Category Archives: journalism

Living Doll: Marc Jacobs Talks to Mark Simpson

Marc Jacobs talks to Mark Simpson about his Brazilian (ex) porn star boyfriend, foreskins, gay fashion misogyny, turning 50 and being turned into a stuffed toy. (Originally appeared in the Winter 2012 edition of Man About Town Magazine) Marc Jacobs is many things. So many things that it would make a lesser Mary giddy. He’s a …

April 16, 2013 – 9:58 pm | By Mark Simpson | Posted in fashion, interview, journalism | Tagged , , , | Comments (1)

David Bowie’s Bisensuality

The DNA test results are in. And I can exclusively reveal that the real the metrosexual’s real daddy is… David Robert Jones. Whatever the truth of Bowie’s own sexuality, his early 70s intrusion into the living rooms of suburban England was the most powerful and provocative sexual liberation parade ever seen in the UK. He was later to …

March 11, 2013 – 6:21 pm | By Mark Simpson | Posted in 70s, commentary, journalism, metrosexual | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

The Anti-Christ Has All The Best Tunes

The P2P revolution is like Gutenberg plus Protestantism plus Punk all rolled into one highly compressed file, by Mark Simpson  (Independent on Sunday, August 2001) Perhaps the best thing about digital music is that it doesn’t only make listening to music more convenient and less irksome: it actually does part of the tiresome job of …

February 24, 2013 – 1:20 pm | By Mark Simpson | Posted in journalism, music, review | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (2)

How to Spot a Sodomite

Mark Simpson reviews some famous Victorian bum holes in Neil McKenna’s Fanny & Stella (the Independent) “I had never seen anything like it before… I do not in my practise ever remember to have seen such an appearance of the anus, as those of the prisoners presented.” So testified Dr Paul in shocked tones at the trial of …

February 9, 2013 – 10:13 am | By Mark Simpson | Posted in gay, review | Tagged , , , | Comments (0)

‘Sex Terror’ Now Available on Kindle — Sweet Dreams.

SEX TERROR Erotic Misadventures in Pop Culture Mark Simpson This book will change the way you think about sex. It may even put you off it altogether. NOW AVAILABLE ON KINDLE     In his full-frontal follow-up to his widely acclaimed It’s a Queer World, Mark Simpson dispenses with the monkey business of sexuality and gets to …

January 26, 2013 – 12:26 pm | By Mark Simpson | Posted in announcement, comedy, journalism, Sex Terror | Tagged , | Comments (2)

Camp For Beginners

Mark Simpson interviews David Halperin about his controversial new book How To Be Gay at Out.com  I’ve always been a big fan of Judy Garland, Joan Crawford, and Doris Day. But it was a secret, shameful love — until, that is, David Halperin’s new book, How to Be Gay (Harvard University Press), finally gave me the strength to …

August 21, 2012 – 12:34 am | By Mark Simpson | Posted in gay, interview, journalism | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (2)

The Few, The Proud

The mythology, the rituals, the dogma, the cult of masculinity and most of all the haircut, set US Marines apart. Mark Simpson takes a look at a memoir of the First Gulf War. (Independent on Sunday 23/03/2003) It may seem odd that the United States Marine Corps, the elite fourth branch of the US Armed …

April 21, 2012 – 12:58 pm | By Mark Simpson | Posted in commentary, journalism, masculinity, review | Tagged , , , , | Comments (4)

Mad Men and Medusas

Coming across this old review of Juliet Mitchell’s ‘Mad Men and Medusas’ (Independent on Sunday, 2001) reminded me that pretty much all the main characters in the TV series of the same name launched in the late Noughties are hysterics, but most especially Madison Avenue’s Don Juan, aka Donald Draper. I hope Mitchell is getting …

April 18, 2012 – 9:19 am | By Mark Simpson | Posted in journalism, review | Tagged , , , , | Comments (2)

Apollo’s Acolytes

We worship the body, watch ancient battles at the multiplex, and bow down before the gods of celebrity. Mark Simpson marvels at how much our culture owes to those skirt-wearing olive-munchers, the Greeks (Independent on Sunday 30 May 2004) Philhellenes are everywhere, and everywhere they look they see the glory that was Greece. “Today we are again …

April 4, 2012 – 11:51 am | By Mark Simpson | Posted in history, journalism, review | Tagged , , , | Comments Off

What Happens When a Giant Brain Meets Kylie?

Genius, pop Svengali, theoretician of cool: Mark Simpson gets to grips with the man who really listens to ‘La la la, la la la-la la…’ (Originally appeared in Independent on Sunday 03/08/2003) What do you hear when you listen to ‘Can’t get you out of my head’? This is a bit of a trick question as you …

April 1, 2012 – 9:28 pm | By Mark Simpson | Posted in journalism, music, review | Tagged , , , | Comments (2)