I’m all for a man paying attention to his appearance and doing nice things for himself. This guy seems a bit over the top, though. I have to wonder where he finds the time!! I certainly can’t fit all of that into my schedule!!
I think a good question to ask your friend is how much time does he make for HER?! It seems to me that he’s very devoted to himself. . .does he make the same kind of time for her and/or their relationship?
(I hope this comes through ok. This is my first post!! Yippee!!)
I’d be more concerned if they didn’t know the difference between “jive” and “jibe.”
Other than that, if he wants to fuss and primp all day, who cares? I’m not so insecure I need a man to shower me with attention all day. The more time he spends “grooming” the better chance I can watch what I want on TV.
Too much primping by people of either gender seems narcissistic to me. Clean clothes that match, clean body, sure; fake suntans and hours spent primping, not so much.
The guy described in the OP sounds waaaay too prissy for my tastes.
Guys who are put together = fine.
However, in my book there is no reason for any guy to get a manicure, ever. (Okay maybe if it was at gunpoint, other than that, no.) And the whole name-brand-only thing would cause me to raise my eyebrows were I going out with the guy. Sure, he can do what he wants with his money, and sometimes the name brand stuff IS better. However people who buy name brand just for the label strike me as easily swayed and shallow.
Ask and ye shall receive: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=33316
So, wait … why is it okay for women to spend time and money on their appearance, and not men? I shave, I pumice my feet, I try not to get tan lines when I’m in the sun, I dye my hair, I polish my nails, I attack my face with acid several times a day (for acne), I have an array of lotions I use at various times, I even have the girly-poof in the shower … but this is okay, because I’m a chick?
Do we assume that a woman who spends time on her appearance automatically expects the same, or more, from men?
Color me bewildered by the attitudes in this thread. 
If they’re into each other, and accept each other’s quirks, that’s all that really matters. Personally, however, I couldn’t deal with ANYONE that self-centered, male or female. I’ve never had a manicure, thankyouverymuch, and don’t intend to ever waste my money that way. My hair is washed, never styled. Makeup consists of lip balm when it’s windy or sunny and I plan on being outdoors. I’m completely turned off by people who are obsessed with their physical appearance. Blech to anyone compelled to spend that much time on how they look.
I haven’t heard the term “metrosexual” used to describe grooming habits. I’ve only heard it used to describe any man who does traditionally female chores: grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, etc., which is no big deal nowadays, except maybe to very traditional manly-man type men.
But isn’t what men expect from women also a matter of personal preference?
IMHO the hottest woman I’ve ever known never wears makeup, doesn’t tan so tan lines aren’t an issue, doesn’t dye or curl her hair, doesn’t have long or polished nails, and probably doesn’t know what a pumice stone is.
She is clean, simple and incredibly sexy (again IMHO).
Not all guys want the same thing.
Tanning booths, manicures, shaving?!?…that’s just so gay … :rolleyes: 
The whole shaving thing bothers me…I’m bare chested and I always had an inferiority complex about my lack of Paul Stanley style chest hair. Now skin is in!?!Feh!
I was gonna say vain, but I guess that’s in these days. There’s a difference between taking good care of yourself, and having appearances rule your life. What good is the best mug in the world if the coffee inside tastes like shit?
You betcher sweet patootie that guy in the OP is too metrosexual, in my opinion. A guy like that would drive me nuts with all that damn persnickety fussin’.
I like a “manly” man; that is (to me), a guy content to wear beat-up jeans and a raggedy polo shirt and loafers with no socks. The most he tinkers with his appearance is a daily shower and maybe a splash of Old Spice for special occasions. Tall, muscular but not pumped. No fake tanning, no hairlights, no manicures… never. :eek:
Leave the preening and primping and shopping and emotional “sharing” to me, pleeeaaase! … and vive la difference!
My response to rudah is that, as a guy, I completely worry about the same thing, sex of the person non-withstanding. When I date a woman, if she were to spend that much time and effort on her appearance, I would definitely start to feel like perhaps I wasn’t looking good enough; like maybe she expected me to spend as much time trying to look good as she did.
I think a little bit about how I look, but don’t waste too much mental energy on it. When I’m around lots of people who do, it starts to stress me out; I feel less attractive, not because I think I am, but because I feel like I don’t try hard enough.
So, Blinkie, at least for this guy, attention to ‘beauty’ is fine for both sexes. Too much of it (read: much more than I spend) starts to make me feel insecure when I’m in a relationship with that person.
You know… my knee-jerk reaction was “a man should have little initiative of his own, and should follow prescribed routines to a tee.” That is, a man who absolutely doesn’t care what he wears (therefore, I control it) and is open to facial scrubs, etc. but won’t get into it without being told to. Yes, I am bossy. But now that I sit and think about it, I think that this is really just the control-freak way of saying “I would like a well-dressed man who is groomed to the same degree I am,” because I wouldn’t tell him to do anything I wouldn’t do myself. I am against hair coloring, hair styling products, perfume or scents of any kind, tanning, body-sculpting, and shaving (beyond the face for men, the legs and underarms for a woman… and I actually prefer facial hair on men). I sort of… prefer both men and women to groom themselves to the point where undesirable things are taken away, but nothing fake is added. Clean and tidy hair, appropriate shaving, tastefully clipped nails, healthy teeth, and no dandruff or pimples or bad breath or grease. And a reasonable body weight. That’s what I prefer in everyone.
Yes, it would in fact be nice if a man would pick out respectable clothes on his own, keep his nails cut, etc. without my interference.
I know this girl who goes to the gym three times a week, does curls, lifts, and aerobics, then sprints full-bore on the treadmill. I mean, she’s got biceps like you wouldn’t believe, and she can do chin-ups all day long. And she’s a member of the local soccer squad and competes every weekend.
I’m not gonna judge the girl; she seems like a totally together gal, and she’s charming, caring, got a good job, etc., but I can’t help thinking that’s a little intimidating for me. (If I were the one dating her.) My bud was initially kind of put-off as well, but he liked her enough to try to get over it. They’ve been dating now for a couple of months…and their relationship isn’t really my question, as it seems to be working and I’m happy for him.
My question is: What do you think of an athletic chick? Put yourselves there. Is it wrong for a guy to want to be The Strong Competitive One in a relationship? I can’t help thinking that if my girlfriend were more buff than me, I’d develop some sort of complex, like, “Oh god, she’s gonna think I’m a wuss! I need to tighten my abs, too! And my biceps are just two inches when I flex! Oh crap!” Is it sexist to think that this sort of thing is Guy Turf? I have a feeling it is, but I can’t help wanting a lady who doesn’t care quite so much about stuff like that. Not more than I do, at any rate. …
>>tongue inserted deeply in cheek<<
I can’t speak for any other men out there, but I’d be drooling hardcore over this girl.
It’s funny how when you request the opinion of one sex in the title of an OP, you invariably get equal or more of the opposite sex barging in going, “We want to say our piece too! Hey now!” 
Lots of opinions on this, as I expected…and while I find your parody amusing, AHunter3, I don’t think it’s particularly applicable. A person who excels and competes in sports and physical fitness is not exactly parallel to people of either sex who obsess over their appearance.
And yeah, like I said in the OP, I realize it’s kind of crap to “expect” women to care more than men about their physical appearance, but it’s one of those cliches that’s around b/c it still holds water. A guy who takes care of himself is one thing…but say what you like, I still prefer a guy who doesn’t re-wet the gel in his hair twenty times a day to make sure it maintains its crispy “stylishness.” (Yes, he does.) I’m not the one dating him, so my opinion of him in particular doesn’t really matter; I started the thread just to see if my opinion of guys like that, in general, was in the minority or not among other women.
I guess my main thing is that I don’t see anything wrong with celebrating the differences between men and women; I like highlighting my hair and putting on mascara and buying cute new clothes and hogging the bathroom before we go out for dinner, and yeah, I also like the fact that Mr. Levins doesn’t do any of these things. I like being a girl and I like a guy who doesn’t remind me of one. I don’t expect everybody to share my opinion…different strokes for different folks…but I was just curious if I was alone in this preference.
Well Dragonblink, I am not a woman who goes to the extremes of the man in the OP, nor do I date such women (or any women at all, in fact), so I don’t know whether they expect the same of men. I only know that I do not want to have that expected of me. Does that clear things up for ya?
The guy in question sounds like a great catch. Could I have his number just in case your friend and he don’t work out? Thanks!