The myth of the metrosexual male

LS surbeys students on the myths of metrosexuality

By Evelyn Prysor-Jone and Gen "Suisse" OJ

It is evident that in the 21st century, concepts of masculinity and femininity are changing rapidly. When it comes to addressing the idea of a whole new gender - the metrosexual male - it must be realised that taking on such a label brings about more than just a lifestyle change, as the term carries a lot of connotations that some feel they should avoid being related with. The survey for this article asked 160 students, 90 boys and 70 girls, various questions about their behaviour when it came to their appearance and their thoughts on aspects associated with metrosexuality.

When I think of Gordon Ramsay, I think of a hard-headed, sharp-tongued man who would not take callous comments about his appearance, or anything for that matter, to heart. Therefore, it came as a surprise to hear that he had undergone cosmetic surgery to fill his deep wrinkles, on the advice of Simon Cowell.

The idea that men aren’t (and shouldn’t be) as concerned with their physical appearance as women is fast becoming an old-fashioned one, with the number of men having cosmetic surgery leaping up 82 percent since the start of 2009 (www.thegoodsurgeonguide.co.uk).

The concept of crossing the gender boundaries dates back to the early 19th century when women began to wear trousers for practicality, much to the disapproval of their fellow workers, in coal mines. Even then, they were expected to wear skirts over the top, which were rolled up to the waist whilst working. Eventually, thanks to the feminist movement and designers like André Courrèges breaking the boundaries, trousers became a standard part of any modern woman’s wardrobe. However, if a man chooses to expand his wardrobe to include skirts, dresses and heels he becomes labelled as a tra

nsvestite. Why is it that women are allowed so much more freedom in what they wear? Some men in the media are celebrated for their metrosexuality, such as Eddie Izzard and Russel Brand but to what extent does society still covertly raise its eyebrows?

It is hard to ignore the parallels between our past and the present in terms of the rules society imposes upon people based on their sex. It is perhaps the case that, in another hundred years, generations to come will look back on us ‘small minded’ people and be as appalled and bemused at the concept of men being judged for wearing make-up or high heels as most of us are about women being disallowed to wear a ‘man’s’ garment.

If a girl wears loose fitting clothes and has a short hair-style she becomes ‘butch’, and if a man walks or talks in a certain way he becomes ‘camp’. Why then, do we not call men that wear baggy clothes and short hair butch and women who walk or talk a certain way camp? We are raised from a young age to learn stereotypes and pidgeon hole the people we meet into them, yet the 21st century is seeing a new revolution. Has the masculinist movement arrived?

The metrosexual male is a new concept, defined by urbandictionary.com as “An urban male with a strong aesthetic sense, who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle”. Metrosexual is also described as being “homosexual in every way except in sexual orientation” which is loaded with stereotypes of a gay (and not lesbian) person’s behavioural traits and values. What then, does metrosexuality really mean and should it perhaps be rebranded “metrosensual” in order to combat the idea that the choices made in individual appearance detemine sexual oriention. It is a huge generalisation to say that in order to be heterosexual you must fit the criteria of dressing a certain way and having a specific level of concern for your overall appearance and the same can be said for homosexuality. By selecting one lifestyle choice, why does society impose another alongside it as though they are two inseparable sides of the same coin? And to what extent do people agree?

With differing definitions, it proves hard to spot a truly metrosexual male. In comparing males against one another, it may be easy to say that the metrosexual male is the one with fairly long hair that requires styling and straightening as opposed to the male who just uses a bit of hair gel on a shorter cut. However, there are many men would get very upset if you dared to tweak their perfectly poised spikes and who probably spend more time styling their hair in the morning than say, a man with a number two cut.
Perhaps it is more about cosmetics and beauty products, although even here it is difficult to find the line. Is using conditioner over a 2-in-1 the criteria? Or perhaps having both a face and a body moisturiser? Or maybe even owning moisturiser at all? Lipbalm? Tinted lipbalm?

With so many questions, we wanted answers. We ran a survey of 160 people to see where you felt men were crossing the borders into metrosexuality.What is considered socially acceptable and what are society’s expectations of male and female behaviour?

Leeds Student would like to clarify that any  opinions expressed in these results are those of the respondents not the opinions of LS. If you would like to comment on what we have displayed please feel free to email us at features@leedsstudent.org.