Metrosexual

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Metrosexual (along with the concept, metrosexuality) is a term coined in 1994 in an article in the The Independent by British journalist Mark Simpson, shortly after the publication of his book about contemporary masculine identity Male Impersonators: Men Performing Masculinity.

In his seminal essay, Simpson described the effect of consumerism and media proliferation, particularly the men’s style press, on traditional masculinity. The metrosexual, he says, is an urban male of any sexual orientation who has a strong aesthetic sense and spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle.Template:Ref

1 Evolution of the Word
2 Narcissism and Changing Masculinity
3 The Commercial Metrosexual
4 See also
5 Notes
6 External links

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Evolution of the Word

Image:Beckham02.jpg The origin of the term traces to a 1200 word article titled "Here come the mirror men" dissecting the new urbane man by Mark Simpson, published on November 15, 1994 in The Independent, a major British daily. Barely any usage of the term in print publications can be found in the same decade. Beginning June 2003, the term frequently appeared in the British press.

A June 22, 2003 New York Times article titled "Metrosexuals Come Out" inaugurated fashionable usage of the word in the American media. The rising popularity of use followed the increasing integration of gay men into mainstream society and a correspondingly decreased taboo towards homosexuality and changing masculinity.

Over a short span, Canada introduced same-sex marriage legislation, the US Supreme Court struck down anti-sodomy statutes as unconstitutional in Lawrence v. Texas, and gay characters and themes, long present on TV shows like Will & Grace and Queer as Folk, made further inroads. In particular, the Bravo network introduced Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, a show in which stereotypically style- and culture-conscious gay men gave advice to their heterosexual counterparts.

Over the course of the following months, other terms countering or substituting the metrosexual were proclaimed and heard. Most famous being the retrosexual, a man who rejects being finicky about physical appearance, or the opposite of a metrosexual. Again coined by Simpson, he described the term in a Salon.com article entitled Beckham, the virus:

"Beckham is the uber-metrosexual, not just because he rams metrosexuality down the throats of those men churlish enough to remain retrosexual and refuse to pluck their eyebrows, but also because he is a sportsman, a man of substance — a "real" man — who wishes to disappear into surfaceness in order to become ubiquitous — to become media."

Another example, the übersexual, coined by marketing executives and authors of The Future of Men, caused Simpson to reply: “Any discussion in the style pages of the media about what is desirable and attractive in men and what is 'manly' and what isn't, is simply more metrosexualization. Metrosexuality – do I really have to spell it out? – is mediated masculinity.” Template:Ref

Many of the individuals now named übersexuals - George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, and Bono - were once shining examples of metrosexuality, showing little differentiation between the two terms.

Media explaining the term often rely on citing a few individuals as prime illustrations. David Beckham has been called a "metrosexual icon"Template:Ref and is often coupled next to the term. Amply referred to individuals usually include personalities such as Brad Pitt, Arnold Schwarzenegger [1], and George Clooney but even Donald Rumsfeld has been mentioned as a metrosexual in "an antediluvian way." Template:Ref

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Narcissism and Changing Masculinity

Narcissism plays a crucial role in the metrosexual concept. In On Narcissism, Sigmund Freud analyses the psychological aspect of narcissism and explains narcissistic love as follows:

"A person may love: (1) According to the narcissistic type: (a) What he is himself, (b) What he once was, (c) What he would like to be, (d) Someone who once was part of himself." Template:Ref

The metrosexual, as Simpson intended, is a person who, under the spell of consumerism, desires to be what he sees in magazines and advertising. Simpson’s metrosexual would in this case by a type C narcissist, as he loves what he would like to be: the idealized image in magazines and advertising.

Traditional masculine norms, as described in Dr. Ronald F. Levant’s Masculinity Reconstructed are: “avoidance of femininity; restricted emotions; sex disconnected from intimacy; pursuit of achievement and status; self-reliance; strength and aggression; and homophobia.” Template:Ref

Statistics, including market research by EURO RSCG, show that the pursuit of achievement and status is not as important to men as years before, as well as, to a certain degree, restricted emotions and sex disconnected from intimacy. Another norm change is supported by research that claimed men “no longer find sexual freedom universally enthralling.” Most important shift in masculinity is that there is less avoidance of femininity and the “emergence of a segment of men who have embraced customs and attitudes once deemed the province of women.” Template:Ref

Changes in culture and attitudes toward masculinity, visible in the media through shows such as Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Queer as Folk and Will & Grace, have changed these traditional masculine norms. Metrosexuals only made their appearance after cultural changes in the environment and changes in views on masculinity.

Simpson explains in his article Metrosexual? That rings a bell... that “Gay men provided the early prototype for metrosexuality. Decidedly single, definitely urban, dreadfully uncertain of their identity (hence the emphasis on pride and the susceptibility to the latest label) and socially emasculated, gay men pioneered the business of accessorising – and combining – masculinity and desirability.” Template:Ref

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The Commercial Metrosexual

Image:Brad Pitt at Incirlik2.jpg In its sound bite diffusion through the channels of marketers and popular media, who eagerly and constantly reminded their audience that the metrosexual was straight, the metrosexual has congealed into something more digestible for consumers: a heterosexual male who is in touch with his feminine side - he colour coordinates, cares deeply about exfoliation, and has perhaps manscaped.

In August of 2004, New York-based journalist and author Peter Hyman published a collection of essays entitled The Reluctant Metrosexual: Dispatches From An Almost Hip Life. The book is far from a celebration of metrosexuality (thus his "reluctant" position). To the contrary, Hyman attempts to debunk the term, which he compares to "Generation X." Here, the author reveals his belief that metrosexuality is, more than anything, a marketing ploy:

"The metrosexual revolution is not so much an uprising as it is a more efficient way to sell expensive face creams, allowing marketers to trade on good, old-fashioned insecurity (a method that has been successfully imposed on women for decades). Men with disposable incomes who like to shop, it seems, are this year’s black."

Men didn't go to shopping malls, so consumer culture promoted the idea of a sensitive guy who went to malls, bought magazines and spent freely to improve his personal appearance. As Simpson put it:

"For some time now, old-fashioned (re)productive, repressed, unmoisturized heterosexuality has been 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), and 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 – that's to say, one who was much more interested in being looked at (because that's the only way you can be certain you actually exist). A man, in other words, who is an advertiser's walking wet dream." Template:Ref

This commercial vision is also adapted in television’s metrosexual archetype: Bravo’s Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. The “Fab Five” transform the appearance of the straight guy using hundreds of dollars worth of cosmetics, but do not transform other aspects of his personality.

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Notes

Template:Note Simpson, Mark. (November 15, 1994). "Here come the mirror men". The Independent (London), p. 22.
Template:Note Simpson, Mark. “Metrodaddy v. Ubermummy” Marksimpson.com. Dec. 2005. <http://www.marksimpson.com/pages/journalism/MetroDaddy_v_UberMummy.html>
Template:Note Dowd, Maureen. (August 3, 2003). "Butch, Butch Bush!" The New York Times, p. E11
Template:Note Chrisafis, Angelique. (June 16, 2003). "Spot the salmon pink shirt". The Guardian (London), p. 6.
Template:Note Freud, Sigmund. The major works of Sigmund Freud. Chicago: William Benton, 1952
Template:NoteLevant, Ronald F. Dr., and Gini Kopecky. Masculinity Reconstructed: changing the rules of manhood: at work, in relationships and in family life. New York: Dutton, 1995
Template:Note Alzheimer, Lillian. “Metrosexuals: The Future of Men?” Euro RSCG. 22 Jun. 2003. 15 Dec. 2003. <http://www.eurorscg.com/press/press_204.htm>
Template:Note Simpson, Mark. “Metrosexual? That rings a bell….” Marksimpson.com. 22 Jun. 2003. 13 Oct. 2003. <http://www.marksimpson.com/pages/journalism/metrosexual_ios.html>
Template:Note Simpson, Mark. (July 22 2002). “Meet the metrosexual.” Salon.com.