commodities. After effectively seeing off the initial rituals, Stacy asked a curious question. “How do you want your men? Cute or rugged?”

Masculine

I shoot Stacy one hell of a look wondering why she could hardly keep away from the steamy topic for new people in our midst. But as soon as she had finished, the other women jumped in.

“Personally, you have to be an ‘A’ student in the looks department,” started Jacque.

“Well…it is good to have your choice, but remember it has been seen that young women who are not looking for a serious relationship are more prone to fall for the men with masculine features that are prominent,” cautioned Pauline. “Maybe that’s one of the reasons why girls love bad boys so much” Pauline added.

Frao who had just arrived was quick to jump into the bandwagon “But on the other hand, women who are looking for a man with whom they want to spend their life with, usually look for softer features in men. They tend to prefer the cute baby faces — any day, over the rugged bad boys like me.”

Life partner

Seeing that I could no longer resist the topic, I weighed in. “Actually, I think this may be because women who are looking for a potential life partner want to go out with a man who has a face that shows care, and love more than anything else.” Sexual appeal is put aside, and more emphasis is put into aspects that show that he has a side to him that loves kids or can relate to them, I added.

According to Pauline, a woman might find a masculine guy attractive, but she would not find the long-term partner material in him when she’s out on the prowl in Westlands or Nairobi West, looking for a partner.

“But who says all baby-face men will turn out to be good fathers?” Asked Frao.  “Or those not too blessed in the looks departments are usually bad fathers,” asked Mark who had been quiet the whole conversation. “Mark, I know your concerns…” Stacy teased him. Mark, on a number of occasions, has made no secret of the fact that his money makes him look more handsome in the company of women than a college freshman vying for Mr University.

“For me, looking for spouses who are beautiful skin deep is the greatest tragedy of them all” I said.

“I totally agree with Tony. There are beautiful ghosts out there” Pauline observed. At that very juncture, the insurance ghost arrived.

So ladies, the next time you find yourself looking for a potential life partner, don’t fall straight into the arms of the cute man. Even if your instincts scream ‘no’, give the ugly brother a chance, he just might turn out to be a better life partner.