The Metrosexual

Its payday and what better to do on a Saturday than shop. I woke up early, as in - 10:00 a.m. early - and went to the mall. I was planning to buy a new pair of shoes, and there's this tennis plimsoll from Fred Perry that I was so craving for for a long time now. Every time I went to the Fred Perry store, it was always with somebody else who would immediately point out that I dont have enough space in my shoe rack to put it in, or I wouldn't be able to wear it since I still have other shoes that I haven't even worn yet. Plus its not cheap. For me, anyway. But this time, Im going there alone. So I sneaked out of the house but when I got there, there were no stocks in the color that I wanted. Arrgh! I can smell a conspiracy going on. It was raining heavily so I was too lazy to go to another mall. Plus I only had a pair of slippers on and I hated to get my feet wet. So there I was undecided as to where to go, or what to buy instead. When I passed by the cosmetics section, I saw this incredibly cute guy manning the Jean Paul Gaultier booth. So I went over to him thinking to myself whatever he's selling, I'm buying. Damn his nose, why does it have to be so straight? Im not, so no surprise here. My strategy was to pass by him as if I didn't notice him and just wait for him to call my attention. Which was exactly what happened. Piece of cake. When he said hi, I turned to look at him wearing my celebrated facial expression, the why-are-you-bothering-me-cant-you-see-im-busy look that could make Miranda Priestly proud. He then showed me the Le Male line of products and to make the long story short, I bought a gift set and got his number. What really caught my attention was the bronzer for men, aptly called Better Than Tan Moisturizing Bronzer. I know that there's this whole niche in the market the fashion industry is referring to as the metrosexual, but it made me think am I one? Does being gay automatically classify you as a metrosexual, or does being gay automatically excludes you from being one? Just how big is this market and what influence does it have in the fashion industry? I googled the word and the first thing that came up was Wikipedia's definition, which states that "Metrosexual is neologism of the 2000s generally applied to heterosexual men with a strong concern for their appearance, or whose lifestyles display attributes stereotypically attributed to gay men." So there you go, ladies. This pretty much clear things up, or maybe not. They used to label David Beckham as the metrosexual icon. Ok. But I read somewhere that Ryan Seacrest has also been referred to as such. Not ok. Metrosexuals are straight, or supposed to be. Be that as it may, metrosexuality is not really a signifier of gender but more on preferences with respect to fashion and lifestyle on account of its deviation from the traditional masculine norms. So David and Ryan may really have one thing in common after all.

I so love Mark Simpson's definition of the word archived in Salon.com: "The typical metrosexual is a young man with money to spend, living in or within easy reach of a metropolis – because that's where all the best shops, clubs, gyms and hairdressers are. He might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference. Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport, seem to attract them but, truth be told, like male vanity products and herpes, they're pretty much everywhere."

My take is, its just a great and effective marketing strategy which brought upon a whole new market and is in fact called by Simpson as the most promising consumer market of the decade.

Postscript: I found this definition of the word metrosexual in Uncyclopedia. It said "A Metrosexual is the slang term for a person who is sexually excited by public transit." I literally rolled on the floor laughing.