Are men getting too ‘fruity’?

Male grooming has experienced tremendous changes in recent times. It began with changing the title from men to metro-sexual males which was characterised by frequent mani-pedis and an occasional trimming of the brows. Women looked the other way and let it slide.A little while later, pants got tighter and brighter in colour, before ladies could get used to the competition and before they could get used to the bulge below the waist line, there came tight t-shirts and shirts, most of them in fruity colours. As this was happening, men and women could buy shoes from the same section as there was nothing to differentiate male shoes from feminine ones. “Times are changing” fashion blogs wrote. Then came the shocker, male hand bags, or man bags, messenger bags as they are referred to by the cool kids. It is swung across the shoulder like a spent weapon and screams sophistication. Ancestors rolled in their graves, freedom fighters didn’t stand up to colonialists so that men could carry handbags. This is not the freedom they fought for.A common sight in the city’s streets is grown men with trimmed beards with a small handbag hanging by their hip like an appendage. “I have plenty of things to carry and don’t want to bulge my pockets,” they might answer as to why they carry the bag. “Pocketing stuff weighs me down,” another one will quip.Of course you can not fit anything into your skinny jean’s pockets sir.You would imagine that amongst the things being referred to include, phones, a tablet, a laptop, a camera, a novel but you would be wrong. Truth is the bags have ‘girly’ contents like petroleum jelly (incase lips get chipped), pocket tissues, hand lotion, hand sanitizers and a spare shirt or t-shirt.What happened to the good old tough boys who didn’t care if they spilled soup on their shirts or their lips got chipped to the extent of looking like a reptiles back? What happened to the good old hard boys who only carried 10 kilogramme ransacks and never some girly bags? Are the real men now a tale that will be told to our children and they will have a hard time imagining a man without a hand bag?But the ship has already sailed and moving too fast, nothing can be done to end the messenger bags craze, the bag has risen to fame by the hip of modern men.The association of ancient men met, men who are stuck in Stone Age, men whose ideal dwellings are caves, we agree nothing can be done to stop the moving train; we only have one request, that messenger bag carriers hand in their man bags.Over to you metro-sexual men.