Can the office worker be as purposeful as a coalminer ? Will stoicism and self-awareness prevail ? Did ‘new dude’ have any balls ? And have the old ways in which men were men -tough, unmoved, belligerent- survived the metrosexual blip ? Men are asking a lot of questions, but don’t call it a crisis. Phew !
In 1997, David Beckham was transformed from footballer to style icon, mainstreaming the kind of male narcissism, previously confined to tour reps, that was to blight the next decade with a glut of fake tans and plucked eyebrows. Unsurprisingly, this triumph of the metrosexual provoked a backlash among those left behind. The cheeky irreverence of early laddism begot the knuckle-dragging excesses of the men’s weeklies. For the best part of this century it seemed this polarisation would continue until men were all either teary-eyed sari-wearing PRs or salivating over a High Street Honey at a Max Power rally. But ten years on, a fresh paradigm seems to be emerging. On the catwalks, there are astronauts, swashbucklers, samurai, pioneers and flamboyant dandies. All this is surely evidence of a new masculinity that eschews beery blokeism and hollow emotionalism alike, favoring instead determination, talent, humility and flair. It’s about the gritty truth of self-realization, the quiet heroism of responsibility, the dignity of old-fashioned competence and hard work.
