How Camp is Too Camp?

In recent years we have entered a cultural age which has seen the arrival of two major social cliques: the hipster and the metrosexual. The male-grooming industry has boomed and as a result it has become easy, for many, to fall into these “effeminate” categories. But what exactly does it mean to be the modern man who dresses in spray-on jeans or pencils-in his eyebrows?

The metrosexual baffles me. The name itself connotes a sexual identity but, in reality, to qualify for such a role a man needs only care to the point of insanity about the shape and size of his eyebrows, the shade of his foundation, and the straightness of his fringe.
This brand of vanity in women is what feminists have been campaigning against for years, but apparently it has become handsome of men to pluck their faces bald and drown themselves in instant tan; I don’t think so.

What is worse are those who, despite their cosmetic androgyny, continue to embrace the UniLad mentality. The end result: douchebags who can only be distinguished from the girls they’re dating by their sporadic interjections of casual sexism.

On the other hand, hipsters are relatively new social creations that seem to be an amalgamation of scene kids, indies and the ever-lurking metrosexual. They are defined on Urban Dictionary (AKA The Gospel of Truth) as young people who consciously reject mainstream culture and can be spotted by their “tight-fitting jeans” and “androgynous hairstyles” sporting “retro sneakers”.
Hipsters paradoxically attempt to defy popular fashion by shopping religiously in Topman and embracing radical styles and colours which, in the age of hipster fashion, serves only to contradict precious hipster maxims.

It has become apparent that to be a skinny boy is once again the latest fad. I find more and more often that men are dressed with far more care and precision than women!

But what happens when this obsession with appearance presumes to say more about you than you intend? I am naturally very “camp” which I’m very happy with; couple this with my bright red jeans and high-tops and I generally get one of two reactions: ‘whereabouts in Europe are you from?’ or ‘is that your boyfriend you were with earlier?’.

As attractive as my friend is, I am straight. Many people would take offense at the question of sexuality, but when men (myself included) could easily shop in Miss Selfridge and get away with it, is it any wonder that people question? For people to ask can only be a good thing: firstly, it tells us that people are thinking about sexuality; secondly, it suggests that stereotypes, assumptions and taboos are steadily being dispelled.

One can no longer be identified sexually based on appearance alone – which is how it should be! Gender identity transcends fashion. Therefore even if metrosexuals are knobheads and hipsters are pretentious cultural snobs, it doesn’t matter because we seem to be at the brink of a mutual sexual awakening. Does that sound good to you?