When did good grooming become effeminate or "metro" for men? (blonde, hairstyles)

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by turf3

There is a big difference between "good grooming" (keeping shaven (your face!)), neatly styled hair, clean properly tailored clothes (that fit! not undersized) neatly pressed, fingernails without grime under them, etc. -

versus

- Being obsessed with what a bunch of large companies advertise through anorexic male models; shaving off all your body hair, wearing makeup, wearing your suits two sizes too small because fashion models do it, carefully trimming your beard so you always look like you have exactly two days' growth, and so on.

This is it, exactly. Sometime in the 90's, a variety of skin products for men were marketed, anti-aging skin products, men's fashion seemed to get more play in the media, and a general trend developed, that made it seem like young men were becoming as indulgent of their "vanity" as women, so the term "metrosexual" was coined.

[randomparent]

Originally Posted by Oklazona Bound

I think who someone is on the inside is way more important then someone just dressing up trying to impress everyone.

You look at some of the professions where wearing a suit is still the norm:

Politicians
Lawyers
Televangelists
White collar criminals
Wall Street Bankers
Undertakers

I use my casual attire as a badge of honor. I also make a lot of money and don't need to impress anyone to be successful. I am glad we have turned a page where you can be yourself. If someone wants to dress up or has to because their occupation demands it that is fine I don't care either way. I just glad I have worked hard to be in a position where I do not have to.

This is an interesting perspective. It seems that at some point, dressing up became the sign of a striver rather than a mark of accomplishment.

I find myself wondering if some of this revolves around the rise of the automobile. Bear with me if that doesn't make sense off the bat, but it strikes me that in a time of public transportation moving the vast majority of people back and forth to their jobs, the symbol of your professional attainment was your attire. A well-cut suit, a hat, fine shoes, and a leather briefcase were the mark of an accomplished man. Now, we signal our elevated place in the world via our luxury cars. This may be the reason that big cities remain more formal than the rest of the county. People spend more time moving from place to place in the public eye and less time hidden away in cars.

[Larry Caldwell]

Originally Posted by Fat Freddy

You learn something every day.

I always thought "Metrosexual" meant a feminine man who lived in the city.

Pretty much. They are the guys who did a full body wax job including their pubes. As a sexual strategy it appealed to women fixated on pre-adolescent boys.

Do you know how you can tell the bride from the groom at a modern wedding?

The bride has the braided armpits.

[JONOV]

Originally Posted by creepy

Well, way back in your grandpa's time there was a different word for what we call metro-sexual and it was dandy.

To me, it just changed around the past 10 -15 years, when men started to get their eyebrows waxed and plucked and had treatments done to their face. To me, there is a different to a well groomed men and a metro-sexual man.

Then, also they are just stupid words people think of and use to sell stuff. I did a G search for metrosexual and it brings up Beckham, Top 10 Metrosexual Celebrities - Different Metrosexual Celebrities | MensCosmo.com
and Ryan Reynolds, I guess I am out of touch because I do not consider them metrosexuals, or the media is out of touch. We would just call them "pretty boys" back in the 80's. Also they were sometimes referred to a "model good looking".
As I search for pics of what I think of metro-sexual-I can't easily find any and must get back to work.

One more,
https://twitter.com/metroprblms
See this guy is just "model good looking".

Originally Posted by Reefmonkey

Mocking men for a well above average concern for clothes and grooming isn't anything new, "metrosexual" is just a newly coined synonym for "dandy." I'll bet your grandfather would be mocking the metrosexuals if he saw them. Good hygiene and grooming are different from vanity. I say this as a guy who rarely leaves the house without shaving and putting on a collared shirt, who wears slacks rather than jeans or shorts. That's just having self respect. But "manscaping", eyebrow waxing, having someone else groom your nails when you can do it yourself, that does cross over into dandyism.

Interesting the comments about the eyebrows. I'm not a Dandy but I have mine waxed once in awhile, I pluck a few times a week. So I continue to have two instead of one, and the waxing so I don't look like a werewolf with it growing into my hairline. They are still super thick though. Two or three weeks after I had them done, I was recognized across a park by a woman who told my wife, "those thick eyebrows stand out". I'm not the hairiest dude either, so I have to imagine a lot of guys do their eyebrows.

Originally Posted by Larry Caldwell

Pretty much. They are the guys who did a full body wax job including their pubes. As a sexual strategy it appealed to women fixated on pre-adolescent boys.

Do you know how you can tell the bride from the groom at a modern wedding?

The bride has the braided armpits.

Originally Posted by Suburban_Guy

I don't think men being neat and groomed in general is what some are criticizing, but the need for some men to shave and wax body hair, underarms, chest, private areas, etc.

Why men need to do that, ridiculous.

Yeah, the no-body-hair thing is odd, but I don't know that I see many men doing it, aside from bodybuilders or swimmers. But I (sort of) understand it with Physique competitors.

[kukumjacka]

Originally Posted by JONOV

Yeah, the no-body-hair thing is odd, but I don't know that I see many men doing it, aside from bodybuilders or swimmers. But I (sort of) understand it with Physique competitors.

No it isn't. Hair traps in smell. Under clothes it becomes worse. Skin doesn't breathe. In the summer it's much worse.

Hair is nothing more than an old remnant from the monkey days. We needed it for warmth. Not anymore. We don't need it, it's ugly, it's disgusting, it needs to go away. It's not a "metro" thing, it's a clean thing.

I'm not that hairy but i try to get rid of it as much as I can.

[Lovehound]

Originally Posted by kukumjacka

No it isn't. Hair traps in smell. Under clothes it becomes worse. Skin doesn't breathe. In the summer it's much worse.

Hair is nothing more than an old remnant from the monkey days. We needed it for warmth.

Before I begin my main point, hair also increases skin touch sensitivity and pubic hair is to a degree a defense against vermin in evolutionary times. You feel them and the obstacle course slows them down. — And in the present, I've known some men who so are overly hirsute that their chest was a horrible, hairy mat, and they had to shave just to keep it from getting very uncomfortable. Thankfully most men do not face this problem.

As to the word meterosexual I always assumed (perhaps wrongly) that extreme attention to appearance was commonly thought of regarding homosexuals, and the metero- ("city") was added, to form the meaning that meterosexuals were unusually extra attentive to grooming related matters, and that these people were primarily city, because they are less often seen in rural America. I offer this as supporting my assertion:

Originally Posted by Urban Dictionary

A person (typically male) who takes pride in his appearance, dresses impeccably, goes for facials, expensive hair cuts and things of that nature. They are often assumed to be gay. (link)

That said, I believe men who are secure in their masculinity (like me) don't really care what people who ridicule this think.

I like to shave every day and keep my hair trimmed properly. I use some skin care products like an exfoliating scrub almost daily (it keeps my pores open and removes dead skin), I'm using a retinol cream (LilyAna) hoping to look younger, I had been using SeroVital skin care but the product didn't deliver. I had realized that my face felt much nicer with the moisturizing provided by SeroVital and I'm looking for a nice moisturizer.

BTW I go to a hair salon, not a barber, I have my regular stylist and she shampoos my hair then trims it as it dries and gives me a better haircut than the walk-in places. I recently convinced one of my BFFs to try it, and he now goes to my same stylist. I think a very experienced hair stylist does a better job than the walk-in places.

Most men don't use such products, but I realized that women have some good ideas regarding body care and that men should consider whether some of the products may benefit them too.

As far as dressing, I color coordinate what I wear, always dress causal but in a very sharp way and with my clothing clean and neat.

I may fit into the description meterosexual, but I think my neat appearance appeals to women. Most of my male friends think I'm excessive but I don't care.

[Huckleberry3911948]

Bath shave and dress wear shoes polished and in good repair
Anything past that people will talk about you

[Hapa1]

I don’t understand why any man would just “let himself go” because of some strange belief that being well-groomed, nicely dressed, nails manicured, having healthy looking skin, etc...is a sign of being effeminate.

[bmcass]

Originally Posted by Chicken-wings

Around 1994, when the term "metrosexual" was coined to describe a man who cares about grooming as much as a woman does, which apparently is a death blow.

1994 seems early. I'd say it was around the early 2000's, especially when the show "***** Eye for the Straight Guy" was on T.V.

[Mikala43]

Metro usually denotes a little more than normal attention to grooming: mani/pedi, eyebrows and chest waxed, tailoring your clothes, things like a perfect 5 o'clock shadow 24/7, lots of gym time, tan fake/real, etc.