The modern man cooks, cleans, dances, and is generally well-groomed and well-dressed. He takes care of himself and wants to look good (think David Beckham). An ever increasing population of men are frequenting salons in search of a variety of different services to keep up appearances--waxing, manicures, pedicures, massages, facials, etc. The "metrosexual" has become so ubiquitous that it has ceased to be an applicable term for well-groomed men.*
There are always men (young and old, single and partnered up) in the salons I go to. And I would expect anyone I'm with to take care of themselves in this way on their own time. I don't want to see my SO plucking his eyebrows, but
I want there to be two. Nails should be clean and manicured, but I keep my nails clear and so should my SO. Waxing and facials is up to the man's discretion, I don't have much of an opinion on it either way. I guess what I'm saying is that I want my SO to be well-groomed and if it takes some manscaping, then so be it--I just don't want to "know" about it.
Is this the norm where you live? How do you feel about manscaping?
*Full disclosure: I live in a big city.
Comments (45)
I'm from small town usa so manscaping isn't something that happens regularly and I don't like certain aspects of it. Like men tanning.
I think its a little wierd. I love my husbad used to get a massage every 6 months *only* because he worked in a warehouse and he put away batteries and auto parts everyday so it threw out his back alot. If I asked him to get a mani/pedi or waxed he would laugh at me because theres no way he would do anything like that. Seriously I couldn't handle a metrosexual male, he would be more girly than me. I think guys like that need to get a pair of balls and stop trying to be so femine. I am grateful for my mans tough hands and body hair :)
There is nothing wrong with a man taking care of himself.
In fact, a Gentleman is and always has been expected to groom himself. This is not a modern phenomenon.
Look at the men of our Grandparents generation -- men of the 20's 30's and 40's in point; they were well groomed and took care of and pride in their appearances, knew how to fit clothing properly, knew what clothing was suitable to wear to what occasion, and that one shoe wasn't for all purposes. Cap-toe Oxfords here. Loafers there. Patent Leather for this. Suede for that.
Yet, they were masculine at the same time -- when the car broke, they fixed it. When something around the house needed work, they did it. When someone harassed his girl, he knocked the dumb fool's ass out instead of acting like a sissy. Because that's what men do. They knew how to do the things men were expected to know how to do. But at the same time, they were capable of grooming and taking care of themselves.
The problem comes when a man is OVERLY concerned about his appearance to the point where he's behaving like a woman. When men are going and getting spray tans or going into tanning booths, this is Fail. Want a tan? Go do some goddamned real manual labor outside. Nails trimmed and neat, great. Nails coated in clearcoat polish? Fail. Dressed neatly in a powder blue Hugo Boss herringbone stripe tailored shirt with French Cuffs and neatly pressed Charcoal Prince of Wales Check Trousers? Excellent. Dressing like a f*cking Peacock, Fail. Soft lips, good. Shiny lips, Fail.
You CAN be well dressed and well groomed and still look masculine.
There are things that should be kept though. Men should not have soft, limpy hands. I'm sorry, but if I shake your hand and your shake is limp and your palms are soft, I won't have much respect for you. Shake firm. And stop exfoliating your goddamned hands.
everyone should be well-groomed.
I do all the grooming for my boyfriend. He wouldn't get his hair cut without me, without me his nails would never be clipped (they'd be bitten to nubs) and he wouldn't have his hair product or shave cream. Oh! And his shampoo and conditioner.
I take care of my boy because without me, he wouldn't know where to start on his own. I do still need to cut his hair in his kitchen with the T.V turned towards us with an episode of Star Trek on, but I guess I don't mind (cause I love the show) and he looks good in the end!
Most guys I know at least want to be clean and take care of their borws, otherwise, they don't care.
Hah, I'm from a backwoods town where all the guys have beards, dirt on their jeans, and shaggy hair.
i love a well groomed man.
Where I live "man-scaping" is a term used to discuss a man shaving hair from his privates and the ways they do it, so when I read this I had to laugh that if you asked some people from Akron, Ohio they too would be confused on why you would be writing on some sort of controversy of men dealing with their pubes lol.
Guys getting facials and manicures? Uhm...turn off for me!! My boyfriend and I are both gross with each other, and I only step into the salon to get my hair done. :)
My boy generally doesn't care about things like tweezing his brows or clipping his nails. In fact, he completely forgets about stuff like that until I point it out and then do it for him. I just put it off on him being an engineering kid though and has his mind on other things.
Though I do enjoy me a well groomed boy.
@ICanLoseItAll@xanga - I'm from Southern Ohio and I thought the same thing. I read the article and I was like "Well, that definitely took a different turn than I expected."
A guy taking care of himself is nice. I don't mind the smelly ones though lol
@ICanLoseItAll@xanga - Also live in Ohio and thought the same thing. Ahaha.
totally agree. everyone should take care of themselves- boy girl or inbetween.
well-groomed = smexy. which is always a good thing.
i love that my boyf is clean. well not spa facials hairsalons clean but clean enough.
@ICanLoseItAll@xanga - I'm from Florida but I totally expected the same thing!
i thought that manscaping was shaving/trimming the area down there...
anyways i think that certain things like tanning, massages... that kind of stuff is okay. and some men really NEED to get their eyebrows waxed. but mani pedis, facials, body waxing should really be left to us women. i like my boyfriends manly hands and hairy body. that way i dont feel like i'm sharing my bed with a little boy who has yet to go through puberty lol.
@ICanLoseItAll@xanga - i'm from akron too! i thought the same thing.
@chow@ireallylikefood - hear, hear!
I'd prefer it if he wasn't a cousin it but i think the basic stuff like short-ish hair, shaved beard/mustache (although it comes with the package if it's an asian guy rofl)/down there, but not much else besides that. I would prefer if he had clean nails, that's true. But hairy legs, chest, arms, and head are all good with me. Tall, broad shoulders. Although it'd be nice (and usually normal for Asian guys) if the back wasn't terribly hairy.Â
@chow@ireallylikefood - damn dude, you said it all! i like my men to be men and women to be women, and it ain't hard. i definitely agree on the tan part.... go out and play some badminton if you have to!
he should look well groomed and not smell. if he has a unibrow and plucks it, fine, but plucking/waxing his eyebrows into a defined shape on a regular basis is too much and looks feminine.
personally i love well-groomed men, and they can all out in the open about it.
one of my (straight) male friends has more beauty products than i do haha :3
my boyfriend's way too lazy/busy to be what i would term well groomed. he's just groomed haha ^_^
i believe in, preach and affirm that there needs to be two eyebrows on the face.
Eh. I'm turned off by anyone who is overly concerned with appearance, male or female. Look neat, clean, and presentable, yes. Spend three hours primping in front of the mirror every morning and night, no thanks.
why would it matter? Â girls do that to make themselves look better or to feel better about themselves, why should it matter if a guy does it?