Isn't it normal to want to look good and hence feel good? In this time and age, I thought it was rather rare for men in developed countries not to escape the moisturiser marketing machines. After all the name inventions for heterosexual men who want to look like their gay counterparts, the submergence of the term "metrosexual" and its eventual death, leading to lesser known terms, because of the outcries of women who want their real men butch and "just the way they are", I still find it a little weird that men can get shy over revelations of their "beauty secrets".
With more and more sports superstars lending themselves to skincare and beauty products, one would have thought that it is generally more acceptable for men to take care of themselves more. Based on my own personal observations, these "metrosexuals" do a better job than most homosexuals in adapting these extravagant lifestyle choices.
Observation at the local gym usually reveal that an increasing number of heterosexuals (especially gym instructors) shave their legs and body (because their clients can't see the muscle definitions under all that hair mass) and spend way too much time in front of the bathroom mirrors perfecting their looks, but sometimes sadly, not their brains. Not that these behaviour should all be linked to homosexual behaviour but the last straw came when we saw two straight men having manicures in a parlour.
None of my gay mates have time for facials, let alone manicures, though a straight mate of my boss' complains he needs to get manicures, pedicures and a facial because he just feels so filthy and he is a 9-5 lawyer. Figure that out.
So, it came as a surprise last night, when my friend revealed that her boyfriend (who we had just met earlier that evening) bought his first moisturiser just the other day, and he is in his mid 30s. He flared up after the revelation, accusing her of sharing an intimate fact to people he barely knew. If he has calculated his audience well enough, he would have nothing to worry about because we were all gay. After we normalised the "use of moisturiser", he cooled down and reflected on his rage, puzzled. Do straight men feel emasculated just because of the use of a moisturiser or any form of care to our face or bodies, or is it so common nowadays that we are no longer shocked?
1 comment:
Haha I just had to laugh. The depravity or should I say declivity to vanity is much needed in the straight community. Then again your anecdote reminds me of my gym trainer who scratches himself constantly. He has got it perfected to an art and believes I don't notice! So heres to the moisturiser and some scratching on the side!
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