I Don’t Think Your Dad’s Ready (for the homoerotics of Arnie)

Someone on twitter this week was talking about how she tried to explain to her Dad the ‘homoerotic subtexts’ in the 1980s Hollywood film, The Lost Boys. But he couldn’t (or wouldn’t) see it, and thought it was just a movie about vampires. This led me to introduce her to the work of Mark MetroDad Simpson. [...]

Letter From An Alien: Nothing But Trouble

That’s another fine mess you got me into, Stanley! But it was worth it. Because: Male Impersonators,  Metrosexy and Anti Gay. ‘If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.’  -  Oscar Wilde

Letter From An Alien: It’s Over, Roland

http://www.towleroad.com/2012/02/a-marine-comes-home.html This photo has gone viral recently. It was first posted on a ‘Gay Marines’ FB page and has since been sent round the internet, with the tagline ‘Gay Marine Comes Home’. You know me. I am an out and proud ‘homophile’. I am bordering on being a homo myself.  My blog archives are full [...]

Mark Simpson Describes Feminism To Suzanne Moore

@suzanne_moore No. Not at all. Very nostalgic… and ludicrously, imperially phallic: '… once erect British penis…'— Mark Simpson (@marksimpsonist) February 05, 2012 I found this funny because Suzanne Moore  is bemoaning how Stewart Lee is not ‘progressive’ in his views on Scottish independence. Mark Simpson seems to agree, quoting Lee’s article. But he might as [...]

Invisible Men: Tom Martin’s LSE Gender Studies Case

  Remember Tom Martin who is suing the LSE Gender Institute for discrimination against men? Here is an update about his case: ‘Tom Martin’s sex discrimination lawsuit against Europe’s largest gender studies department at The London School of Economics (LSE) has been delayed, a hearing now rescheduled for March 13th. Tom has given an interview for a programme on satellite [...]

Oh, Superman

I love the new metrosexy Superman costume, designed for the forthcoming film. I grew up with Superman films and it is interesting to see how the ‘look’ of our favourite superhero has developed over the years. There is a good analysis of the costume here: http://www.buzzfocus.com/2011/09/01/henry-cavill-superman-man-of-steel-costume-52-redesign-comparison/ In his book Male Impersonators Mark Simpson talks about [...]

Football Goes Gay: Again!

‘Interest in men is permitted, indeed encouraged, but must always be expressed through the game’.  (Simpson, 1994:72) The Guardian has reported  the outpouring of love for the lovely Thierry Henri, on his triumphant return to Arsenal. Fans have described their ardour as ‘going gay for Henri’. The author, Paul Flynn, writes: ‘Maybe I was taking it too literally [...]

Mark Simpson’s Body Talk

This is the latest post from www.marksimpson.com It relates to my post on ‘Masculinity isn’t good – it’s great!’ in some ways. http://quietgirlriot.wordpress.com/2012/01/05/masculinity-isnt-good-its-grrreat/ It doesn’t reference my ace piece about Geordie Shore, a programme that he hasn’t written about hardly at all: http://quietgirlriot.wordpress.com/2011/06/07/death-on-the-tyne/ But it  is an interesting exploration of the wonderful world of men’s body image [...]

The Myth of Male Power

I had an argument on twitter yesterday – call it a discussion- about gender and power and ‘oppression’. My position, that men do not have ‘more power’ than women, and that women are not ‘more oppressed’ than men, as a group, was laughed out of town. I was told that I was ignoring the ‘facts’ [...]

The Origins of Simpsonism: By The Metrosexy Messenger

http://www.marksimpson.com/blog/2011/12/15/male-impersonators-now-available-as-a-kindle-ebook/ Mark Simpson has just released his 1994 classic, Male Impersonators: Men Performing Masculinity, on Amazon Kindle. Apart from it being a great book, and a major contribution to the literature of gender and masculinities, Male Impersonators is important because it includes the beginnings of Simpson’s theorising of metrosexuality. It represents his ‘original contribution to [...]