Wednesday, May 24, 2006

Metrosexuals

Today’s discussion of the idealized male in fashion magazines provoked me to think of the term metrosexual. Please see this attachment at urban dictionary to read more about it
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=metrosexual. This term came into play in recent years. I came to understand the term by the fashion styles and extreme hygiene practices of designer Sean Combs. The media has labeled him as a metrosexual because he is super clean cut, and is always decked out from head to toe. Many people have added their own perspectives to the definition, but however you define the word, it is interesting to see how some men have evolved from the stereotype of not caring about their appearance or being into fashion to being just as concerned about clothes and shoes as women. The typical metrosexual that is depicted in the media is usually a muscular mesomorph that has toned arms and abs and no visible body hair. I am not sure if you have to be borderline homosexual to be considered a metrosexual, but I think this adds to the discussion of the idealized man. Many ads are now depicting men as metrosexuals. I think they are doing this to appeal to gay men and heterosexual women, which Dr. Lambiase touched on in her lecture today about the ambiguous nature of men in advertisements that we saw in the Ambercrombie and Fitch catalog.

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