I read an article “Express Yourself” in Barnard’s book “Fashion Theory” which got me thinking about my guy friends who have style and the way they are portrayed by some people. Being that I work in the nightlife scene, I have seen my fair share of metrosexual men and barbie doll looking women. Nightclubs downtown are filled with people dressing like that. But here I want to focus on metrosexual men.
One of the definitions on Urban Dictionary about the term:
metrosexual -
A normally straight male who possesses qualities of a gay male without being attracted to men. A metro often appreciates the finer things in life and enjoys making himself look good; be it through styling his hair or wearing fashionable clothes.
Person 1: “Is he gay”
Person 2: “No, he does dress well, but he has a wife”
Person 1: “Oh, he must be metro then”
Can’t say I didn’t laugh at the hypothetical conversation between Person 1 and Person 2 about the metro guy. Lol. But that pretty much sums it up. Although the guys I know that are metrosexual would definitely get offended if someone called them gay. They don’t appreciate that people would relate good fashion sense to a certain sexual orientation.
Theres a really interesting comment that had the most likes on a youtube video about metrosexuals:
Metrosexuality and being gay have nothing to do with one another. A metro man is totally straight. He enjoys taking care of himself and looking good because A. It makes him feel good, and B. He is aware that women love a man who takes good care of himself. It’s 2009, people. Women expect alot more from us guys. Women take very good care of themselves and expect their men to devote time to their own body and mind. Again, being a metrosexual has absolutely nothing to do with being homosexual.
Seems like metrosexual men all across the globe have to deal with the constant misconception by others that they might be gay. I think other men might feel threatened and therefore decide to call the metrosexual men as homosexuals, simply because they refuse to believe or accept the fact that there are many women out there that do appreciate a man who takes well care of himself.
Great quote from an article about what is a metrosexual:
Simpson clarified this point in an interview with Russia’s OM Magazine , explaining, “Metrosexuality is in fact the end of ‘sexuality’.” He goes on to say that when it comes to metros, sexuality “is utterly immaterial because the metrosexual has taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual aim. Desire in the metrosexual has been uncoupled, or at least irretrievably loosened, from reproduction and gender — and reattached to commercial signs. Adverts. Images. Icons. Brands.”
I find the quote to be very well put. Metrosexual has nothing to do with sexual orientation. This actually makes me think of the Slutwalk: women trying to reclaim the term “slut” and show off that wearing any specific type of clothing has nothing to do with whether they can be referred to as sluts or not, and that wearing slutty (or any other type of clothes for that matter) gives men a right to sexually assault/harass them. Not sure why it made me think of that, but it does relate in terms of coining the term and separating clothing style and sexuality.
I personally love that men are taking care of themselves more by doing the things girls have been doing for centuries to keep up apperances. This also makes me wonder whether the fact that metrosexual men are popping up more frequently, would eating disorders among men continue to rise because of that as well? That would be unfortunate. I do have to admit that I am kind of satisfied with the fact that men are now starting to realize and notice more how women have to deal with life on a day to day basis and how the “ideal” is affecting us.