TALL, DARK?AND?HANDSOME
Frankly my dear, I don’t give a damn,” said Clark Gable to Vivien Leigh in the classic film Gone With the Wind. And as Leigh swooned, so did millions of women the world over. But it wasn’t just the impetuous dialogue that set female hearts fluttering. It was Gable himself, long considered the epitome of what a man should be: Tall, dark and of course, ruggedly handsome.
But has the male ideal of physical beauty changed over the years? Do women have a TDH checklist when looking for a partner? Or has metrosexuality changed our notion of good looking for good? “Hottest Men” lists abound with names like Brad Pitt, James Franco, Ranbir Kapoor — all of whom combine their tall frames and delicate good looks with considerably light colouring.
Elaborating on how she would evaluate a man, model-turned media professional Rebecca Samervel says, “Tall — yes, dark, preferred and as for handsome, that lies in the eyes of the beholder! I’m 5’8’’ and I love wearing heels, so the guy has to be tall.” But Rebecca admits that most of the men she has dated have been fair. “The guys I’ve dated were all fair, but they preferred dusky women, which worked out well for me,” she laughs.
Other women admit that while they find the idea of the TDH man appealing, such men are pretty hard to find in real life. “Well honestly I like the idea of tall, dark and handsome, sort of like Will Smith,” says Nikita Rana, a TV reporter. “But the likes of Leonardo di Caprio and Jake Gyllenhaal are the flavour of the season. It’s the cute, soft features and slim, almost delicate frame that these men sport that a lot of women like,” she adds.
But model Freddy Daruwalla begs to differ. “What matters is whether you have the X-factor or not,” he says emphatically, adding, “Right now, I’m sitting in front of two male models from the younger lot, and one of them is dusky and the other one is fair and has light eyes. Colouring, or any other attributes, do not count for anything unless you’ve got that X-factor.”
Comedian Suhas Borthakur agrees: “Tall, dark and handsome? None of that matters if you have ‘the goods’ where it really matters — between the ears of course! A good sense of humour is what makes you attractive to the ladies. Look at Danny DeVito!”
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