Fans for men and women

Fans. In Italy and in the south of France, men seem to use them almost as commonly as women; I've even seen an Italian man include one in his Facebook profile picture. The highly efficient, plain-coloured cloth and paper ones are popular; so are the smooth wooden kind, sometimes with broadly or finely painted flowers.

I can only think of one regular partner here who normally uses one. I don't know why they aren't more popular with men. They are an excellent means of cooling down, and the men wear more clothes and get hotter than we do.

I think the Argentinians feel it's a bit effeminate or affected. But the Italians think it's cool.

They are beautiful. I have a really classy Spanish painted one for special occasions, and a very effective, cheerful plastic one with lace and a rose print that was a present from an admirer, which I use a lot. It has so many colours, it goes with everything I wear.

At festivals there is a bonus; if you have a distinctive one, and you use it all weekend, it helps potential partners keep track of who you are and identify you with confidence when you are sitting down. They can also tell their friends: descriptions of humans tend to be vague and emotional, but a description of a fan can be rather specific. (Obviously, this is only a bonus if you dance well. If being mistaken for other people is a plus for you, then you're better off working on the dancing).

I went to a festival in Barcelona last year. The organisers had bought a job lot in assorted colours of the kind of cheap, plain, brightly coloured wooden fans sold everywhere in Spain, they'd written the event's name on each of them in gold pen, added a healthy amount to the price, and put them on sale as souvenirs.