spornosexual
{{Short description|Portmanteau of sports, porn and metrosexual}}
Spornosexual is a blend of sports and the clipping porno, compounded with sexual. The term was coined by Mark Simpson in 2014 to describe a man "who is influenced in his appearance by the stars of sport and pornography".{{cite news|first1=Alex|last1=Bilmes|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=When did male body hair become a bad thing?|url=https://www.theguardian.com/fashion/shortcuts/2014/oct/08/when-did-male-body-hair-become-such-a-bad-thing|newspaper=The Guardian|date=8 October 2014|issn=0261-3077}}{{cite news|last1=Phillip|first1=Abby|title=Step aside, metrosexuals, and make way for … the spornosexual man?|url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/style-blog/wp/2014/06/10/step-aside-metrosexuals-and-make-way-for-the-spornosexual-man/|accessdate=29 November 2019|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=10 June 2014}}{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=Addio al metrosexual, è arrivato lo "spornosexual"|url=http://www.corrieredellosport.it/news/sport-e-style/2016/02/16-8548706/addio_al_metrosexual_arrivato_lo_spornosexual/|website=Corriere dello Sport – Stadio|date=16 February 2016 }} It recognises young men who use "their toned bodies on social media as a means of feeling valuable in society."{{cite web|first1=Uri|last1=Baruchin|accessdate=2020-07-25|title=Marketing Should Promote A New Masculinity|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/uri-baruchin/marketing-masculinity_b_11793250.html|website=HuffPost|date=September 2016}} Jamie Hakim has described this as a "power-shift of a segment of society who have historically defined themselves through their mind, whilst at the same time defining those they have subordinated - such as women - through their bodies".{{cite web|accessdate=2020-07-25|title=Men post sexy gym pictures on social media to compensate for loss of power|url=https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/men-post-sexy-gym-pictures-social-media-compensate-loss-economic-power-1575556|date=12 August 2016|website=International Business Times UK}}
Simpson also coined the term metrosexual in 1994.{{cite web|first1=Ellie|last1=Pithers|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=The Terrible Rise Of The 'Spornosexual'|url=http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/features/7063/rise-of-the-spornosexual/|date=22 September 2014|website=Esquire|archive-date=2015-01-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150125002838/http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/features/7063/rise-of-the-spornosexual/|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=Men: What's A Spornosexual And Are You One?|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/06/12/spornosexuals-men-sex-porn-sport_n_5487164.html|date=12 June 2014|website=HuffPost UK}}
Details
The term originated in an article by cultural commentator Mark Simpson in 2014;{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=Austerity has caused young men to turn into 'spornosexuals'|url=http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/spornosexuals-spornosexuality-austerity-young-men-working-out-bodies-power-society-a7184876.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/spornosexuals-spornosexuality-austerity-young-men-working-out-bodies-power-society-a7184876.html |archive-date=2022-05-24 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|date=11 August 2016|website=The Independent}}{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=The rise of the spornosexual|url=http://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/esmagazine/the-rise-of-the-spornosexual-9796450.html|date=15 October 2014|website=Evening Standard}} Simpson's metrosexual is a portmanteau of metropolitan and heterosexual.{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=Mark Simpson: "La metrosexualidad es hoy lo normal, llega el spornosexual"|url=https://www.lavanguardia.com/lacontra/20160215/302159860398/la-metrosexualidad-es-hoy-lo-normal-llega-el-spornosexual.html|date=15 February 2016|website=La Vanguardia}} He describes spornosexuals as frequently working class men who exercise at a gym in order to share eroticised selfies of their toned bodies on social media.{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=Is it time to meet the post-metrosexual generation: spornosexuals?|url=https://www.straight.com/blogra/665446/it-time-meet-post-metrosexual-generation-spornosexuals|date=12 June 2014|website=The Georgia Straight}} Simpson considers spornosexuality as the second,{{cite news|first1=Mark|last1=Simpson|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=The metrosexual is dead. Long live the 'spornosexual'|journal=Daily Telegraph|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/fashion-and-style/10881682/The-metrosexual-is-dead.-Long-live-the-spornosexual.html|date=10 June 2014|issn=0307-1235}} more extreme,{{cite web|first1=Max|last1=Olesker|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=The Rise And Rise of the Spornosexual|url=http://www.esquire.co.uk/culture/features/7588/the-rise-and-rise-of-the-spornosexual/|date=12 January 2015|website=Esquire}} generation of metrosexuality, since the "uptake by men of products, practises and pleasures previously ring-fenced for women and gay men" has become normalised. Instead, Simpson claims, spornosexual men want to be recognised for their bodies rather than their clothes.{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=Spornosexuals: what is this new generation of men?|url=https://www.theweek.co.uk/people/58963/spornosexuals-what-is-this-new-generation-of-men|website=The Week|date=13 June 2014 }} Examples of such men include Dan Osborne, Thom Evans, David McIntosh{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=Is 'spornosexual' the new metrosexual?|url=https://nypost.com/2014/06/10/is-spornosexual-the-new-metrosexual/|date=11 June 2014|website=New York Post}}{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title='Spornosexuals' the new metrosexuals|url=https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/beauty/for-men/is-spornosexual-the-new-metrosexual/news-story/e7a5d37d59a344f029a7ec83f547b69f|date=10 June 2014|website=News.com.au}} and Cristiano Ronaldo.{{cite web|first1=Teddy|last1=Cutler|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=Meet Generation Spornosexual, spearheaded by Cristiano Ronaldo|url=https://www.newsweek.com/why-cristiano-ronaldo-symbol-spornosexual-movement-428559|date=20 February 2016|website=Newsweek}}{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=Forget metrosexuals, Cristiano Ronaldo is actually a spornosexual|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/sport/soccer/forget-metrosexuals-cristiano-ronaldo-is-actually-a-spornosexual-720934.html|date=16 February 2016|website=Irish Examiner}}{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=Cristiano Ronaldo a spornosexual at Real Madrid, Van Gaal explains truth of Bastian Schweinsteiger move to Manchester United, Leeds United fans protest owner, Pep Guardiola Manchester City, Chelsea, Tottenham|url=https://www.foxsports.com.au/football/premier-league/paper-talk/paper-talk-how-ronaldos-leading-a-new-frontier-of-men-lvg-reveals-truth-behind-schweinsteigers-united-move/news-story/c8e0b34c0bd905a0e32eaf21684d2382|date=16 February 2016|website=FoxSports.com}}
Jamie Hakim's research, "The Spornosexual: the affective contradictions of male body-work in neoliberal digital culture", was published in the Journal of Gender Studies in 2016.{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=Young men aged 16-25 striving for picture-perfect bodies|url=https://inews.co.uk/news/health/austerity-economic-crisis-youung-men-gym-spornosexual-535723|website=i|date=11 August 2016}} Hakim writes that young men defining their value through their body is a response to the effects of austerity on them since 2008, when the ability to create value through other means became harder.{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=Quiz: Are you a 'spornosexual'?|url=https://metro.co.uk/2016/08/12/quiz-are-you-dating-a-spornosexual-the-ultragroomed-men-on-the-rise-because-of-austerity-6062491/|date=12 August 2016|website=Metro}}{{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-29|title=The Spornosexual - UEA|url=https://www.uea.ac.uk/humanities/gender-studies/research/the-spornosexual|website=University of East Anglia}} "This is all the more surprising because this use of body-image to derive social value has long been associated with groups men tended to be viewed as inferior." HuffPost said this research "went as far as blaming the financial crisis for the rise of the 'Spornosexual'".
Greg Wolfman has written about a proliferation of men's "consumer lifestyles", or "marketed manhoods", that includes spornosexual with lumbersexual and hipster.{{cite web|first1=Greg|last1=Wolfman|accessdate=2020-07-25|title=Metrosexual, hipster, spornosexual: why do we keep redefining men?|url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/metrosexual-hipster-spornosexual-why-keep-084043214.html|website=Yahoo! News|date=5 May 2017 }}
See also
{{Wiktionary}}
- {{annotated link|Body worship}}
- {{annotated link|Narcissism}}
- {{annotated link|Self-brand}}
References
{{reflist}}
Further reading
- {{cite web|accessdate=2019-11-23|title=Meat the Spornosexuals|url=https://marksimpson.com/2014/03/25/meat-the-spornosexuals/|date=25 March 2014|website=marksimpson.com|first1=Mark |last1=Simpson|authorlink=Mark Simpson (journalist)}}
- {{cite journal|first1=Jamie|last1=Hakim|title='The Spornosexual': the affective contradictions of male body-work in neoliberal digital culture|journal=Journal of Gender Studies|date=17 February 2018|issn=0958-9236|pages=231–241|volume=27|issue=2|doi=10.1080/09589236.2016.1217771|s2cid=148459211|url=https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/59835/1/Hakim.docx}}
- {{cite journal|first1=Vincent Wayne|last1=Mitchell|first2=Amar|last2=Lodhia|title=Understanding the metrosexual and spornosexual as a segment for retailers|journal=International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management|volume=45|issue=4|pages=349–365|date=10 April 2017|issn=0959-0552|doi=10.1108/IJRDM-05-2016-0080}}
Category:Popular culture neologisms
Category:Cultural appropriation
Category:Stereotypes of urban people