Is the Metrosexual Man really over?

According to an article in the UK's Independent:

The caring, sensitive and ultra-well-groomed "metrosexual" man of the Nineties has been shown the door by the woman who helped to make him famous. Marian Salzman, the US trendspotter, says that women are bored by idols such as David Beckham and Jude Law. Instead they are yearning for the manly virtues of Cary Grant.

Her new book, out later this month, praises a new brand of "ubersexual" male who mixes old-fashioned honour with good conversation. The actors George Clooney and Ewan McGregor, and even Jamie Oliver, are now preferable, it concludes.

According to The Future of Men, what first appeared adorable about the metrosexual - he reads, he shops, he exfoliates - turned out to be nothing more than thinly veiled narcissism.

Meanwhile, another article in the Independent talks of a finishing school for men opening in the UK:

Situated in the shadow of the Grampian foothills in rural Aberdeenshire - a far cry from the Swiss Alps usually associated with finishing schools for young ladies - Lickleyhead Castle will play host to up to 10 men looking to learn a touch of modern sophistication.

For £650 a head, students from across the UK will be subjected to three days of intense lessons on etiquette, public speaking, deportment, wine tasting and even learning to play chess.

"There are a lot of people getting into top management positions now with a very different social background. Some of them have been the first generation to go to university and don't necessarily have a background of their parents having dinner parties and social interaction," said Diana Mather, a former BBC television presenter and actress who launched the concept with her business partner, Penny Edge.

Really though isn't the Metrosexual Male simply the beginning of an evolving form of Empowered Male Consumer, one who makes his own informed decisions? If so, he's never going away.