Last month we learned a new — and admittedly awkward — word: spornosexual.
Mark Simpson, who is credited with coining the word “metrosexual,” penned a piece for The Telegraph outlying his argument that the metrosexual is dead, long live the spornosexual.
Here’s some of what he had to say:
“Glossy magazines cultivated early metrosexuality. Celebrity culture then sent it into orbit. But for today’s generation, social media, selfies and porn are the major vectors of the male desire to be desired. They want to be wanted for their bodies, not their wardrobe. And certainly not their minds.”
We wanted to get to the heart of the spornosexual, so since selfies apparently play such a prominent role in their lives we looked no further than Instagram to get an inside look.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
All we had to do was look up the hashtag #spornosexual to get a better sense of how guys are interpreting masculinity through well-posed muscle flexion.
Hot? Desperate? Somewhere in between?
Here are the self-described spornosexuals we found (and let’s be honest, Instagram user guytgulotta is currently dominating the trend):
The Telegraph even went a step further and produced this hard-hitting video piece on the life of a spornosexual, called Back shaving & barbell pressing: meet the spornosexuals:
Is spornosexual here to stay?
Horse Lips
Ugh.
Xzamilloh
Geez… the hell’s with the new crop of gay guys and their lower bodies? Not an ass to be seen!!!
NoCagada
OK…#12 …his eyes look like when my cat came home after surgery/post anesthesia after having his anal glands removed…
NoCagada
@Xzamilloh: Most of them have no ass…they look cachectic.
vive
They look like 90s circuit boys. I don’t see what is new about this, unless the writer was born yesterday (so to speak).
vive
@Xzamilloh, haha, yes, it’s the classical Guido medicine cabinet physique.
blackberry finn
Anybody who thumbs down this trend is nuts. The closer straights and gays get to one another the better we’ll get along. Total assimilation isn’t necessary, obvz, but the rigid gender identity constructs of the straight world need to be blurred if not eventually wholly deconstructed.
vive
@blackberry finn, who said any of these guys is straight?
Billy Budd
I like the fact that many straight guys are adopting habits and looks and styles of gay guys. The closer we get, the better. We should be trend setters!
scotshot
@blackberry finn: @Billy Budd:
It’d be great if people would just look like themselves. Who gives a shit?
Billy Budd
@scotshot: If they like our style and want to look like us, we should encourage them. It is a positive thing.
vive
@Billy Budd, “we” have a “style” now? That seems very high school. One would think that of all people, gay guys would be the last to feel the need to wear a “uniform” to fit in.
DickieJohnson
@vive: I don’t know how long you’ve “been around”, but it seems to me, gay men invented the whole “clone thing”, in an effort to identify as something. From haircuts, certain jeans & clothing, and now tattoos, its a way to say I’m IN, I’m GAY, I’m cool, and you’re NOT. Is anyone old enough to remember the “lumberjack” BS from the 1970’s? Clones personified!
vive
@DickieJohnson, I came out in the late 80s but yes, I certainly remember the YMCA clone types from the 70s, and this is no different 🙂 But as for tattoos, they were popular with the alternative (straight) crowd in the 90s long before being “invented” by gays. Apart from them, the guys in the pictures could be 90s circuit boys, so I don’t really see how this is “new,” except maybe to someone who was still in diapers then.
Lefty
If this is such a big ‘thing’ now, how come the only photos Queerty could come up with include six of the same dude?
DickieJohnson
@vive: What I really dont get is the Taliban beard with the overdone 1940’s Brylcream haircut…WTF? Oh, well, I’m 65 now, over all of that crap, and dress like a preppy Episcopalian retiree. Suits me just fine.
BrokebackBob
Do any of these people do anything that benefits others or the world or just their over-the-top narcissistic selves. I wish I could fast-forward those bodies to 65 but keep everything else the same about the picture.
BlogShag
@BrokebackBob: What’s wrong with being narcissistic? Sure beats not being able to take care of yourself, and not knowing who you are.
BlogShag
Where in this article does it actually explain what a spornosexual is?
allegiance2none