Dear Readers:
Dr. Ink is having a sexual identity crisis, but not the kind you’ve heard before.
“Dad,” said Doc’s oldest daughter Inkette, “You are a woman!” From her lips, this was a compliment.
“You are such a metrosexual,” said Doc’s Poynter colleague, who shall be called only by her ethics street name, “Special K.” Doc had never heard the term. “Google it!” she ordered.
Hmmm. That captures Dr. Ink in a nutshell.
This site by Paul McFedries credits Mark Simpson as the 1994 inventor of the term. Back then Simpson was describing the kind of straight reader who might be attracted to certain men’s magazines, such as GQ, that reflected aspects of gay style and culture.
As the concept of the metrosexual has evolved, the term has been used to apply to any number of contemporary heterosexual men who are “in touch with their feminine sides.” The signs of metrosexuality include an interest in gay culture, an affection for shopping, and other habits usually associated with women.
Metrosexual men are tuned in to fashion –- their own and their partner’s -– and are likely to have been manicured, pedicured, and bikini waxed. They color and style their hair and enjoy skin care products.
Hmmmm. That describes Doc to a T-back.
Apparently, the icon of metrosexuality is English soccer star David Beckham, who is, of course, married to Posh Spice. “Beckham may be captain of the English soccer team,” reports The Age, “but he wears sarongs and nail polish, and has even posed for gay magazines … He has admitted that he likes to be admired, and does not care if it’s by women or by men.”
An Australian journalist assures us that any metrosexual is only a six-pack of cheap beer from becoming a real man again, someone who goes back to washing his hair with soap instead of shampoo.
And then there’s this devastating indictment from Jonathan Trew, writing for The Scotsman: “The only problem facing the metrosexual in an otherwise carefree existence is the inescapable effects of aging. If 30 is 45 in gay years, then 26 is retirement age for the metrosexual -– and no amount of biotechnological, rehydrating, whale sperm dermo-care can alter that.”
Hmmmm.
