China’s ruling Communist Party has reportedly finally had enough of impossible male prettiness, and is cracking down on the promotion of metrosexuality. ‘Sissy’ boybands, ‘vulgar’ social media influencers, reality TV and ‘abnormal esthetics’ have been denounced by China’s mighty broadcast regulator, The National Radio and Television Administration. They have, according… Read More »China’s Metrosexual Crackdown
Football may not be coming home, after England’s Euros finals defeat earlier this year. But football’s greatest star, and perhaps the world’s most famous face and body, is going to be ‘back where I belong’. In England. According to his recent Insta post (336m followers). The striking Portuguese striker Cristiano… Read More »Ronaldo’s Coming Home
Mark Simpson on how we’re all Australian now (One from the vaults, originally appeared in the Guardian Guide, 2001 – at what now looks like Oz’s cultural high-water mark) If you listen carefully to the soundtrack on Puppetry of the Penis, a video of the show which recently toured… Read More »Fauxstralian Britain
Mark Simpson on lavender marriage – between the closeted star & the public. (Independent on Sunday, August 1995) [One from the vaults for LBGTQIA++ Pride. Probably because it came on the cowboy heels of Male Impersonators (1994), it’s rather more pretentious – and with fewer gags – than later work.… Read More »Purple Passions
Mark Simpson looks at the British ritual of stripping off on the hallowed turf (Independent on Sunday, July 1996) Melissa Johnson’s bra-less gallop across Wimbledon’s Centre Court this week in a skimpy pinny and lovely smile proved to be a moving experience in more ways than one. A deluge of… Read More »Streaking: The Naked Truth