Posted on 06/11/2005 12:57:18 PM PDT by KentTrappedInLiberalSeattle
As quickly as they rose, metrosexuals are disappearing, writes John Huxley.
Barely two years after he was discovered - alive and well and living it up in Sydney - metrosexual man may be facing extinction. That, or he is just moving on as confused males everywhere seek new ways of expressing their masculinity, their essential "M-ness".
So says an international trendspotter, Marian Salzman, the sassy, savvy New Yorker credited with identifying straight, urban males suddenly doing "decidedly gay" things: taking an interest in fashion, fragrances and skin-care products.
Think footballer David Beckham, Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe, or even former US president Bill Clinton. "Oh yes," Salzman insists. "What does he do when caught cheating on Hillary? Other men would hide. He gets out signing books for her." Tell-tale, "squishy" behaviour.
This week Salzman has been visiting Sydney, which she describes as the "metrosexual capital of the world" - something, she says, to do with the city's mardi gras, its liberalism, its healthy, outdoor lifestyle and its harsh sun, "which forces men to look after their skin".
She has brought proofs of her new book, The Future of Men, co-written with two fellow trendspotters. It sounds like a contender for the Thinnest Book of the Year prize. "Not at all," says Salzman, who has wittily chronicled how women have "taken over as CEO of the boardroom and the bedroom", and no longer need men in traditional roles.
They have a future. But they're going to have to work one out. It won't be easy," she explains, adding it won't be easy for women either. "They have to rethink and recognise that equality means equality. Not superiority."
Over the past few decades, she says, male self-esteem has taken a beating. "Reparations for past injustices" suffered by women have gone too far. Males have been robbed of their place, of their voice, by a combination of political correctness and affirmative action.
Salzman - who invented or popularised other trends such as "globesity", "singleton" women and "wiggers", white kids stealing black street culture, as well as "metrosexuality" (a term first used in 1992 by an English journalist) - admits she was a beneficiary of these changes.
"I've a sense that during my entire adult life women have had the benefit of the doubt. I honestly don't know if I'd have had the career I've had if I'd been a guy. I have been a woman at the right time in history."
So, what next for men? More choices, says Salzman. More opportunities, especially perhaps for men who can "cherry pick" qualities which redefine maleness without incurring ridicule. More varied role models, from "uber-sexuals" such as Arnold Schwarzenegger to those the Californian Governor would call "girlie men", such as the popularly "pretty" actor Orlando Bloom.
But more pressure, too? Probably, agrees Salzman, as she puts Sydney under the microscope. Although Australia is a small, remote market, it can be a fruitful research laboratory for self-styled commercial anthropologists.
"America is not the centre of the universe. Americans are so conservative, so insular. Most don't have passports. Australians overseas are much more dangerous purveyors of trends. The world sees Australian culture as being more liberal, more experimental. Rightly or wrongly."
Salzman's methods are eclectic. She immerses herself in statistics, reads chick-lit novels, eavesdrops on conversations in bars and pokes about in shoppers' trolleys at supermarkets. "They never seem to mind. Perhaps it's because I'm an outsider."
She and her worldwide team of trendspotters comb newspapers (the original reference to Sydney's metrosexuals was spotted in a New Zealand paper). They even cultivate a discreet interest in what the world throws in its garbage bins.
It sounds fun. "It is," says the fortysomething Salzman, who is amused at her ability to antagonise groups "across the spectrum from the religious right to the women's movement", and surprised by her elevation to international queen of cool.
"I used to wonder what I'd do when I'd outgrown being a bimbo. I thought perhaps I could only get away with saying outrageous things because I was blonde." In fact, it was because most times she got things right.
Men aside, her impressions of the city have been mixed. She's always thought Sydney, unlike Melbourne, tries too hard to be world class. She's feels it looks somehow less multicultural than before. "Perhaps it's something to do with economic pressures, but this time everyone looks like me," she complains.
But she loves Sydney. And fears for it. Looking across the harbour, she says: "I sometimes think this must be the ultimate place for a terrorist attack. The natural beauty. The aura, of kinda smugness. It's the most wonderful place to give the world a kick in the teeth."
Scare-mongering? Hopefully, but Salzman identified Osama bin Laden as a man who really should be watched long before September 11, 2001.
What's the matter?
Was the closet getting too crowded?....;)
Invented the term 'wigger'....
I find that hard to believe.
Well, there's only so much moisturizer to go around, after all... :)
Well, we all have to move on in life...
A real man isn't some moron looking to be trendy.
ROFL!
[if I caught my hubby using *mine*, I'd buy him a pretty skirt and then throw him out]....;))
I'm hopelessly behind the curve.
I haven't a clue who this person is or why she's "important."
I find that hard to believe.
Same here! The term "wigger" has been around since the early to mid 80's;long before her first orgasm. I first heard the term "metrosexual" here on FR around 3+ years ago. This broad is full of BS!
metrosexual = folks who like sex with a bus or train
I always assumed metrohomosexuals couldn't reproduce anyway.
What about folks who like sex ON a bus or train? We can't all afford to join the mile-high club, you know.
Say it ain't so.
"Barely two years after he was discovered - alive and well and living it up in Sydney - metrosexual man may be facing extinction."
That was quick.
I suspect the metrosexual is a genetically inferior male that tries in vain to attract the opposite sex by being trendy, accomodating and non-assertive.
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