Today's Prince-Almost-Charming, with all his imperfections, has driven women to cling more desperately and irrationally to their desire for a man to fit the perfect mould. Salonaz Sami is on board for the hunt We have seen it happen so many times: a woman meets the man of her dreams, they date, and, before you know it, the all-too-perfect man becomes Mr Klutz or Mr Bore. She is left chiding herself, "What was I thinking?" The deeper-seated reaction is sadly a growing disillusionment with the dream held so dearly in every woman's heart; the promise of the existence of one right man for her -- one knight in shining armour who would someday show up at the doorstep of her life, gallantly sweeping her off her feet and carrying her on a white stallion to live happily ever after. The dream grew in her heart ever since she was a little girl, when, like most other little girls, all the hullabaloo in books she read and movies she watched trained her to search for her Prince Charming and never to settle for anything less than perfection. These little girls grow up; experience and age make them understand that they themselves can never be perfect, so they settle on making themselves just good enough. Yet, they never give up the hope of finding their Prince who managed to pull off the feat of making the transformation from human to perfect. After scores of disappointments and shattered expectations, however, some women are reluctantly beginning to realise that Mr Perfect is nothing but a myth. "He only exists in the fairy tales that our grandmothers told us to give us hope in the future," said 24-year-old Sara El-Eskafi. El-Eskafi decided to share and discuss her cynical viewpoint with fellow women by founding a group on the famous Internet site, Facebook. Little did she know that she has become one of many young women who courageously admitted to their newfound pessimism and their belief that men are no longer the gentlemen they used to be in the good old days. "It depends on how men were brought up," said engineer Amir Darwish. "My parents," he explained, "basically taught me how not to be selfish, to be polite, chivalrous and always put the lady first." Darwish was raised to believe that being a gentleman is a virtue all men should possess in order to gain the favour of a lady. "Now I've been told that it is a rare commodity to be a gentleman," he added. Men, he further explained, have given up on the gentleman's ideals. And what's even worse, he added, women are not bothered in the least. "It's today's rebellious society that has ruined the image. Everyone lives for himself or herself, and no one is willing to step aside for anyone else," he said. Darwish said a friend once told him that chivalry -- the sum of the ideal qualifications of a knight, including courtesy, generosity, valour and dexterity in arms -- was long dead and buried. El-Eskafi had a bone to chew with Darwish. "How can chivalry be dead if it never existed," she countered. "The idea of chivalry has become nothing but illusions that exist only in books and movies." In modern days, she expounded, Prince Charming is a womaniser who strings women along before dropping them for the next girl. The truth is, she confessed, women have now settled for an updated version of the Prince, who does not have to be handsome or charming anymore, but has to be rather noble and have the qualities of a true gentleman. "It's not about the white horse anymore," she said. El-Eskafi mentioned the story of a friend who was commuting on the underground one night and was just about to sit down when, out of nowhere, a man jumped in front of her and took her seat. As the friend stood open-mouthed in disbelief, the man suddenly went on a rant about how women were the ones who wanted equality, so he had a right to the seat just like her. "We're all for equality," she said. "But equality is one thing and plain rudeness is another." In modern days, common, simple gentlemanly acts like opening the door or pulling out a chair for a lady, have vanished. "Little do guys know that such acts are a fast way to a woman's heart. What can I say? We melt at those little things," she said. However, such chivalrous acts, are not indicators of a true man's worth, according to Ismail El-Qalyoubi, a stock broker. "There are so many things I can do that require much more effort, are much more meaningful and that not anyone can do for her. Those show admiration and respect, unlike empty gestures like opening a door or pulling out a chair. That would mean that this kind of woman would fall for anyone who can merely operate their arms," he said. Dalia Ayoub, a software designer, disagreed. She thinks the world would be such a better place for women if more men tried to up the ante on the standard of behaviour towards women. Since women's expectations have fallen drastically, anything special men do for them will go a long way. The ball was also thrown in the women's court. Sayed Ibrahim, a lawyer, said that the very inspiration of a soft and vulnerable woman induces chivalrous action in men. "If a woman wants Prince Charming, she should start by acting like princess charming herself," he added. Knights in shining armour still exist, he said. The problem is, they are not needed anymore. The times, he added, have changed drastically. "We're now moving too fast and have outgrown old techniques and adopted more efficient methods. Some men and women seek a partner for 'right now' rather than forever." In a nutshell, explained Ibrahim, knights and gentlemen are just about as rare as the ladies to whom one might demonstrate this behaviour. "Prince Charming is not dead, he is just not alive," said. "He is in a sort of coma that is sustained by a life support system otherwise known as faith." Dead or alive, women are still wandering in search of the perfect man; an honest, loyal, honourable, helpful, respectful, kind and dependable man, who sets an example for other men to live up to.
