retrosexual \ret.roh.SEK.shoo.ul\ noun

A man with an undeveloped aesthetic sense who spends as little time and money as possible on his appearance and lifestyle. Also: retro-sexual or retrosexuality n.

I found this word on Word Spy, a site devoted to the sleuthing of new words and phrases, after they've appeared several times in public forums. I've heard the term metrosexual so many times, that I hadn't given much thought to what the opposite would be called.

I think it's comical to refer to a man that doesn't know the difference between eggplant and purple and couldn't care less as retrosexual. The definition implies that a retrosexual is anyone who isn't a metrosexual, but I get an even stronger image. Rather an Archie Bunker type who would look down on the kind of man who uses hair gel and gets manicures.

This word immediately conjures a character image for me. Someone resistent to the Queer Eye for the Straight Guy movement. A man proud of his football jersey and jeans, and who wouldn't deign to consume anything other than pizza and beer.

I probably tend to write modern men with maybe the slightest leaning toward metrosexuality (my husband is a metrosexual and goes to the spa twice as much as I do). But, the word retrosexual gives me inspiration to try the opposite, it's always fun to see how that type clashes with the modern woman.