Metrosexual meant going above & beyond in male beauty care (a pretty low bar): going to a salon to get manicures & pedicures, maybe apply foundation & eyeliner, manscaping.
Possibly wearing those low-heel shoes that show the ankles without socks.
I also remember the words fag and like being ambiguous such that in written contexts I’d sometimes see the clarification good kind of fag to mean homosexual in contrast to an insult directed at someone the insulter dislikes (for being pretentious, aggravating, annoying or whatever).
In speech, the distinction was often understood from tone & context, so someone could be a fag (homosexual) yet not an effing fag (detestable), and their company might be absolutely welcome for that reason.
An insulter would usually pile on imagery of the subject performing homosexual acts as the recipient of such insults typically disapproves portrayals of themselves that way.
The insult was a way to puncture egos & authorities claiming a traditionally masculine image.
It wasn’t particularly effective against out & proud homosexuals or people who weren’t homophobic.
While fag wasn’t always an insult, however, bigots & religious zealots often drew no distinction, either.
Men in the 2000’s new about grooming. That was nothing new. “Metrosexual” referred to men who took it to extremes. The opening scene of “American Psycho” was held up as perfect example of metrosexual behaviour. It left open the possibility that of homosexuality but could absolutely apply to people who were seen as 100% straight. It was more synonymous with “dandy”, “fop” or “narcissist”.
In my mind, gay or straight is secondary for a metrosexual. Their first love will always their own image.
That said, there was crazy homophobia back then. Ya’ll don’t even want to hear about what kind of shit was going on before people had cell phones that recorded everything.
Yes, not to understate it.
Though it was a few years earlier, Matthew Shepard’s murder was prominent, and similar homophobic killings continued into the 2000s.
Nightclub shootings took headlines this decade & the last, too.
While parts of society seem more tolerant nowadays, regressive parts of society have hardly changed at all, so it’s hard to gauge.
That take seems a bit inaccurate.
Metrosexual meant going above & beyond in male beauty care (a pretty low bar): going to a salon to get manicures & pedicures, maybe apply foundation & eyeliner, manscaping. Possibly wearing those low-heel shoes that show the ankles without socks.
I also remember the words fag and like being ambiguous such that in written contexts I’d sometimes see the clarification good kind of fag to mean homosexual in contrast to an insult directed at someone the insulter dislikes (for being pretentious, aggravating, annoying or whatever). In speech, the distinction was often understood from tone & context, so someone could be a fag (homosexual) yet not an effing fag (detestable), and their company might be absolutely welcome for that reason. An insulter would usually pile on imagery of the subject performing homosexual acts as the recipient of such insults typically disapproves portrayals of themselves that way. The insult was a way to puncture egos & authorities claiming a traditionally masculine image. It wasn’t particularly effective against out & proud homosexuals or people who weren’t homophobic. While fag wasn’t always an insult, however, bigots & religious zealots often drew no distinction, either.
That’s my recollection too.
Men in the 2000’s new about grooming. That was nothing new. “Metrosexual” referred to men who took it to extremes. The opening scene of “American Psycho” was held up as perfect example of metrosexual behaviour. It left open the possibility that of homosexuality but could absolutely apply to people who were seen as 100% straight. It was more synonymous with “dandy”, “fop” or “narcissist”.
In my mind, gay or straight is secondary for a metrosexual. Their first love will always their own image.
That said, there was crazy homophobia back then. Ya’ll don’t even want to hear about what kind of shit was going on before people had cell phones that recorded everything.
Yes, not to understate it. Though it was a few years earlier, Matthew Shepard’s murder was prominent, and similar homophobic killings continued into the 2000s. Nightclub shootings took headlines this decade & the last, too. While parts of society seem more tolerant nowadays, regressive parts of society have hardly changed at all, so it’s hard to gauge.