Is the unfettered, unaffected free-range male more than an inevitable backlash against the metrosexual? Is this disaffection being driven by the quiet freight of heterosexist gender-anxiety exploited by the trend? Answers put forth by popular media are perhaps easier than the question.

Columnist Margaret Wente recently announced in the Canadian press, "They (retrosexuals) are simply someone who doesn't know the difference between teal and aqua and frankly couldn't give a damn."