THEGAYUK

Day: 6 August 2013

  • OPINION | Naked On The Newsstand

    This week has seen Co-Op request that lads mags Nuts Zoo and Front either provide a less graphic cover or supply a modesty bag if they want to continue to be displayed on their shelves.

    Tesco have agreed a compromise about displaying the covers and only selling the agreed publications to over 18’s…

    So what the real problem? Flesh in a word. It seems once again being naked is being linked with being offensive. The initial targets which are aimed at a readership of primarily young men. They are not porn and you may argue that they are the logical evolution of page 3 pin-ups. They are little more than titillation. Barely more than glossy air brushed pin-ups of scantily clad women. To be fair it seems an easy target.

    So does this impact the gay world? Not yet. Looking across the newsstands to compare, publications such as GT and Attitude regularly publish covers where the male cover star is in similar states of undress. It’s almost become a cliché to see a sportsman or pop-star on the cover with nothing more than a cheeky smile and something covering their assets. Looking on a broader scale, men’s fitness magazines show models in a tiny pair of shorts displaying their perfectly sculpted body and telling the reader that they can get the body that they want in 6 easy steps. All of the examples show a similar or more amounts of flesh.
    Please do not read this as a complaint.

    So what is the difference between the different genders? Women are perceived as being vulnerable when naked but men are not.? Men are always strong and masculine; they aren’t sex objects. If a bunch of women go to see male strippers it’s seen as being a laugh and fun. If the genders are reversed it’s perceived as seedy. To be naked is normal, and for men and women who make a living from doing so, it is a choice. Are they being exploited? I don’t think so, to be near naked on the cover of a magazine is a great career move and brings publicity and attention. The true exploitation is of the readers’ expectations, we are being promised “Duncan James Naked” but what we are getting is nude.

    I can understand that as retailers Tesco and Co-op would want to appeal to the broadest commercial market. By agreeing to cover up, they have appeased campaigners and are able to carry on selling the magazines. But the whole argument seems too close to moral outrage over nothing, are we really that offended at seeing naked people in this day and age?

    How much are we really protecting children by covering up magazines when pop videos continue to push the envelope in terms of nudity and content?

    A visit to any beach abroad would provide much more graphic imagery for free than the side boob and concealed nipples in the publications named.

    When it comes to the male body it is more acceptable to show more, even George Clooney’s bat suit had nipples on it. Nightclub promotions on the gay scene are commonplace in featuring a naked man because of the links with hedonism.

    We live in an increasingly body conscious society and we teach people to be proud of their own body shape and size, but the message seems to be just don’t show it for fear of offending others.

     

    Opinions expressed in this article may not reflect those of THEGAYUK, its management or editorial teams. If you’d like to comment or write a comment, opinion or blog piece, please click here.

  • CHRIS COLFER: ‘Things Will Very Different’ Without Cory Monteith

    Cast members of the hit show Glee returned to the set this week for the first time since Cory Monteith’s death.

    • Cory Monteith died in July at the age of 31 from a drug and alcohol overdose
    • Chris Colfer and Cory Monteith have starred in Glee since the show’s first series
    • Chris Colfer plays an openly gay Kurt Hummel in Fox’s hit show

    Glee cast-mates returned to set today for the first time since Monteith’s death in July, however, Colfer was in New York City promoting the release of the second novel in his The Land of Stories series, The Enchantress Returns.

    Speaking to Entertainment Weekly Radio about returning to Glee after Cory’s death, Chris said:
    ‘We’ve had bumps and dips along the road over the course of the years, but nothing like this. I know we’ve always come together — always — in the past, because we are such a family in the cast and the crew. But I don’t know. I’m assuming things will be very different, and I’m sure they’ll be difficult at first. But…. We’ll see. I think I’m positive.’

  • RECIPE | Dermie’s Walnut Coffee Cake

    The ultimate Afternoon Tea classic of a luxurious Walnut Coffee Cake is always good to have in your repertoire and is one of my all-time favourite cakes.

    In this recipe, I use Irel Coffee (or Camp Coffee) essence which can be found in all good supermarkets and works better than real coffee. I like to use mascarpone cream instead of butter-cream, especially in the summer as it leaves a lighter, fresher and more modern twist on a age-old classic.

    Shopping List:

    – 225g Soft unsalted butter
    – 225g Caster Sugar
    – 4 Free Range Eggs (at room temperature)
    – 100g Walnuts (roughly chopped)
    – 225g Plain white flour (sieved)
    – 1 Tsp Baking Powder
    – 3 Tbsp Irel (or Camp) coffee essence

    Coffee Icing & Filling

    – 450g Mascarpone Cream
    – 50g Caster Sugar
    – 6 Tsp Irel or Camp coffee essence

    To Decorate:

    – 8 Whole walnut halves

    Method:

    1. Preheat the oven to 180C / gas mark 4. Line the base of two 8 inch sandwich tins with greaseproof paper and lightly dust the edges with flour.

    2. Cream the butter well with a wooden spoon, add the sugar in stages until pale and light in texture. Add in an egg one-by-one to the mixture, adding a tablespoon of flour to each addition to prevent the mixture from curdling and gently fold in the coffee extract.

    3. Add the chopped walnuts, flour and baking powder and fold into the cake mixture. The mixture should be a light dropping consistency, add 1-2 tbsp of buttermilk to loosen the mixture if needed. Weigh the mixture and divide it in two into the cake tins. Bake for 30 minutes.

    4. The cake is cooked when a skewar is inserted in the centre and comes out clean. Leave to rest in the tins for five minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Leave the cakes to cool on the wire rack completely before adding the filling.

    5. To make the filling and icing; whisk the mascapone cream and sugar well before adding in the coffee essence.

    6. Divide the coffee cream mixture evenly and using a palette knife sandwich the two layers together evenly and coat the top with the remaining mixture. Decorate with 8 whole walnuts.

  • THEATRE REVIEW | Up4AMeet?

    Up4aMeet? – An Evening of Naked, Gay, Laugh-Out-Loud Comedy

    The Up4aMeet? Cast: Chris Wills, Penny Tasker, Lloyd Daniels, Nikki Grahame, Michael Blore & Benedict Garrett)

    It’s #NakedAugust month here at The Gay UK, so I decided to go along and see Up4aMeet? the hilarious naked gay play.

    Grant (played by the brilliant and sexy Chris Wills) finds it difficult to talk to gay men in reality. But on his favourite app ‘The Cock Shop’ he can be himself and even find out how many metres away his nearest gay man is. ‘The Cock Shop’ is described as a gay man’s sweet shop; with a few clicks a man can be delivered to your door.

    Carlos (played by the well-endowed Benedict Garrett) is Grant’s Spanish & naturist flatmate who also is a big fan of ‘The Cockshop.’ For Carlos life is all about the sex. Carlos has a strict aversion to clothes and stripped every time he walked onto the stage. He was practically naked throughout the entire show.

    Caroline (played by the fantastic Penny Tasker) is a broke Celebrity Agent who is Grant’s best friend and lives in the apartment downstairs. She represents a number of reality-TV celebrities including Stacey Granger (Big Brother’s Nikki Grahame) but is failing to find work for any of them.

    In the apartment next door is old queen Julian (played by the suitable Michael Blore). Julian is obsessed with Dame Shirley Bassey. His obsession extends to playing Gold Finger constantly, having a cardboard cut-out of her and a toilet seat that he’s made for her as a gift. Julian decides he’s getting a flatmate and ends up with Scott (X-Factor’s Lloyd Daniels).

    Up4aMeet? has nudity from the start with Grant being caught by Caroline taking a rude picture of himself for his ‘Cock Shop’ profile. Grant and Carlos accidentally switch phones and the hilarity begins. The characters attempt to deal with their own problems throughout the more than two hour show, amusing the audience along the way.

    The comedy that causes the audience’s incessant and side-splitting laughter is derived through gay stereotyping. Yet despite this stereotyping, the characters are believable and had a reasonable amount of depth – which is a tremendous credit to the writer.

    All of the characters are a bit zany including Carlos who had a bit of a dodgy accent at times. But he made fun of it himself and managed to get a few chuckles from the audience. Caroline had some great, sharp one-liners and is a constant source of entertainment throughout. One particularly funny scene of Caroline’s that springs to mind involves an eye patch and a glory-hole.

    Scott (Lloyd Daniels) was mostly eye candy and played a far too small role in the play. We don’t see Scott on stage until mid-way through and he barely has any dialogue. Scott (Lloyd Daniels) is the only male member of the cast who doesn’t get fully naked – sorry boys.
    The cast’s acting was splendid and they all made good eye contact with the audience – despite the difficult layout of the venue.

    The ending was dramatic, full of twists and turns with plenty of humour and a reminder that: you never really know whom you’re talking to online.