First it was metro-sexual, then retro-sexual and now the new neo-sexual is crawling into our society creating a new label and redefining us guys from a whole different perspective. I hate labels; gay, straight, geek, SNAG (sensitive new-age guy) and now this!? Men are just MEN. There is just no need for labels. Why don’t they have labels for women? I wonder how many thousands of different labels they can come out with to define them. So, what’s with the obsession of labeling men?

According to Europe’s DV Man magazine, a neo-sexual man is “sensitive and caring but with a tough masculine edge”. Clear examples include James Bond’s Daniel Craig, Clive Owen, model Patrick Petit Jean and Matthew McConaughey. They are the new breed of male specimens that make David Beckham looks like just another wimpy rich boy. Neo-sexual men are sensitive but will also throw a punch at the jackass who grabs their girls’ behind in a crowded club. They have five o’ clock shadow but also have their Zirh and Khiel shaving products ready in their bathroom cabinet. Neo-sexuals might also wear Zegna suit on weekdays but will ditch it for their Levi’s and motorcycle boots on weekends.

Fashion world has also started embracing the idea of neo-sexual. A lot of designers have replaced their waif and skinny male models with the edgier, buffed and slightly hairier bunch to be on their runways and lead their advertising campaigns. Patrick Petit Jean for instance, a highly on demand model of the moment has a full beard and has been in numerous runway shows including Jean Paul Gaultier. He is also the face of Prada alongside Linda Evangelista. The images seen on advertising campaigns these days are also different from what it was a couple of years back. The campaign for Calvin Klein new male fragrance, ‘Free’ for example features model, Jamie Dornan driving his jeep in the middle of a desert talking about getting lost and at the same time looking real tough.

There is a very solid explanation for our generation’s yearning for this strong figure that we can call our hero. First of all, men are expected to be tough and ready to fight for anything in today’s world when everyday seems to be a whole different game of uncertainties. People are paranoid and everybody just wants a new tougher role model that they can look up to. At the end of the day, nobody wants to mess around with someone who looks like they have just got out of a hiking trip compared to guys who have just walked out of a nail parlor. As for the women, I have to quote Charlotte York of ‘Sex and The City’ and according to her “women, they just want to be saved”. So in this case, I don’t think Mr. Ryan Seacrest is an ideal guy to fulfill women’s fantasy of their knight in shining armor. Perhaps they rather go with the image of Hugh Jackman from the movie ‘Australia’ with all his facial hair, sweat-drenched shirt and dirty boots.

So neo-sexual is not really a new thing. Come to think about it, the characteristics of the neo-sexual are just simply a list of what being a man is all about; sensitive but tough, macho but well-groomed, strong but elegant and well-dressed but not self obsessed. But I understand where these all come from. It’s all about defining the kind of changes that is being anticipated by the society. Different generation calls for different kinds of hero. Maybe we are just sick and tired of how self-centered and vain metro-sexual and retro-sexual can be. We need someone who cares not only about himself but also about things around him. But the question now is after so many years of metro-sexual narcissism, can we really be that person?

Photos from Starpulse

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