All that Nineties denial turned into incessant Noughties chatter about metrosexuals and "male grooming". Once the sari-wearing midfielder was outed in 2002 ( by me again, sorry ) as the ultimate metrosexual, everyone suddenly "got it". To illustrate this, I only have to say two words: David Beckham, the working-class England footballer who became more globally famous for his attention-seeking haircuts, unabashed prettiness and rampant desire to be desired than for his footballing skills. READ: Why Britain's 'vainest man' is no model for manliness The end of the 20th century, the abolition of the last laws discriminating against male homosexuality, and arrival of the preening dominance of celebrity culture with its Darwinian struggle to be noticed in a visual, "branded" world finally blew away the remnants of Victorianism. Male vanity was at best womanish – at worst, perverted. ![]() The trials of Oscar Wilde, the last dandy, at the end of the 19th Century helped stamp a Victorian morality over much of the 20th century. Narcissism was seen as being essentially feminine, or Wildean – and look what happened to him. Just as male homosexuality was still stigmatised and partly criminalised back then, the male desire to be desired – the self-regarding heart of metrosexuality – was scorned by many.
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