Technosexual (derived from Greek Greek, Modern (1453-);: 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]
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".
The first usage of the term as a concept distinct from ASFR was coined by US physicist and mathematician Ricky Montalvo in 2003,[7] as a portmanteau of "technophile" and "metrosexual". He launched the website "Technosexual.org" the same year, where he provided the following description of a technosexual man:
Montalvo later shared the same definition to the Urban Dictionary, while augmenting it with the following passage:
At Technosexual.org, each "technosexual" wrote under pseudonyms related to their topic of choice for their column, collectively know 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".[8] They sought to "redefine the term to a lifestyle where gadgets are a part of everyday style and life".
The term soon gained traction across news websites and social media, being dubbed as "the uber tribe of Geeks".[9] 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".[10] Taken from the description of a community for Brazilian technosexuals hosted on Orkut:
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."[11]
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.[12] [13] [14] [15] In a 2004 interview, Montalvo gave the following description of a technosexual lifestyle:
It has been suggested that a female counterpart to a technosexual is a "technosexualista" or a "technodiva".[16] 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".