Male Beauty (the Outer Kind)

I am a little to embarrassed to admit to this, but, over the past two years, I have become a watcher of "Dancing With the Stars."  I won't go as far as to call myself a "fan," and it's not something that I eagerly anticipate each season, but it is an enjoyable time-filler for me.

This season, there was a gentleman star on the show, by the name of William Levy.  I found myself actually "rewinding" (I watch on-line) his dance routines and basically any footage that showed his face for more than .02 seconds.  This man is just... meee-owww.  Now I know that I am not the only woman who feels this way, because the entirety of the female audience went into Beatles-like fanaticism whenever this guy's name was even mentioned.

It got me to thinking about male beauty, our standards for said beauty, and how varied the choices are.

Men seem to have it a little bit easier in the weight department than their female counterparts.  Chubby, skinny, buff, it doesn't seem to matter.  Hair, lack of hair, big lips, no lips, six packs, paunch, it's all good.  Now, in William Levy's case, he has a gorgeous face matched with a gorgeous physique.  I was transfixed by his face, and I can honestly say that for me, with Men, what's in or on the face is of more interest to me than what's below the chin.

When I try to determine if there is a common feature among all of my personal (or even public) heartthrobs, I can't really come up with one thing.  Let me interject here, that one man, for me, stands as the epitome of supreme loveliness, and I'm guessing that at least 50% of you will have to do an on-line search for him.  It's Oliver Reed.  Young Oliver Reed, I mean.  The Three/Four Musketeers and Oliver!, Oliver Reed.  Not necessarily The Gladiator Oliver Reed.  Anyway, William Levy looks nothing like Oliver Reed.  Neither does Colin Firth or the actor who plays Prince Charming in "Once Upon a Time."  Neither does Brad Pitt or Ryan Gosling or Justin Bieber (ew) or Zac Efron any of the other current stars out there.

There are some shared traits among some of these beauties.  Some share similar blue eyes, some the big lips, some the dark wavy hair.  Some may have very manly, chiseled features, while others may look more on the feminine side.

Now, I do appreciate that we all have varying tastes, and some of you may be grossed out by some of the names I mentioned, but it cannot be denied that most of these man have the genes required to make them swoon worthy to a large number of women.

It's interesting to look back in Hollywood past and see how things have changed.  Back then, the buff guys were the ones in the background as smithies or thugs.  I don't remember anyone having big lips, unless they were portraying lunatics or creeps.  I rather suspect that William Levy might have been considered strange-looking in the 40's.

While I do miss the considerations of charm, style, charisma, and talent that comprised the "beautiful" Men of the past (even if they were ripped underneath their clothes, we never got to see it), I shamefully admit to falling prey to the current eye candy on the superstar market.  Chiseled or not, big-lipped or not, there are some real beauties out there.  Of course, none surpass Oliver Reed.  Even if he is dead.