GUYS LEER FOR A YEAR; TALENT SPOTTING CAN BE A WASTE OF TIME.

Byline: JOAN BURNIE; BRIAN McIVER

JOAN BURNIE

SO men waste 43 minutes every day - a whole year of their lives - ogling, do they?

Absolute rubbish.

I'd make it more like 43 minutes in the average day when the average guy is NOT ogling. I bet they even do it in their sleep.

Males' eyes seem to be permanently on swivel, looking for something to pin their peepers on.

The only difference is whether they fasten on .. and the butt or the boobs.

The poor things can't help it - it's genetic. Or maybe an ingrained habit, like standing up at the lav. It's something a man's gotta do and it's certainly universal.

President Obama apparently did it at the recent G8 summit in Italy when he seemed to be focusing more on 17-year-old Brazilian Mayara Tavares's behind instead of more serious matters.

His aides immediately insisted the camera was lying, just at an unfortunate angle and all that. Of course.We don't want to give Michelle, never mind the voters in Des Moines, the vapours, do we? France's leader, Nicolas Sarkozy most definitely did allow his eyes to stray towards Ms Tavares's delectable derriere. However, as he's French, it's almost obligatory and as we all know, Italy's President Berlusconi, allegedly, doesn't just stop at ogling.

The habit appears to kick in with most males long before puberty, probably at around the age of five. So is there any real harm in it? Not if all they are doing is looking.

You could call it a form of window shopping. Just as the superior sex can't help looking at designer handbags they could never afford, so gents like checking out women they could never have in a zillion years.

My own scientific study on the subject - conducted during a 10-minute bus ride - suggests middle-aged men (think Sid James in his Carry On role) ogle most, usually much younger women.

It means fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, for elderly ladies such as myself, no one is going to ogle me. Nor am I likely to ogle either.

Sorry boys.

BRIAN MCIVER

ANOTHER week, another man-bashing survey.

According to just about every poll I've read, we are never romantic enough, attentive enough, spend too much time with our friends and don't buy enough flowers or gifts.

The modern man has become like the Soviets of the 80s or the Arabs of the 90s - too easily cast as the villain.

My first response to this particular piece of research was ... just a year? Most guys I know spend much more of their lives checking out hot chicks than a mere 43 minutes a day - that's not even an episode of Baywatch, minus commercials.

And you know what? There's absolutely nothing wrong with it.

I'm not talking about drunken dribble stares by weirdos with hairy hands but the subtle appreciation of a beautiful woman that every man does subconsciously.

For most guys, an ogle is just an innocent glance and doesn't mean we're visually undressing you, concocting sinister plans or even taking mental notes.

Sorry to burst your bubble but it's just an inoffensive second look that means you're looking good that day. Nothing more. Get over it.

The main reason women dress in sexy clothes, and spend hours on their make-up and hair, is so they can feel confident and good about themselves. But don't tell me there is not an element, however tiny, of wanting to catch the eye.

But it's not just guys that women want to notice them. The statistics show that women spend six months of their lives - half as much time as men - checking out the opposite sex. That's because they spend the rest of the time looking at other women.

We are, for the most part, just regular dudes who, now and again, appreciate a honey with a wee glance. We're not all pervs - so stop painting men as villains.

CAPTION(S):

OGLE EYED: Obama and Mayara at G8 CHEST TAKING A LOOK: Sid James was often caught ogling busty Barbara Windsor in the Carry On series of films