It may seem now that the invention of 'metrosexual' — a term used to refer to straight men who take care of themselves — is a cyncial plot to save men's magazines from the gay taint. In a lengthy interview with Men's Health editor David Zinczenko, not once does the word "gay" come up. But in the past, many have focussed on just how gay these magazines are: "The target audience [of Men's Health], according to me, may indeed be upscale, but they're definitely not married," wrote Chris Haines in Salon in 1998. So, why is, say, Details editor Dan Peres pioneering the idea of metrosexuality? Because now that straight men are encouraged to be metrosexual, it means that they're not allowed to care about being mistaken for gay, which in turn means that gays get completely camouflaged. Pretty sneaky, sis.

The plan has worked: Men's Health is now a respectable magazine, with growing ad pages, although they weren't included in this week's New York Times round-up of ad sales performers. It also has a popular, hard-working, celebrity-dating editor, who knows good quip: "If the magazine were a celebrity," Mr. Zinczenko said, "I think it would be a young Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones era." That's right: manly yet sensitive, and very, very straight.
GQ, Esquire Spar, But Zinczenko Says He's a Rock Star [Observer]