An article in the Daily Mail today tells us that men are now too scared to flatter women or to flirt with them. Apparently in our PC times a compliment is all too easily seen as an insult. So a ‘you look nice today’ can be miscontrued as either ‘I want to sleep with you’ or ‘you looked terrible yesterday’ or ‘I want to borrow your stapler/pen/hairbrush’.
When I was in London last week we had dinner with some friends at the Groucho Club in London (like you do). Towards the end of dinner I went to the loo. Walking in through the door of the restaurant bit as I walked out was a young man.
“I don’t mean to flirt or anything,” he said. “But you’re really very pretty.”
This comment didn’t make me want to call my lawyer, or my husband, or glare at the man with feminist rancour. No, it made me want to throw my arms around him. But as I concluded he was possibly myopic or deranged or drunk or in fact a combination of all three I resisted. But I floated back to our table and have to say I have only just stopped floating several days later. “I’m really very pretty,” I tell myself at least 100 times a day.
Why do women bother to wear make-up, curl their hair, buy lip gloss and go on diets if it’s not in part to make themselves attractive to men? (Obviously it’s mainly to irritate other women) And what exactly is so wrong with them noticing? If there are any men reading this; go forth and flirt immediately.
Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2007
Paris does that for me. I remember when I was in my forties I had been living in the U.S. for a bit and my ego was not in top notch shape. A week in Paris with men following me, policemen stopping traffic for me, and brass flirting non-stop put me floating as well!
Closer to home now, the PC has not hit Morocco as proven by my
‘encounter’ in the market a few days past. Float on!
Where will we all be if we make all the effort to be attractive and men do not notice?
I DO think there is a hidden agenda behind compliments (from most men) but who cares?
thats funny cause a few days ago when I was walking home, a man coming from the opposite direction stumbled and fell literally beside me. I immedietly offered a hand and as he brushed the dust of his coat he said “I was taken by how pretty you are”.
I have been walking on air ever since…well that was until I just discovered a huge spot on my chin this morning.
Women who object to so-called ‘unwanted flattery’ are, in fact, ugly swamp-donkeys who are only cross because they never get compliments anyway.
I’m with you, Helena. As long as it is tasteful flattery. It is also nice when your husband is present – he seems to hang on that little bit tighter!
Also, am I the only one who is disappointed when construction workers fail to whistle when one walks by? Apparently they get special Sexual Harassment talks nowadays.