All of your guy friends are in their fantasy football leagues while you're researching your next museum outing. Instead of wearing sweatpants and a Knicks T-shirt, you're struggling to match your Stan Smiths with a new tee from ZARA. While your high school buddies are rushing to their frats at Michigan, you're in Philly trying to go apartment hunting with your jazz-obsessed roommates.
Life as a metro-sexual man is interesting, right?
Being a millennial, sexuality is pushed along a huge spectrum of straight, gay and everything in-between. Metro-sexuality is something that isn't so new, but has been newly defined over the past few years. Those who typically fall under this category are straight males who often have an interest in art, fashion and general urbanite culture.
Having that title thrown onto myself, I can safely say that this is something everybody should embrace! The world is filled with all types of people, and we are just one small cog in a never-ending world of diversity. Adding something new and exciting to your daily routine can easily make a large impact on your own life.
For those of us who are metro-sexual, however, we are faced with challenges that few ever take into account.
The toughest part about being a metro-sexual man is being constantly bombarded with harassment from your male friends. One thing that separates us from the average straight guy is that we often make platonic relationships with women. Many guys often categorize women as people who are somewhat separate from their usual companions, often making strict guidelines of seeing women as "unobtainable", or strictly for sexual prowess. Saying that your best friend is a girl may be hard for other guys to understand, and often leads them to think that you've "betrayed" their male trust.
As stated before, "metro" guys are usually very conscious of their own personal style and self-expression. What we may see as "cool" in the realm of fashion is sometimes seen as overstated, or just flamboyant. While in high school, guy friends constantly questioned my sexuality just because I chose Mean Girls over a Giants game, or girls just assumed I was gay because I wore something from Urban Outfitters rather than Nike.
For those of you reading this who define themselves as metro-sexual: understand that this world is drastically changing. The stereotypical guy is fading into the background of contemporary society, and you are the leaders of the new wave of male identity. Go shopping with your girl friends, and continue pursuing your girlfriend!
