dirty blokes

[James]

Why is it that male-only spaces (toilets, gym changing rooms) always have to be so disgusting? As usual my gym changing rooms (in the city) were squalid today. Someone had urinated all over the loo seat, there were revolting bits of "bum fluff" and pubes all over the shower floor and gross used sweat tissues strewn about.

Since it seems to be frequented mostly by posh lawyer types I ask myself what is it that makes men have to be so disgusting when in an "all-male" space. Personally I find it utterly gross. Am I conforming to gay stereotypes or are there any meterosexuals who agree?

And is it all/most blokes doing this or are their a hard core of dirty little so-and-so's?

[SeanMacGabhann]

When I were a lad, growing up in rural Ireland, the idea of the City in London evoked images of gentlepeople going about high minded business in fragrant offices

Now I work there I can assure you that men are vile... well - 80% of them anyway (that percentage will stand up to no amount of scrutiny but I feel it's about right) - I hasten to add that I consider myself part of the 20% - or try my best anyway

And I speak from the metrosexual side of the fence if that matters, James

[SeanMacGabhann]

When I were a lad, growing up in rural Ireland, the idea of the City in London evoked images of gentlepeople going about high minded business in fragrant offices

Now I work there I can assure you that men are vile... well - 80% of them anyway (that percentage will stand up to no amount of scrutiny but I feel it's about right) - I hasten to add that I consider myself part of the 20% - or try my best anyway

And I speak from the metrosexual side of the fence if that helps, James

[louisiana]

I just popped down to the bottom end of LL, and the whole West side pavement, for a fair stretch, seemed to emit a smell of pee. How strange. Don't think it's the wimmin, so...Something male and strange going down last night? Or just a sewers thing?

[Chartwell]

I used to drink in a pub in which I, for a reason that now escapes me, had sight of the ladies loo - it was all carpet and loveliness and the mens' loo was all sawdust and blue bottles. So on that very narrow study it seems that women can be trusted not to urinate all over the place and flush the chain and (some) men can't!

At work I am constantly surprised at the state the mens' loo is left in - the common question is 'do people behave like that at home??'

[James]

Exactly! I'm sure their girlfriends/wives would go ape. "Sorry love, couldn't be arsed to lift the seat so I just weed all over it." Surely there would be a Lorena Bobbit situation?

[louisiana]

Maybe they think it's a way of expressing themselves :-S

In my yoof, I house/flat-shared, and the men were...fairly hopeless, despite prodding. I suspect they only 'make an effort' for wives and such.

[Jah Lush]

I agree that a lot of men have some pretty damned filthy habits. You don't have to be "gay or metrosexual" to be clean and tidy and I speak as an unabashed heterosexual. What gets my goat is men leaving the toilet, even after they've had a dump and then not washing their hands afterwards. That is absolutely disgusting. Perhaps they weren't potty trained as kids. I blame the parents myself.

[Ant]

Urgh, couldn't agree more, Jah Lush. That's one filthy (literally) habit.

Without wanting to go too far off topic, what exactly makes one metro as opposed to hetero anyway? I can't see that my dislike of filth and grime make me one rather than the other, and that would mean being hetero would by necessity also mean being a dirty brute.

[James]

Sorry, no offence intended to nice clean hetero males of the non-metrosexual variety (i.e. the ones who don't wear pink, use Clinique and frequent tanning salons). I know a few myself.

I'm just puzzled by this sort of "oh well, we're all boys together so let's wallow in each other's filth" attitude. Not pleasant, surely?

[Keef]

Agree that there are some filthy gits out there, you should smell the streets of Amsterdam! However, women aren't all angels either, I've heard several ladies say to me that certain toilets have been disgusting, so much so that they've used the gents!

[Ant]

No offence taken on my part, James. Just a little bafflement perhaps. I've never really understood the term properly.

[James]

Point taken Keef. Years ago I was in a relationship with a woman and I can honestly say that nearly all the men I've been out with since are cleaner and tidier than her (she always looked stylish & immaculate, to look at her you wouldn't believe how much mess she could create).

[Huguenot]

Well, according to Wikipedia...

Metrosexual is a word describing men who have a strong concern for their aesthetic appearance, and spend a substantial amount of time and money on their images and lifestyles. Though the term has undergone a transformation from its original meaning (a heterosexual man who appeared or acted as if he were homosexual), current trends have seen the metrosexual label placed upon male embracing of practices usually perceived to be feminine, rather than those specifically associated with stereotypically effeminate homosexuals. Debate surrounds the term's use as a theoretical signifier of gender deconstruction and its associations with consumerism. Current gender scholars view metrosexuality as representative of the embracing of relational understanding in addition to its lifestyle and aesthetic implications.

Heavy going eh?

[James]

My journalist brother-in-law was recently interviewed on TV as he has just invented the term "heteropolitan" to describe the post-metro 30s male. Seriously.

[Ant]

Good lord... what's wrong with 'bloke', eh? :)

[*Bob*]

James.. are you suggesting that straight men are worse than gay men in this respect?

The the worst culprits in my sphere of friends are a couple called - well let's just call the 'Bill' and 'Ben'. And have you seen the bogs in 'Fire' after a busy night?!

[James]

Ugh!!! The thought of the bogs in Fire just turned my stomach...

Anyroad, yes, hands up, I suppose I am guilty of generalising a bit. I don't go to most of those Vauxhall places cos as far as I know they are full of sex-obsessed crystal meth-addicted clones. Maybe I'm just getting old but I'd rather have a nice drink/meal with my bloke before getting back to my (tidy) flat at a reasonable hour.

[*Bob*]

James Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

I'd rather have a

> nice drink/meal with my bloke before getting back

> to my (tidy) flat at a reasonable hour.

(stopping-off at Inside 72 for a nightcap along the way, of course)

[James]

Yes of course! Maybe a quick one in Green & Blue as well.

[*Bob*]

Dark shades and a cushion on the lap, no doubt.

[James]

You've done this before, haven't you?

[*Bob*]

I wouldn't say I was a fully-fledged ogler - more of an 'enthusiastic amateur'.

[James]

Was the cushion a bolster?

[*Bob*]

If only.. sniff..