Book dossier

Male Impersonators

by Simpson, Mark

In Male Impersonators, Mark Simpson explores the range of male life and masculinity, posing witty and important questions about bodybuilding, tatoos, pornography, cruising, advertising, and team sports. Simpson looks at how gay men appropriate the skinhead phenomenon and why; how Marky Mark exploits the hustler mystique and hwat it says to gay and straight men; how the Men's movement is being sought out by men--straight or gay--who feel alienated from a macho culture, and compares the participation and reactions of men to various "manly pursuits." Throughout, Male Impersonators examines the roles of homoeroticism and narcissism in the male world, and the performativity of masculinity itself.