How far can metrosexual men go?

Metrosexuals are well-educated, sensitive and straight urban dwellers keeping touch with his feminine side. They usually go for manicure and could even have their hair taken care of by stylists and not the barbers. These men love shopping and even wear jewelry. Their bathroom counters are full of male products that include moisturizers and some makeup. They work on their physiques at fitness clubs as opposed to gyms and this appearance gets them a lot of attention that delights them. Metrosexuals are mostly found in large cities especially media centers. There is however imitations and experimenting among men in other smaller cities.These men have a great concern for how they appear. Their lifestyle displays characteristics stereotypically linked to gay men. â€Å"Metrosexuality† traces its origin from an article by Mark Simpson in â€Å"The Independent† in 1994. He described a metrosexual man as one who has high income and lives or works in the city, where he can find the best shops. Metrosexual men are proving to be among the best markets for cosmetic products in the decade. In 1980s, these men were only found in fashion magazines, TV ads or gay bars. Later in the 1990s they were allover and even doing their shopping.The trend The term’s popularity rose after Simpson wrote another article â€Å"Meet the metrosexual. † Euro RCSG Worldwide, an advertising firm, immediately adopted this term for marketing studies. Some careers have been known to attract metrosexual men. They include music, media, table waiting and modeling. Popularity of this metrosexuality rose following increased integration of gays into society and a decline in taboos towards those deviating from masculinity notions. Shortly after, Canada, Belgium, some US states and Holland enacted legislation for gay marriages.Metrosexuality aroused a lot of curiosity when a marketing agency tried exploring the changing face of American men. According to this research titled, â⠂¬Å"The Future of Men: USA,† there is a new clique of men who reject traditional male roles and do as they please no matter what the society thinks about them. The media and male magazines such as Maxim and FHM have greatly influenced men to become metrosexuals. They have devoted a lot of their space to fashion. They encourage the men to dress fashionably. Homosexuals are also believed to have contributed towards metrosexuality.Despite metrosexuals being totally heterosexual, the homosexual movement helped in the society accepting an effeminate lifestyle and characteristics. Consequently, the society is now very comfortable with homosexuality. Displaying it on television is no longer a taboo since the heterosexual males are now comfortable with the homosexuality culture. Metrosexual men are more sensitive and effeminate than their fathers were. They are have shown willingness to push the restrictive gender boundaries defining what in masculine and what is feminine and still co nsider themselves â€Å"real men.† Metrosexual men are secure in their sexuality. Pedicures and facials do not make them less heterosexual or less masculine. Research has revealed that 43 per cent of men are not satisfied with their general appearance. Sixty-three per cent of them are particularly not happy with their abdomens. This leads to their seeking the services of cosmetic surgeons for minor aesthetic operations. Abdominal liposuction for wiping out love handles has become very popular. Lip augmentation surgeries and Botox injections have also become very popular among men.Opting for cosmetic surgery among men is usually a last resort in improving their personal appearance. They dress well, groom well and move to cosmetic surgery. These procedures include laser skin resurfacing, chin augmentation and eyelid surgery. Sometimes metrosexual men’s preoccupation with personal appearance can take to the extremes. It can interfere with schoolwork, career and relationsh ips. This is where a therapist’s advice should be sought to create a healthy and more sensible approach to personal appearance. All men, regardless of their sexual orientation, are developing a big interest in their personal appearance.They visit hairdressers instead of barbers. They also avoid the use of soap because they say it is harsh on the skins, go to the gyms instead of sports, and find it difficult to decide what to wear. They spend a lot of time on the mirror, in boutiques and bars instead of pubs. They also dance at night clubs and go to salons. Marketers have responded to this trend by dropping the macho element from all the products that target men. Tough male images have completely been done away with even on car and beer advertisements. Fashion chains for men are increasing.Some women’s stores like Esprit have launched products for men as well. Men’s magazines have their fashion coverage since more ads are coming in. Fashion and grooming adverts f or FHM, a men’s magazine, have been increasing for the past three years. Two decades, vanity, skin care and male fashion were identified with homosexuals. This has now been abandoned. Even the workplace has experienced changes for men. The growing number of white collar workers brings with it the need for good appearance. For effective competition in the work environment, one must take care of his body, cut his hair neatly and dress well.Even beer marketers are using a less masculine tone in communicating with men. They have also changed the how they buy their electronic goods, cars and home ware. In buying of electronic goods, for instance, men are no longer interested in the traditional male attributes such as gadgetry and technical features. Instead they follow what could be called female attributes such as the store’s environment, service and other intangible attributes. Vehicle advertisers are emphasizing more on the people driving and their feelings and not the v ehicle’s physical specifications (Trubo, 2008). Proponents’ viewTraditionally, men are supposed to avoid feminity, restrict their emotions, disconnect sex from intimacy, pursue achievement and status and be self reliant, aggressive and homophobic. However, statistics have shown that pursuing achievement and status has lost its importance compared to how it was in the past. Restricting emotions and disconnecting emotions from intimacy is no longer important to men either. Men do not find sexual freedom enthralling any more. The modern man shows less avoidance of femininity and embraces attitudes and customs that were stereotypically a reserve for women.Masculinity has had a considerable shift over the years. The modern concept of masculinity is very different from that of ancient times. Certain aspects of modern style and behavior perceived as feminine were actually masculine in the past. They include jewelry and makeup. Feminity came to conquer masculinity and the latt er became restricted (Simpson, 2002). Metrosexuality is seen as a counter-reaction against this change. Some men have a feeling that they are too restricted within their gender roles. It is a way of establishing more equality between men and women by shifting towards androgyny.Cultural and attitude changes towards masculinity have led to changes in the conservative masculine norms. This can often be seen in the media, especially TV shows Culture and the environment had to change for the metrosexual men to start appearing. According to Simpson, gays gave the initial prototype for metrosexuals. Media has played a major role in portraying metrosexuality as straight. It has bought them out as heterosexual men keeping touch with their feminine side. They coordinate colors, are deeply concerned about exfoliation and are manscaped.Consumer culture encouraged men to go shopping, buy magazines and spend freely to improve appearance. Consumer capitalism has helped in doing away with unmoistur ised, repressed and old-fashioned heterosexuality in favor of metrosexuality. The conservative, self-denying, straight and modest man did not do much shopping. He had a duty to earn money to be spent by his wife. He was substituted by a different kind, who has more interest in his image than his so called identity. This metrosexual man is more concerned at how he is being looked at.This man has been so much sought by the advertisers. Some people are of the view that metrosexuality is a phenomenon that just occurred naturally. Metrosexuality will very soon become our everyday vocabulary. Being metrosexual should not be treated as wrong. Those against metrosexuality use stereotypes to argue out their stand. Such stereotypes expect men to be insensitive, cold-hearted, thug-looking and grungy, which is not the reality. Ironically, many respected icons like Diddy, Usher and Kanye West are actually metrosexual but are role models to many.When we look at individuals who embrace metrosexual ity, we notice that they do not attach themselves to gender norms of the society. But clearly, metrosexuals are making an attempt to be different and find who they really are. This mindset is as old as mankind. Every society has a small group of people who look at what is normal for only a specific time before creating a different â€Å"normal† to express themselves. In most cases, this bears fruit in cinema, art and music. In the society, men and women expected to follow specific guidelines for their gender.Failure to following these rules qualifies one to be labeled as an outcast. Despite the society accepting metrosexuality in men, it is still hesitating in allowing heterosexuals to create a unique guideline to be followed. The opponents’ view By the society accepting and integrating homosexuality, many strange cultural customs have been created. On the other hand, metrosexuality has caused even greater havoc but silently. It has been argued that metrosexuals act ga y, causing social interaction problems since they are straight with identity issues. This eventually starts affecting even family lives.Divorce rates are on the increase since men cannot keep their word and women having to take up men’s jobs. Great leaders world over have encouraged strong family institutions. They argue that these are the foundations of strong civilization. But since families are breaking up, the society will also follow the same course. Opponents assert that metrosexuality has had a great impact on dating nowadays. Dating is today a complicated ritual more often than not ending up in heartbreaks rather than providing a learning experience for those involved. Worse still, many cannot find dates while others play around with other people’s hearts.Others engage in dangerous sexual behavior. It is argued that if women acted like women and men like men, the laws of attraction would take effect and make relationships interesting and healthy. Men must be de cisive, driven but understanding while women must be caring, delightful, free and loyal. This balance can never find a replication in any other way (Serio, 2006). It is common for men and women to go the same salons, wear the same jeans, watch sports together and share beer. They even watch the same movies. Opponents of metrosexuality argue that this phenomenon spells disaster.They refer to it as â€Å"unisexification. † These opponents have linked unisexification to the society’s downfall. They further claim that as men behave like wassies and women become more aggressive, a platform is created that causes family break-ups, gender role reversal and dysfunctional relationships. Kids end up growing in mental and emotional problems. This could lead to more drug abuse and violence. Earlier civilizations knew it. They depicted that the balance is vital for opposites. They argue that if all things were the same, life would be unbearable.Gender equality does not exist. Gende r roles exist and there is a whole lot of difference between the genders. This is in terms of their biological, mental and emotional attributes. These attributes are the foundation of a strong society. They balance and stabilize families, relationships, work, schools and homes (Serio, 2006). People should therefore be themselves. Men should act like they ought to and ladies should behave like ladies should (Serio, 2006). Conclusion The issue of metrosexuality is complex and controversial. There are two arguments about this issue.On is a strong proponent for metrosexuality while the other is opposed to it. One thing remains clear though. The society has changed tremendously over the ages and will continue changing. Some aspects of the society that were so important in ancient ages have now found themselves in oblivion in the modern world. This is because they could not work for today’s society. Traditionally, men and women have particular gender roles. It is evident that these roles have been changing with time to keep up with the world’s advancements. Also, men were stereotypically associated with certain attributes.These were meant to distinguish them from women. They included acting tough, cold-hearted and generally in control. Women were also assigned specific attributes that identified them as ladies. They included being soft, caring, loyal, and supportive and so on. In today’s society, these notions cannot apply in their entirety. This has given rise to the concept of metrosexuality. Metrosexual men are only trying to find themselves. As a matter of fact the future is metrosexual. Gone are the days when men and women alike were restricted to particular gender attributes.People should be allowed to be themselves, and metrosexuality is one such way. There is no doubt therefore that metrosexuality has a future. Reference Coad, D (2008) Gender, Sexuality and Sport Suny Press Flockner, (2004). Metrosexual. Emece Editores Serio, L. (2006):M etrosexuals and the downfall of society, retrieved from www. diserio. com, on November 20, 2008 Simpson, M. (2002). Meet the metrosexual, retrieved from http://www. salon. com, on June 22, 2002. The Age Company (2008)Rise of the Metrosexual, retrieved from www. theage. com, on November 20, 2008 Trubo, R. (2008)Metrosexuals: It’s a Guy Thing; Medicine Net .