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Technosexual

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Conventionally attractive men holding mobile phones in 2007. The 00s saw both the expansion of mobile technology and changing attitudes towards the male pursuit of personal appearance, then often described as "metrosexuality".

Technosexual (derived from Greek Greek: τέχνη - technē , "art, ability, craft"[1] and Latin sexuālis, "sexual"[2]) is a term that circulated in media, fashion, and online outlets of the 2000s[3] to describe a male that possesses a strong aesthetic sense and a love of technology.[4]

History

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The term "technosexuality" had been in use since the 70s, originally referring to a sexual attraction towards machines, robots and androids,[5][6] being synonymous with ASFR or "other sexual devices not really occurring in real life".[7]

The first usage of the term as a concept distinct from ASFR was coined by US physicist and mathematician Ricky Montalvo in 2003,[8] as a portmanteau of "technophile" and "metrosexual". He launched the website "Technosexual.org" the same year,[9] where he provided the following description of a technosexual man:

technosexual

(TEK.noh.sek.shoo.ul) n. dandyish narcissist in love with not only himself, but also his urban lifestyle & gadgets; a man who is in touch with his feminine side but has fondness for electronics such as cell phones, pda's, computers, software, and the web.

— Ricky Montalvo, Technosexual.org[9]

Montalvo later shared the same definition to the Urban Dictionary, while augmenting it with the following passage:

Someone who is a geek in of style, or a stylish person in need of geek is a technosexual.

— Ricky Montalvo, Urban Dictionary[10]

At Technosexual.org, each "technosexual" wrote under pseudonyms related to their topic of choice for their column, collectively known as "The Mr's". These consisted of Montalvo as "Mr. Gadget", Geoff Nelson as "Mr. Style", Dave Chen as "Mr. Technology" and Derek Dukes as "Mr. Culture". Nelson described the group as "the revolutionary brothers of the metrosexual movement".[11] They sought to "redefine the term to a lifestyle where gadgets are a part of everyday style and life".[7]

The term soon gained traction across news websites and social media, being dubbed as "the uber tribe of Geeks".[12] A Facebook group titled "I married a technosexual" was created by Joanna Wiebe, who dedicated it "for anyone who is married, or attached, to a total technosexual".[13] Taken from the description of a community for Brazilian technosexuals hosted on Orkut:

SE VC GOSTA DE TECNOLOGIA E É BONITO, CUIDA DO SEU CORPO E DE SUA APARÊNCIA, GOSTA DE ACADEMIA, MP3, INTERNET, MSN......

CUIDADO !!!!!!!!!!!

VC É UM TECNOSSEXUAL.........RSRRSSR

ESSA COISA DE METROSSEXUAL, JÁ ERA, COISA DO PASSADO

BEM VINDO AO FUTURO

IF U LIKE TECHNOLOGY AND ARE HANDSOME, TAKES GOOD CARE OF YOUR BODY AND APPEARANCE, LIKES GOING TO THE GYM, MP3, THE INTERNET, MSN......

WARNING !!!!!!!!!!!

YOU ARE A TECHNOSEXUAL.........LOLLOOL

THIS METROSEXUAL THING, IT'S OVER, A THING OF THE PAST

WELCOME TO THE FUTURE

In 2005, the Calvin Klein company trademarked the term technosexual as part of their 'CK in2u' fragrance campaign. The fragrance bottle was designed by Stephen Burks, resembled an Apple iPod, featuring glass and white plastic. Tom Murry, the president of the company, claimed they had "envisioned [CK in2u] as the first fragrance for the technosexual generation". Press materials for the product highlighted modern-day technology-driven interactions, with lines such as "She likes how he blogs, her texts turn him on. It's intense. For right now."[14]

Characteristics

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Swedish footballer Fredrik Ljungberg is often cited as the perfect example of a technosexual man, due to an image of masculine sensuality and tech savviness.[15][6][16][17][18]

Swedish footballer Fredrik Ljungberg in model shoot for a men's magazine in 2008.

In a 2004 interview, Montalvo gave the following description of a technosexual lifestyle:

With metrosexuality, it's about style, fashion, culture, and grooming for the straight male. A metrosexual man may be seen at an NBA game one night and an art gallery opening the next.

We take it one step further by adding technology. A technosexual man may not need to go to the NBA game because he can get highlights and scores via SMS or by browsing the web on his PDA while at the art gallery.

The technosexual lifestyle is universal, it has no druthers towards sexual preference. Our guys dress from Banana Republic, Saks, and Neiman's and shop at Crate & Barrel, but they also make stops in Best Buy and CompUSA.

— Ricky Montalvo, in Katharine Miller, Enter the Technosexual, AlterNet [7]

It has been suggested that a female counterpart to a technosexual is a "technosexualista" or a "technodiva".[5][7] A change in women's standards when searching for a partner is suggested to be part of the technosexual appeal, as "the woman's ideal man" has been transformed by technology from "someone who can mow the lawn, change the oil in the household cars, and clean the rain gutters" into "someone who can troubleshoot the household DSL or get last-minute movie showtimes".[7]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ τέχνη, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek-English Lexicon, on Perseus
  2. ^ sexuālis, Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913
  3. ^ Clarke, Sean; Clarke, Seán (2005-01-27). "Are you a technosexual?". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  4. ^ "Word Spy contributors" (2004) Technosexual Archived 2014-07-17 at the Wayback Machine wordspy.com
  5. ^ a b "Nasce um novo homem: o tecnossexual" [A new man is born: technosexual]. Terra (in Portuguese). 2005-04-06. Archived from the original on 2005-04-06. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  6. ^ a b "¿Adiós a los metrosexuales?". El Universal (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  7. ^ a b c d e Miller, Katharine (2004). "Enter the Technosexual". AlterNet. Archived from the original on 2004-03-13. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  8. ^ "Ricky Montalvo: There is a geek in all of us, so why not show us". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  9. ^ a b Montalvo, Ricky (2003), technosexual, archived from the original on 2003-12-02, retrieved 2023-07-27
  10. ^ technosexual, Ricky Montalvo, Urban Dictionary, 2004
  11. ^ Technosexual.org Meet the "Mr's", 2004, archived from the original on 2004-02-04, retrieved 2023-07-27
  12. ^ Mishra, Sourav (2005). "Forget metrosexual! Here comes the technosexual". Economic Times. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  13. ^ Juliana Carpanez (2005-03-16). "Nerds vaidosos dão origem à tribo dos tecnossexuais" [Well-groomed nerds originate the tribe of technosexuals]. G1 (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  14. ^ Wilson, Eric (2007). "How to Bottle a Generation". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-03-08.
  15. ^ "Tecnosexual". Patologías urbanas. 2005-01-27. Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  16. ^ Dal Col, Angelo Alecsandro (2010-05-05). "Metrossexualidade e retórica: o homem como produto". Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo.
  17. ^ REDACCION (2005-10-16). "Una historia de hombres tecnosexuales". Panamá América (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
  18. ^ Percília, Eliene. "Tecnossexual". Brasil Escola (in Brazilian Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-07-27.
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