Editorial

I wrote this editorial a while ago and promised Tali I would post it on my blog. So here goes...

The Metro..what?

The Metrosexual Man. Have you heard this new phenomenon flying around these days? The first time I heard someone utter these words in conversation I flinched and had to take time scanning my minds minimal vocabulary to decide whether or not this was a conversation I could hang with. I gritted my teeth and decided to politely ask for a short but thorough definition for these fine new set of words and was left wanting. I got an answer draped in sour faces and I am sure included the words “foo foo guy”. Realizing I wasn’t going to get much further I decided to drop the subject and to investigate the phenomenon myself. In need of info., I turned to my trusty Google .com and was surprisingly greeted with 35,700 results for the metrosexual man. Apparently, I was way out of the loop. As I clicked through the endless articles and editorials I discovered there to be a new breed or demographic of man. Male101.com defines this new breed as “One who appears to ignore gender and sexual preference stereotypes in order to present their style and/or to allow for himself to be more practical according to his environment”. One article from the new MSN states the metrosexual man to have been defined as “a straight, sensitive, well-educated, urban dweller who is in touch with his feminine side. He may have a standing appointment for a weekly manicure, and he probably has his hair cared for by a stylist rather than a barber. He loves to shop, he may wear jewelry, and his bathroom counter is most likely filled with male-targeted grooming products, including moisturizers (and perhaps even a little makeup). He may work on his physique at a fitness club (not a gym) and his appearance probably gets him lots of attention -- and he's delighted by every stare.” Another article from BBC news reports that the metrosexual man is “the type of man who'd rather have a facial than a pint of lager”

Some commentaries owed this new demographic to the rising popularity of the TV hit series “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy”—the reality TV show where five gay men transform and make over a drab straight guy. Some claim that the term Metrosexual was coined by marketing gurus to “describe the kind of man who would give [style] a try” in order to produce a new focused group to try to predict coming consumer trends. Regardless of who is or isn’t to blame for this new trend in the male species, I had only one question. Is this type of man something that women are actually attracted to? Better yet, was this the type of man I was attracted to? As I continued to research I found that indeed certain women were attracted to this new demographic. I suppose I can understand the source of attraction. Some women, including myself, enjoy a well groomed man that smells good and dresses in style. I suppose it sounds ideal to be with a man who enjoys shopping with you or says more than “looks nice, honey” when he comments on your clothing or hair. But I wonder for myself, could I be with someone who primps in front of the mirror for hours on end or who spends more on hair products than I do. Could I stomach the occasional pedicure or manicure if all the while my “sweety” was gabbing along side me. Could I tolerate sharing more than half of the medicine cabinet with a man who exfoliated and plucked? I am not so sure. Don’t get me wrong, I am all for the man who doesn’t want to be pinned down by gender stereotypes and is secure enough in his manhood to show his feminine side. I am also supportive of the women who like that sort of thing. I can actually empathize with them to a certain degree. However, I find it hard to maintain some of the aforementioned feminine attributes myself; so to be with someone who is better at it than I is probably a bad idea. Besides what would this individual think of me? A good day for myself is a day I can wake up, skip the shower, through the hair in a ponytail, through on an old pair of jeans and get on my way. To me, things like weekly manicures seem a little much for woman or man. Give me a shaggy, scruffy kind of guy who cares more about his spiritual and mental grooming than his toes any day. Give me a guy who puts his money toward tithe and Gods kingdom instead of on weekly pedicures and facials. When it comes down to it I suppose the Metrosexual Man is just not my type and that’s OK. To those whose type they are, I say go for em’ and just know that I will be one less lady to worry about.