Gauge theories commonly employ complex vector-valued fields to
reduce symmetry groups through the Higgs mechanism of
spontaneous symmetry breaking. The geometry of the internal space
V is tacitly assumed to be the metric geometry of some static,
nondynamical hermitian metric k. In this paper, we consider
G-principal bundle gauge theories, where G is a subgroup of
U(V,k) (the unitary transformations on the internal vector space
V with hermitian metric k) and we consider allowing the
hermitian metric on the internal space V to become an additional
dynamical element of the theory. We find a mechanism for
interpreting the Higgs scalar field as a feature of the geometry
of the internal space while retaining the successful aspects of
the Higgs mechanism and spontaneous symmetry breaking