My very first concert was Adam Ant on his Strip Tour. I was maybe sixteen at the time and pretty sheltered, so when I saw the gorgeous metrosexual performer strip down to his tight black skivvies, drop himself into a tank of water and swim around, well…I was pretty excited. I think that I went through my psychological puberty right then and there. This of course may have been due to the fact that water, partial nudity and some black eyeliner were involved.
I still love Adam Ant. In fact, like my lust for Marlon Brando, which is a subject for another day, my affection for the man who made being a goody two shoes something that I’d be willing to give up, has only grown as he has. His recent years of physical transformation from sexy dandy pirate to looking strikingly like Brando’s film version of Dr. Moreau, hasn’t caused my giddiness to wane at all. I suppose this is due to the fact that I do still have a thing for men in makeup.
I should probably see a shrink about this. Oh I have many different types of men that I’m attracted to, like most women, I have a range of interests and my sexual preferences are no different. One day I want to date a serious conservative suit wearer and the next, I am checking out a construction worker…before he’s showered. However, no matter what guy it is, what his look is, how old he is or what his job is, as soon as a man puts noticeable black liner around his eyes and a dab of tinted gloss onto his lips, I am undone.
There is still a fascination for androgyny, so I suppose that I could be able to explain it that way, that I love androgyny, but it’s not that. I like being able to tell the difference when I am flirting with a girl or a guy…as anyone can tell you, it’s a completely different approach.
No, I think that it’s something else. I think that it’s a breech of unspoken rules. In today’s society, men don’t wear cosmetics, frills, or anything which a woman might wear. In fact, I would hate to be a man! I would hate to not be able to change my costume from day to day, and I admire those guys who pull off that visually defiant beauty trick.
Now this would be acceptable back in the 80s, when I was a younger woman, when it was the popular thing to do, but now, now that I am older, a grandmother, I am really not sure that I’m going to find guys who are within my dating age range who still have a stick of kohl hiding in their bathroom cabinets. Of course, we do have Eddie Izzard, who is on my list of future ex-husbands, but he’s already happily married and I don’t think that marrying a famous person would be conducive to the privacy that my job somewhat requires.
So I guess I will just continue to look around at the guys who break the rules in fashion, who make a statement not for shock value, but because they know how gosh darn sexy they look.
Hellish Behavior 