When I think of a metrosexual, I have to say I am disconcerted: what exactly is he? Is he a man? Is he a sissy? What does metro have to do with his sexuality?

By definition, a metrosexual is a "young straight stylish urban man: a young, straight, sensitive urban man who is unashamed to enjoy good clothes, stylish living, the art of decorating, and improving his personal appearance ( informal)."

http://encarta.msn.com/diction ary_701707420/metrosexual.html

Or " a straight man who styles his hair using three different products (and actually calls them "products"), loves clothes and the very act of shopping for them, and describes himself as sensitive and romantic. In other words, he is a man who seems stereotypically gay except when it comes to sexual orientation."
http://www.wordspy.com/words/m etrosexual.asp

And even "a new male prototype ... emerging in society... as a new marketing ploy"

Mark Simpson, a gay male, says the "old-fashioned (re)productive, repressed, unmoisturized masculinity was being given the pink slip by consumer capitalism. The stoic, self-denying, modest straight male didn't shop enough - his role was to earn money for his wife to spend - so he had to be replaced by a new kind of man, one less certain of his identity and much more interested in his image... "

He continues: "Commercially... it makes perfect sense to maintain that metrosexuals are all straight - after all, advertising is trying to persuade as many men as possible to relax their sphincter muscles, cooing in their ear that there's nothing gay about being f*ed by corporate consumerism. Which, ironically, is true."

In Simpson's definition, when it comes to sexuality associated with metrosexuals (labeled straight mostly) "orientation was unimportant." ... "Metrosexuality is in fact the end of 'sexuality'." ... " Sexuality for metros "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."
http://www.askmen.com/fashion/ austin_100/102b_fashion_style. html

So, from these definitions, I gather a metro is into himself, into his looks, and into whatever he wants to be when it comes to sexuality. For me, I see it as a way to act 'gay' without having that label put on you. Regardless, the trend is here, and probably to stay. I admit the old 'cave man guy' may not be my ideal, but I want a man who's a man, not a man who has bought into the rampant commercialism we women have adopted.

Learn more about this author, Angela S. Young.
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