I am a leader. I dance with women. Women to me are more hygienic and take better care than many men do. If I had to dance with men, I would not with almost half of them on hygienic grounds. Many don’t bother to groom themselves properly.
I'm like you and couldn't agree more, especially about the women putting forth more effort in the grooming department. In our milongas, all the women do everything to come "
dressed to the 9's" (their best).
The men in our community here in CA (US) seem to be a mixture at practalongas where people come presentable (well-groomed, dressed appropriately, and clean), whereas some look like they just came from running errands at the local home-improvement store.
I will say,
everybody attending our milongas looks their best, but my SO's biggest '
general' comments about leaders (men) are;
- too much hair - chest, facial, neck (from needing a haircut),
- have bad breath or strange scent (body odor), and
- too sweaty
It doesn't matter '
what' tango I'm dancing, whether it's taking a group class or private lesson, a practica / practalonga, or milonga, I shower and shave about an hour or two
before attending, and come dressed appropriately. I am former (retired) US military, so I get a fresh '
regulation' haircut bi-weekly.
My SO is always one of the '
peacocks' in the room and, other than private lessons at teachers' homes, she comes clean, gets her hair, nails (pedicure), eyelashes done, and is meticulously "
dressed to the 9's" herself. She even sets the tone on what she's wearing to Milongas so I can coordinate my clothing selection so we don't clash, and I have complimentary colored shirt to match. But at night milongas many times I'll dress black-on-black.
Lastly, every once in a while a woman I'm dancing with might have a slightly odd scent to their hair, or I could smell that they may have eaten spicey foods before coming to dance, but it's rare.
