22 JULY, 2003

Feminine Masculinity or Overt Chauvinism - Now That's Entertainment . . .

By Joseph Planta

(This piece originally was published on Now That's Entertainment . . . )

VANCOUVER -- The question "Are you a NeoLad or a Metrosexual?" is asked in this past Saturday's National Post style section. Printing up an interesting piece about the state of masculinity in the North American world this very moment, the Post proclaims that men, it seems, can be broken down into two categories. Of course none of this is accurately true, as fluff pieces like these run in our Saturday or Sunday newspapers to spark debate amongst style connoisseurs and advertisers alike. For us, humble readers, it makes for good copy, in between those full page ads for the casual wear conglomerate or the latest touring musical. It turns out that these two new paradigms of masculinity are the latest observations from The Atlantic's social commentator, David Brooks. Brooks's musings have been noteworthy since he pointed out the important socio-economic class of the 1990s, was what he termed, were the ‘bourgeois bohemians.'

Take Jimmy Kimmel, the misogynist pig who rose in the cultural radar from showing bikini-clad women jumping on trampolines on his Comedy Central hit, The Man Show, to his current front as ABC's late night talk show host. Along the way, he called football games, so he's the epitome of neoladdism, male chauvinism "but meted out with a large portion of irony." Brooks calls it ‘retro-sexism' as it's political incorrectness that's unashamed because it's that self aware. Metrosexuals on the other hand, have their leader in David Beckham, the soccer superstar who apparently gets away with painting his nails and changing his hairstyle frequently, that in a previous era, you'd have thunk he was a poof. Or gay, to use the vernacular.

Both the NeoLad and the Metrosexual are straight, and in our ever evolving socialisation, it's interesting to see how they stretch the boundaries of commonly held definitions of masculinity. To wit, while the NeoLad enjoys leering at women, the Metrosexual equally enjoys leering at himself. While the Metrosexual will wear five o'clock shadow for style, the NeoLad would sport five o'clock shadow to exude nonchalance.

What one surmises from the National Post's piece and Mr. Brooks's observations, is that, though we still live in politically correct times, more and more, pigs like Jimmy Kimmel are becoming acceptable. Soon, we can once again call our waitresses' baby, and other females we encounter, doll. And if I ever encounter that slightly unappealing female, I can make that heretofore forbidden crack: "She is so unattractive that she could eat corn through a fence." And at the same time, masculinity, thanks to voracious advertising and marketing executives, is coming out of the closet, so to speak. Seemingly, it's okay to be as high maintenance as a female. Such are the habits of the evolving Metrosexual that it's all right for invariably straight and urban-dwelling blokes to use Bioré pore strips, just before heading off to the strip bar, or listening to Depeche Mode as often as Nickelback, or choosing to order a Manhattan rather than a pint of Guinness. For the moment at least, such is the state of being a modern man.

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©2003 Joseph Planta.