Italian Men: My Ultimate Weakness

I have a weakness that I have not yet mentioned. If you’ve been reading any of my posts, you might assume that my weakness is food, and hey, you’re not completely wrong if that’s your guess! However, this post is about… Italian men.

If we’re generalizing, we can say that Italy is known to be flooded with ridiculously good looking people. If we’re being 100% truthful, we can say the same thing. I have always been attracted to the dark and handsome man (I could really take or leave the ‘tall’ part, which is good, because nine out of ten times in Italy, they’re not). I like men who are manly, but sensitive and passionate. What I’m describing is the stereotypical Italian man, so needless to say, I am in heaven here.

Sometimes, these conversations have turned into dates, and thanks to my dating experiences here, I have come to expect a few things each time.

For the first time in my life, I’m the “exotic” one! My hair, which to any other American is considered brown, is seen as blonde, and my blue eyes aren’t particularly common either–even in the north of Italy. When guys find out I’m from the States, there is always the exclamation, “Wow, che bella!” (how beautiful!), and they always tell me they’ve never met a real American girl before. I’m still not sure what that means, nor am I sure that they are telling me the truth. But it doesn’t matter because the ice is broken.

Sometimes, these conversations have turned into dates, and thanks to my dating experiences here, I have come to expect a few things each time. But, there are some things you should know about Italian men that will help you to understand why they treat women the way they do.

Number one: sons are essentially worshiped by their parents, and primarily by their mothers. Everything they touch turns to gold, so they can’t really help the fact that their egos are as big as they are. Luckily, this has its upsides.

You’ll never have to open a door again, and forget about trying to pick up the check when you’re out at a restaurant. It’s absolutely unheard of.

Because of their egos, men are confident enough to approach you and begin a conversation. You can be pretty sure that the guy you’ve been making eyes at across the bar is going to come up to you and buy you a drink sooner rather than later. More importantly, this means that Italian men love their parents and treat them with the utmost respect.

In my experience, a person who loves and respects his parents is going to treat you in a similar manner. They try to mimic their fathers by waiting on you hand and foot. You’ll never have to open a door again, and forget about trying to pick up the check when you’re out at a restaurant. It’s absolutely unheard of.

Once while on a first date, the guy told me that Italian women don’t ever make the first move and it was refreshing to him that I approached him. I think it’s a little silly that some women think the man should be the one moving the relationship forward. If there’s someone you want or something you need out of a relationship, you ought to try to make it happen and not wait around!

Plus, when in Italy, making the first move gives you total brownie points.

What could possibly be more amazing than getting picked up on a scooter and speeding off into the night?

This same guy told me that Italian men are very accommodating to their woman and will essentially put up with any sort of behavior she wishes to exhibit on any given day. Obviously, these Italian women know what they’re doing and I say, share the wealth! But, of course, there is a line, and that brings us to another thing you should know about the men over here.

They are crazy jealous. Once, at the end of a date, the waiter asked me if I would like anything else and my date said, “Are you going to ask for her number now, too?” Yes, it was uncomfortable, and yes, it was totally unnecessary, but at the same time it was kind of interesting to see that my date was so not okay with the fact that anyone else would show even an inkling of interest in me when I was clearly with him.

The last thing you need to know about Italian men: They have scooters. What could possibly be more amazing than getting picked up on a scooter and speeding off into the night?

 

Italian Men: My Ultimate Weakness photo credit by Unsplash.