New Girl: Setting the Stage for Meterosexual Men
New Girl is a TV show that has gained popularity on Netflix which focuses on the relationships between four roommates living together in Los Angeles. The four roommates include Jess, Nick, Schmidt, and Winston who deal with problems in their careers and love life. From the first episode, one quickly makes the judgement that Schmidt is gay. This is because our society has constantly reinforced the norm that any man who is feminine is gay. From the way Schmidt acts, dresses, and speaks it is easy to see why our society would think like this because we have given a gay man the most basic stereotype. However, viewers find out early on that Schmidt is quite the opposite of gay, he just chooses to value his appearance and body. Because of this, the media has sent the cultural transmission that is it okay for straight guys to care about themselves and have been given the name meterosexual.
To make sense, meteroseuxal is a heterosexual man who has stereotypical feminine qualities such as enjoying shopping, caring about their hair and skin, and dressing stylish. Late in Season 5, Schmidt and Cece, Jess’s best friend, get married after having an on/off relationship for quite some time. There are multiple occurrences throughout the season where Schmidt is seen planning everything for their wedding. He plans the type of flowers, cake and chairs all the way to ideas for Cece’s wedding dress. Schmidt also turns his office bathroom into a hub for all his wedding arrangements. During the episode “A Chill Day In” Cece and Schmidt go shopping for their wedding registry and it is obvious that Schmidt does all the work while Cece is wrapped up in her phone. “Crockpot, kettle, other kettle, espresso maker, trivet, melon baller!!”. These actions of Schmidt send out the cultural transmission that some guys may want just as much control in the wedding as the bride. Often times in society a wedding is seen as “the bride’s” day, yet it is a celebration of both people. Viewers get a new message that it is okay for a husband to want to help his bride with the big day in any way that he can.
Throughout the five seasons, Schmidt repeatedly puts money in the “douchebag jar” for saying unnecessary douchey comments to his roommates. His comments include “has anyone seen my driving moccasins?”, “my personalized condoms just came in the mail!”, “where is my good pea coat?”, and “does anyone know where my shark skin laptop sleeve is?”. Schmidt also spends a majority of his money buying nice clothes, skin products, and shoes. “I use mango cream, sculpting cream, and carving cream. Back in the row it goes!”. This reinforces a cultural norm that any male who values his presentation is considered feminine. Many times good fashion is a result of how much money you make. Since Schmidt is rich, he is going to spend a large amount of money to get presentable, fashionable outfits. This sends a cultural transmission to the viewers that it should be socially acceptable for men to dress with style, especially with our changing gender values.
To end the argument, Schmidt tends to control many aspects of Cece’s life and is constantly trying to prove his masculinity to Cece. Schmidt takes on part of role of the stereotypical woman where he cooks good food and does the laundry and dishes. From clips like this, viewers may get the impression that all meterosexual men must do everything for their wife and be in control. Many times society reinforces the norm that gay men are usually germ freaks and clean freaks, so when Schmidt acts like this he is seen more as a gay male not a straight man. After failing to protect Cece once, Schmidt takes the boys to Las Vegas to find their inner man. “Bro trip! Bro trip! No women, just dudes, alcohol and gambling”. Viewers might make the judgement that all meterosexual men have to prove their masculinity to their girlfriend or wife. This piece of media reinforces the norm that meterosexual men always try to prove their toughness to women in order to show they aren’t weak or in some cases gay.
The term meterosexual has allowed society to accept that men can be straight and still care about how they present themselves to others. But it has also reinforced the norm that any straight guy who cares about fashion and hygiene is either gay or meterosexual. What has society become that a man is not allowed to care about how he looks without being called meterosexual or gay? Schmidt’s role in New Girl has shown the media that males can care about their style and health and still be very, very attracted to women. This “new type” of men can be see in society today. Many young males are choosing to dress nicer with tighter pants, fancier shoes, and taking better care of their body. If this continues, hopefully there is a decline of these stereotypical characteristics given to gays and meterosexuals because it will common among all types of men.
