A statewide survey of women in Kerala under 30 by prominent magazine Vanitha threw up some pretty interesting results, revealing a traditional bent of mind but also a slightly voyeuristic, liberal streak.

While 48 percent of the women felt a man's sex appeal was in his eyes and 40 percent that there was no attraction in exposing, 44 percent also said there was nothing wrong in advertisements and films where men bare their bodies.

Six percent of those surveyed said such advertisements were attractive, eight percent felt they should be banned and 42 percent said they were a bit overdone.

Giving their impressions on what constitutes male beauty, 58 percent said a good body was not important and 18 percent thought otherwise, declaring that they wanted men to have good muscles and a beautiful body.

Fourteen percent of the women said they were attracted to a man's face, while 10 percent liked hair on a man's chest and hands.

Discussing exposure by Bollywood's male stars, 38 percent said there was nothing wrong as women in films were also made to reveal considerable amount of skin.

Interestingly, 34 percent of the women were of the view that beauty was meant to be admired by others and that could only happen if bodies were bared. A relatively less 28 percent said they did not like male film stars exposing their bodies because it did not suit Indian culture.

On specific questions about Malayalam film stars, 15 percent said they appreciated an actor like Mammooty baring his body because he had a good physique.

However, 36 percent said a big 'no' to Malayalam film actors doing skin shows. More disappointing perhaps for Kerala's film actors, 35 percent said there was no one in the Malayalam film industry that had a good body.

--Indo-Asian News Service