New study exposes myth of the Latin lover

Melbourne, Aug 3 (ANI): The hoopla surrounding the so-called Latin lover is just a myth, and a new survey has now exposed it by finding that a majority of foreign female visitors find Italian men humourless, infantile, feminine and unathletic.

Italian men still win points for being gallant, well-dressed and attentive, reports News.com.au.

But 79 per cent of the 1000 foreign women interviewed for the tourist and gastronomy magazine Vie del Gusto said they would not fall for an Italian.

Fifty-one per cent said Italian men lacked "cheerfulness and a sense of humour" and 49 per cent complained they were childish - a reflection, perhaps, of the phenomenon of "mamma's boys", in which Italian males stay at home as long as possible to be cosseted by their mothers.

Thus, Italian men "show more of their feminine than their masculine side", according to 57 per cent of the women polled. (ANI)