In the land where jeans and sneakers is "trying too hard"

The discussion after my post about women's clothing was interesting, and an ancillary discussion sprung up about men's clothing and the exasperating trend of slovenly straight guys. I found the whole topic pretty entertaining, so instead of just posting another reply, I thought I'd bring it up to the top and post about it here. First, Eric V.'s comments:

Somewhat off topic , I'm sure there's a good book or at least doctoral thesis waiting to be written on the process by which many heterosexual men at least in North America seem to have reacted to the emergence of gays out of the closet by ditching all concern for aethetics , subtlty , culture etc.. and adopting this sick caricature of masculinity exemplified by Arnie the Gropinator and George the Shrub.

To be fair, the Shrub and the Gropinator are on TV all the time, so they are usually dressed nicely by their stylists. But the general point is totally on target. The message is long overdue, so even though this will change nothing, I will have to come out and say it.

Attention, straight men! Being attractive to women does not make you gay.

I have actually heard some straight men express the anxiety that embracing the soap, water, and the razor blade on a regular basis will run women off. Okay, I'm exaggerating. But there is a palpable anxiety about getting caught trying to look good. Now Austin is a laid-back town with a permanent casual dress code, but within that dress code there is more freedom for men to actually dress to be pleasing. Hell, one of my good friends has a long and funny story about his thrift store adventure with a pair of red pants. But yeah, in more artistic circles, it's ridiculous to think that anyone would judge you for having an aesthetic sense. But the tide began to turn overall here with the stampede of tech people into the city during the 90's. And now that we live in an uber-masculine zeitgeist, the city and especially the campus is overrun with frat boy types (Shrubs in training) who try really hard to look like they don't try at all. If I see one more guy in a brand-new Longhorn hoodie with running shorts and flip-flops on..... For god's sake, when did jeans and sneakers become too much effort?

The flip side of that is that girls around here seem to be putting way more effort into how they dress than they did when I was in college. (We still haven't reached Dallas levels of vanity and I don't think we ever will.) The latest calling card of the fashion victim, the puffy mini-skirt with the painful high heels is all over the place, in broad daylight. In some places downtown it's a sea of girls dressed like Paris Hilton and wearing way too much make-up. It's really unfair.

I think that's why "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" is such a hit, with men and women. For women, it's a pleasure watching a guy actually realize that it's a good idea to try to please the opposite sex if he wants their affection, considering that basic concept is a big part of our lives, if not the dominate factor. For straight guys, it's appealing because it takes on this huge fear, that actually caring about your looks a little means you are gay, and shows how ridiculous and really how homophobic that fear really is. And it gives them permission to let go of that fear, if only in increments.