My wife has recently begun calling me her "little Metro". For those of you that have been sleeping under a rock for a while, the term I refer to is known as metrosexuality, which has been defined a thousand ways, but in a nutshell, is a male that is in touch with his feminine side, with some of the following definitions:
"The metro- (city) prefix indicates this man's purely urban lifestyle, while the -sexual suffix comes from "homosexual," meaning that this man, although he is usually straight, embodies the heightened aesthetic sense often associated with certain types of gay men"
"An urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle"
And exhibits the following example behaviors:
--VERY interested in his appearance in terms of hair, clothes, shoes, skin. --Doesn't mind going shopping, in fact embraces it.
--Is much more caring and loving than the typical male, either to a man or a woman. This includes expressing emotions in an open fashion without regard.
--Will cook and clean with fervor
--Uses words like fervor
Seriously though, this got me thinking a bit. Some of the things I "do" now is tan on pretty much an everyday basis, highlight my hair, treat my hair with conditioner, mousse, and hair spray--I will often accompany my wife on shopping for my clothes and even have say in what we buy, I will wear necklaces now, have picked out shoes (not sneakers, mind you), and as you may have seen on some of my posts, I am the type of person that has a "utopian free love" sentiment on the board. It's nothing for me to be very openly romantic with my wife. I run my mother's business on Ebay sellling salt and pepper shakers, for pete's sake!
So does that make me a metrosexual? Possibly. One of the more extreme definitions basically assumes that a metrosexual is a man more entwined in himself than anyone else in a narcissistic manner, displays feminine gay tendencies to an extreme (I equivocate this to JACK on Will and Grace), does not enjoy typical manly things at all, would much rather spend a Friday night watching a musical sipping Grey Goose instead of watching a game drinking some Bud Light....In that sense, I am so NOT metro.
So, what's the deal? Elementary, my dear watson. I thought about it, and there was one common denominator--the lifestyle. Ever since we very started actively meeting people about two years ago, my tendencies have moved in the direction that was mentioned above and how I "see" things differently. I am more conscious of how I look and act than ever before. In that sense, swinging has been an awakening from that side of the coin. In my observations, I see males in this lifestyle are more fashion prone, and do care about how they look whenever we attend an event or just simply go out; I also see, even evidenced on this board, that males are much more open, romantic, and caring than, say, a message board on ESPN.com. (Naturally, I wouldn't expect a comment on ESPN in the terms of "A-Rod needs to have his eyebrows plucked" or "Isn't Reggie Miller just DIVINE???" but you get my point)
Guys, gals, what's your take on this? Do you see that the men in the lifestyle have more tendencies to be seen as metrosexual (without the obvious gay references)?? What about your individual scenarios? Have you noticed any type of metamorphosis from what they were/you were before the lifestyle?? Do you see such a trend continuing?
The "Lil Metro" Tim
AND NO, that doesn't mean I like to have sex with Geo Metros.....