Gender studies in South Africa, especially the understanding of masculinity, is still in its infancy and as such paucity in literature and qualitative studies is evident. This study was aimed at exploring how male and female university students talked about the emergence of the ‘metrosexual’ male and the changes, if any, that masculinity has undergone. The rationale of this study is to therefore contribute to the growing understanding of the ‘metrosexual’ male and to try and bridge the gap between theoretical understandings of masculinity and the lived experiences of the South African population. The sample for this study consisted of eight University of Witwatersrand undergraduate students (four male and four female). . The research process involved each participant undergoing a semi structured interview, after which their talk around the ‘metrosexual’ male was analysed using discourse analysis. The researcher was interested in learning how the participants talked about current masculinity, the ‘metrosexual’ male, factors that are responsible for the emergence of the ‘metrosexual’ male and finally the suggestion that masculinity is in crisis. The data suggests that whilst the ‘metrosexual’ is understood as being another form of masculinity, the suggestion of a crisis is questionable, as perhaps the so called crisis is created through people’s discourses as a means of repositioning masculinity and maintaining its inherent dominance. The ‘metrosexual’ male was therefore seen as a positioning of masculinity that implies freedom to explore without disrupting the hegemonic qualities of masculinity.

Metrosexual men living in Växjö travel to other bigger cities in order to purchase desirable clothing. They are highly concerned about expressing desirable image through clothing, brand selection and personal attachments. Strong appearance and fashion awareness as well as desire for refreshing their wardrobe and image update categorize them as early adopters of new clothing collections. Metrosexual men are favorite brand switchers, which means brand loyal to few clothing brands within product category.

<p>Metrosexual men living in Växjö travel to other bigger cities in order to purchase desirable clothing. They are highly concerned about expressing desirable image through clothing, brand selection and personal attachments. Strong appearance and fashion awareness as well as desire for refreshing their wardrobe and image update categorize them as early adopters of new clothing collections. Metrosexual men are favorite brand switchers, which means brand loyal to few clothing brands within product category.</p>

In this thesis, I analyse the representation of grooming in Australian men’s lifestyle magazines to explore the emergence of new masculine subjectivities constructed around narcissism and the adoption of previously feminine-coded products and practices which may indicate important shifts in the cultural meanings of Australian masculinity. However, in order to talk about ‘new’ subjectivities and ‘shifts’ in masculine behaviours and cultural ideals, then it is imperative to demonstrate ‘old’ practices and ideologies, and so while the thesis is concerned with discourses of grooming and models of masculinity presented in the new genre of men’s lifestyle titles which appeared on the Australian market in the late 1990s, it frames this discussion with detailed analyses of previously unexplored Australian men’s general interest magazines from the 1930s. According to Frank Mort consumption, traditionally associated with the feminine has now become a central part of imagining men (1996: 17-18) while the representation and sale of masculinity is an increasingly important part of the ‘cultural economy’ (Mikosza, 2003). In this thesis I am concerned with the role of men’s lifestyle magazines and magazine representations of masculinity in the ‘cultural economy’ of mediated male grooming cultures.

This thesis discusses the influence of consumption on masculinity beginning in the early modern period of the English Restoration through the twenty-first century. Specifically, this thesis investigates the male figures known as the gallant, the fop and the metrosexual, which are found in the Renaissance, Restoration and twenty-first century respectively. Each figure embodied his society's fears about the effect of consumerism on masculinity by openly wearing sumptuous clothing and practicing "effeminate" behavior. A product of the developing early consumer society, the gallant of the Renaissance was widely and harshly chastised for his dress and behavior. Because mass consumerism was so new in the early modern period, the gallant was able to utilize consumption to express social dissidence and to defy class and gender. Writers such as Thomas Dekker, Philip Stubbes and Barnabe Riche rejected the gallant, but their rejection only served to fuel his subversive behavior. The fop built upon the foundation laid by the gallant and found wider acceptance in the Restoration despite the fact he was still mocked by Restoration society. The fop embodied the specific changes in consumption in the Restoration such as a greater influx of international trade through an excessive adoption of French dress and behavior. I first define the fop through George Etherege's Man of Mode. Then, by comparing William Wycherley's The Country Wife to William Shakespeare's All's Well that End's Well, I distinguish the fop's reception in the Restoration from the gallant's in the Renaissance. The metrosexual was the culmination of the impact of five hundred years of consumerism upon masculinity, and as such did not face rejection by society. Instead, metrosexuality embodies the pervasiveness of consumer-mediated masculinity in the twenty-first century. While some members of contemporary society still struggle to recognize the performative nature of gender identity, instead choosing to cling to the notion that masculinity is in "crisis," the metrosexual openly embraces gender performativity by consuming different products in order to maintain his male gender identity. As a result of metrosexuality masculinity is subsumed under consumerism and all forms of male identity become products to be purchased at will. Chuck Palahniuk tries to envision a world wherein consumerism no longer has any influence over masculinity in Fight Club, but he is ultimately unable to break masculinity away from consumerism because of the powerful bond that had been formed over a half a millennia. Ultimately masculinity is found to be dependent upon consumption, and the days when the male identity could exist apart from consumerism have long since departed. The gallant, the fop and the metrosexual each faced individual challenges, but in the end demonstrate the unbreakable and subversive bond between consumerism and masculinity.

In this essay I explore the importance of beef consumption in performing a traditional masculinity that defies the supposed effeminization embodied in the image of the metrosexual. Research on perceptions of men and women eating demonstrates cultural visions of eating as a masculine activity. Furthermore, cultural analysis bears out the link between meat consumption and masculine identity. The recent popularization of metrosexual masculinity has challenged the harsh dichotomies between masculine and feminine gender performances. Against such a trend, burger franchise advertising portrays burger consumption as men's symbolic return to their supposed essence, namely, personal and relational independence, nonfemininity, and virile heterosexuality. In all, I demonstrate the relationship between men and food as productive of a masculinity that perpetuates a male-dominant ideology in juxtaposition to women and metrosexual masculinity.

<p>This study examines in some depth the influences of marketing mix, social factors, emergence of the metrosexual, evolution of femininity and masculinity, self-esteem and customer decision making on the male consumer behavior in purchasing skin care products in Sweden, particular in Karlstad. In do so, the theories of masculinity and femininity, customer behavior theory, customer decision making’s theory, theory of metrosexual and theory of the four Ps in marketing mix strategy are employed as a theoretical framework and also adapted with theory of the self esteem involvement.</p><p>It also endeavors to find out the reasonable impacts of perception on the relationship between variables and consumer behaviors. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to men who are in the age range between 15-45 years old and living in Karlstad, Sweden. The total sample consists of 94 respondents. Further, the returned questionnaires were analyzed by using factor analysis, correlation and path analysis in SPSS version 16.0.</p><p>The results of the study indicated that the numbers of ‘men who use skin care products’ and ‘who do not use’ is not so much different. Most of male customers who using skin care products reveal that, the main reasons behind their using skin care products are for improving skin, personal care, attractiveness and self confident orderly. As a result, principally men’s skin care products purchasing obtain the effects of the interaction between their personal demographics and attitude, the emergence of metrosexual and marketing mix (especially quality and attribute of products, price, product’s ingredient, product brand and package of products). In contrast with men who do not use skin care products, there are two main reasons behind. Firstly products are not necessary in their point of view. Secondly this kind of products is expensive and lavish.</p>

This study examines in some depth the influences of marketing mix, social factors, emergence of the metrosexual, evolution of femininity and masculinity, self-esteem and customer decision making on the male consumer behavior in purchasing skin care products in Sweden, particular in Karlstad. In do so, the theories of masculinity and femininity, customer behavior theory, customer decision making’s theory, theory of metrosexual and theory of the four Ps in marketing mix strategy are employed as a theoretical framework and also adapted with theory of the self esteem involvement. It also endeavors to find out the reasonable impacts of perception on the relationship between variables and consumer behaviors. A questionnaire was developed and distributed to men who are in the age range between 15-45 years old and living in Karlstad, Sweden. The total sample consists of 94 respondents. Further, the returned questionnaires were analyzed by using factor analysis, correlation and path analysis in SPSS version 16.0. The results of the study indicated that the numbers of ‘men who use skin care products’ and ‘who do not use’ is not so much different. Most of male customers who using skin care products reveal that, the main reasons behind their using skin care products are for improving skin, personal care, attractiveness and self confident orderly. As a result, principally men’s skin care products purchasing obtain the effects of the interaction between their personal demographics and attitude, the emergence of metrosexual and marketing mix (especially quality and attribute of products, price, product’s ingredient, product brand and package of products). In contrast with men who do not use skin care products, there are two main reasons behind. Firstly products are not necessary in their point of view. Secondly this kind of products is expensive and lavish.

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