The drip dry boyfriend vs. the ever increasing Jamaican Metro sexual

I found myself in a discussion at a Lyme of some male lgbt bloggers where the whole matter of men who are metro sexual an ever increasing aesthetic here on the island vs. the drip dry male who just looks good despite his natural state, that is without the use of mountains of male grooming products and tight jeans & tank tops wearing proudly showing the endowed nipples and gifts from God wakes up in the morning rolls out of bed and just needs soap and water.

The other bloggers asked me to raise the issue in a post to see what comes of it.

Wade in Noah's bathroom the 1st day after he moves in

The guys discuss Noah's concern for Wade's high maintenance and grooming products

Noah removes traces of Wade's face mask after Wade had kissed him while wearing it

Alex snaps at Noah for not realising there is going to be head bumping when a man moves in for the first time

Wade's mountain of male grooming products

Wade stays at Noah's for a while but Noah realises how high maintenance he is

The issue came for mention when the guys and I were watching old episodes of Noah’s Arc (captioned above) where a scene had the character Wade in Noah’s bathroom applying facial creams much to Noah’s surprise and dismay somewhat, as the following scene showed Noah explaining his concerns to the other characters.

typical tight pants or some way tighter as seen on the streets as of late with some waists way below the natural line

dancehall's reigning prince, demi God and worshipped as a hero by some gays and lesbians not because he is gay (which he has not confirmed or denied) but because he has pushed the envelope and broken several serious taboos one of which was open skin bleaching by men

Interestingly Jamaican men gay, straight or bisexual as the case may be are increasingly conscious of their looks to the point that dancehall culture speaks to it in song about men competing with women over the skin bleaching creams and tight brand named expensive clothing lines worn today. The very dancehall acts who have lyrics demonizing bleaching creams and tight pants have themselves fallen into the trend and the women don't seem to mind.

As we traverse the city streets here in Jamaica one wonders if we are really in a homophobic society as is often said. Gorgeous buffed muscular men attired in the once vilified tight jeans but carefully maintaining the deep voices and a “bad man attitude” to justify the masculinity with puffy or corn rowed dyed hairdos and manicured nails despite social class.

One member of the lyme group (I call him J1) said he didn’t mind his boyfriend being the metro sexual as he found it interesting and he thought it reinforced his homosexuality thus making him attractive in his eyes. The stereotype that gay men overcompensate in personal care with high maintenance which makes him stands out was an attraction factor for J1, the other guys disagreed and I wasn’t sure where I stood as I don’t have a steady boyfriend now and never really allowed it to bother me that much.

The other guys (let’s call them J2 & J3) strongly disagreed and seem to play to the general Jamaican consensus that “man muss stay man” (men must be masculine and are to be seen as a real men) they felt that their “Men” must not use grooming products heavily like themselves or like women or look too effeminate as others gays looking on my berate their relationship as we say in Jamaica as “two pot covers slamming shut” (2 effeminate men in a sexual union is unacceptable and not logical) there must be a dominant man and a passive partner mimicking the heterosexual concept of relationship elements. But even as the landscape changes right before our eyes we now observe men having their hair done with extensions by the street side hairdressers and in increasing salons that are becoming unisexual, men wearing bleaching

creams in public or on the streets as well is not a shocking phenom anymore

Are these brothas gay? Or is it a mix of tastes and cultures?

As we are so influenced by things from up north and elsewhere.

There may be a study available on this phenomenon I was told it would be good to see the findings (got to search for it)
Then again the converse may justify the attraction issues as some masculine (heaviots) guys really like their men queenie and deeply femme or as drag queens and it’s the feminine aspects of the behavior that becomes the basis for the hookup.

Some questions:
Do you think that your partner should be deeply masculine?
Or do you mind that metro sexuality is evident in your man?
Do you think that seeing the ways and idiosyncrasies of a metro sexual partner may make him seem less of a man?
Is not accepting metrosexualism these days non progressive in lgbt culture?

The effeminate behavior of ones partner may take some getting used to but when the period comes around to introduce your loved one to people you fear the reaction and have to relive the reality of it being present all over again for just that split second.

UPDATE may 27th 2011

Skin bleaching has become an integral part of the whole Jamaican metrosexual culture but how the public has responded to Kartel's new look suggests that persons seem to know the difference between homo thugs vs other identities under the same gender loving population we must also bear in mind that there are women who love seeing men bleached as well.

the pic that some say makes him look gay (gay thug aesthetic)

See: Gay Look for Kartel from my sister blog GLBTQJA and Who is a real man? ...."Males who do not fit this "new" hegemonic view of masculinity are often labelled as nerds and "fish" (slang for homos

also: Vybz Kartel from Anti Bleaching advocate to The King of "The Rub"

Now that dancehall music's leading figure head Vybz Kartel has turned the industry upside down with his new look of bleached skin, twined hair probably with extensions weaved in the talk of his sexuality is on in earnest and with that comes men in public who also follow suit to keep up with the trends, as Kartel (Adijah Palmer) would no doubt say Kartel leads other follow. Men spend more time now on skin care, carefully selected feminized style clothing, maintaining very elegant wardrobes and are not afraid anymore to wear softer colours such as bright pink as once frowned upon in Jamaican society. Some same gender loving men especially those who are more on the effeminate side of things and who themselves may wear makeup or fully cross dress do not seem pleased at having a high maintenance man, some feel that they must not compete as almost to buy into the hetero-normative view of Jamaican masculinity, rough, tough aggressive normally kept thug or ordinary man just as long as he doesn't have any feminized faults or traits he is good to go. One person some time ago said they do not want to compete to go to the bathroom just to put themselves together or he looks more than them when they go out together which suggests some insecurity.

What’s on your mind about this?

(Public comments preferred) otherwise lgbtevent@gmail.com

H