I have been wondering about this term since a friend indicated that I was potentially one, initially I took offense but in other not to showcase my ignorance played it off as a joke and in a quest to satisfy my natural curiosity decided to find out what it meant, the recent craze about the concept and whether I was essentially one.

The term Metrosexual or the dictionary equivalent (disambiguation), is a new word generally applied to heterosexual men with a strong concern for their appearance, and who display many of the lifestyle tendencies of stereotypically gay men. Essentially their lifestyle, spending habits and concern for personal appearance are likened to those considered typical of a fashionable, urban, homosexual man.

Characteristics

· Single or married young man with a high disposable income

· Living or working in the city (because that's where all the best shops are), clubs, gyms and
hairdressers are.

· Very aware and up to date on the latest designs/designers in men's fashion and accessories

· Is outfitted in the latest designer clothes and accessories

· Always well groomed, you know latest hairstyles, manicured, pedicure, waxed/shaped eyebrows.

· Might be officially gay, straight or bisexual, but this is utterly immaterial because he has clearly taken himself as his own love object and pleasure as his sexual preference.

· Particular professions, such as modeling, waiting tables, media, pop music and, nowadays, sport.

· An avid reader and collector of male fashion and grooming magazines like GQ, Esquire, Men's Vogue and Men's health mainly because of the desire to be or look like what he sees in magazines and advertising

So you say what about the old-fashioned mans man, repressed, unmoisturized stoic, self-denying, un-plucked eyebrows, modest straight male whose role is to earn money for a living for his family? You know the retrosexual. Well he is being replaced by a new kind of man, one less certain of his identity and much more interested in his image - that's to say, one who is much more interested in being looked at (because that's the only way you can be certain you actually exist). A man, in other words, who is an advertiser's cash cow, it now includes married suburbanites like most of us and not just the single city guys. Personally I feel the reason most men like myself have taking to grooming and taking care of ourselves better is that we are tired of feeling confined within our gender roles and this is our way of establishing greater equality between the sexes through a shift toward role reversal.

Alternatively we might all be gullible falling once more to the advertiser's wand that is making us men more sensitive, in touch with our feminine side, color coordinated, ultimately equating to more shopping at malls and online in other to improve our personal appearances.