Primp, but minus the tags!

JYOTI SHARMA / TNN / Jun 27, 2007, 00:00 IST

Text Size

Small
Medium
Large

Men have taken metrosexuality in their stride & moved on.

Key Highlights

Men have taken metrosexuality in their stride & moved on.

Maybe it started after SRK created a storm in a bathtub.Or maybe David Beckham and his love for sarongs and Posh's nail paints were to be blamed. And if none of these two sound good enough, you can always accuse the media of creating issues where there were none. Say what you will but metrosexuality was a revolution. And it was a revolution whose reigning colour was pink - make it polka-dotted too - smelt of woody, spicy and citrus-y fragrances and the scene of battle was a salon where women would give the men getting a pedicure a derisive look and would move over to the article they were reading - how to look good in 15 minutes.
But almost a decade has passed since the first groomzilla found his way to the salon to get his hair done. Today, primping and face massages are as much a part of a man's schedule as having a boys' night out or taking out time for weekend golf.
But boy, do they hate tags! "Why don't women get strait jacketed based on what they wear, how much time they spend in a mall or whether they visit a beauty parlour once or twice a week? I like to look good and spend money on myself. So, what is the big deal?" asks Suketu Sinha, a budding author. In other words, why is such a brouhaha being created if the reigning god of the silver screen, SRK, decides to endorse a product that will make men look fairer? As grooming expert Javed Habib says, "When my dad started a salon, the ratio of men and women visiting us was 10:90. Today that ratio is 50:50. And men come regularly and for all kinds of treatments."
And the figures tell their own tale about how the Indian male is a new creature these days. And if money and time were no constraints, he would love to go the whole hog in beauty treatments. In other words, metrosexuality has become an intrinsic part of his mental and physical make-up. As VJ Yudi says, "I go to a salon at least once a week and I am not in the least embarrassed about it. Who wants a dirty looking guy around?"

Nobody. Not even women. As anchor Pooja Bedi says, "My man should be obsessive about me and concerned about his looks. Otherwise it doesn't work." She, like numerous other women out there, can't figure out what the big deal is if men shop more than they do. Sociologist Rima Nagar says, "Today there is much more pressure on Indian men to look good than their fathers ever faced. Also, men have accepted the ideal of female beauty and are using the same grooming fundamentals." But, as the men would say, what is the big deal?

End of Article