Anti-Gay

by Mark Simpson (Editor)

Collects essays from "non-heterosexuals" who do not conform to the popular images of gay people

Genres: LGBT, Nonfiction, Essays, Queer

163 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

English author and journalist Mark Simpson is credited/blamed for ‘fathering’ the metrosexual in 1994, predicting with terrifying accuracy, that the future belonged to the male desire to be desired.

He is the author of several critically-acclaimed books.

“SIMPSON WRITES WITH ENOUGH PANACHE TO MAKE MOST OF HIS PEERS TOSS THEIR LAPTOPS INTO THE WASTE DISPOSAL AND WEEP”
– Independent on Sunday

“THE GAY ANTI-CHRIST” – Vogue

“I ALMOST HATE TO AGREE WITH ANYTHING HE SAYS” – LRB

“AN AMUSED, DETACHED VOLTAIRE”
– Independent on Sunday

“ERUDITE, INCISIVE, SASSY… FRESH, HILARIOUS” – Publishers Weekly

“ONE OF THE BRIGHTEST WRITERS AROUND” – Time Out

“BRILLIANTLY BUCCANEERING”
– Spectator

“SERIOUSLY FUNNY”
– Scotland On Sunday

Reviews

[Dusty Myers · Rating 3 out of 5]

There are a good amount of crappy and useless essays in this book (usually the more personal/memoiristic tended to be the more worthless), but there was lots of stuff that was smart and that I liked.

Namely, John Weir's insistence that identity politics (e.g., asserting "I am gay" and meaning "And you can't know what it's like) refuses earnest attempts at empathy. Also, Paul Burston's argument on the pointlessness and immaturity of seeking out "authentic" representations of gays in literature and film—gays just like us—and being disappointed when we get something else. Because, what's an authentic gay person look like?

It's hard to tell a recently out man (like me) that a gay-centric identity may be more of a problem than a solution, but this book makes a good case for it.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're tired of the PC gay crowd, if you want to have a life, not a lifestyle, if you question the "gay by genetics" theory, if you refuse to be ghetto-ized, if you think there's a little straight in every queer and vice-versa, this book's for you. It was published in the UK in the mid-90's, but worth tracking down for a good read.

[Ruby Hagan · Rating 4 out of 5]

“It symbolises the white, middle-class, professional gay man and has become a derided stereotype amongst some gay men who regard it as outmoded. But it is quite revealing to see that at no point in lesbian history has an excess or caricature of femininity symbolised lesbianism. Femininity has been in most cases associated with passivity and powerlessness.”

i actually really enjoyed this but i felt awful reading it in public incase people thought i was homophobic

[6655321 · Rating 3 out of 5]

some of the articles are gut wrenchingly awful but a few are legitimate gems (everything past the first 3 to varying degrees).