The not-so subtle subtext of homophobic sniggering behind much of the coverage of Peter "Mandy" Mandelson over the last week - and over the last two decades - is exposed in another excellent column by Barbara Ellen in The Observer today.
"Mandelson has been widely scorned for playing along with his Prince of Darkness image. Among others, former Labour leader Neil Kinnock remarked that he had played up to his caricature. So let's get this straight – everyone else is allowed to depict Mandelson as an evil, scheming, Lady Macbeth figure, to spend years dubbing him Mandy, in such a snide way it often verged on the openly homophobic. Everyone else is allowed to indulge themselves to their heart's content with all these lisping, cape-swishing caricatures. Everyone, that is, except Mandelson himself...
"Considering the routine homophobia aimed at him, one wouldn't be surprised if Mandelson welcomed the Prince of Darkness sobriquet for the simple reason that it sounded vaguely butch. It's a pleasant change from him "mincing", or "scuttling", in the shadows (never just walking normally, because, as we all know, gay men can't do that)."
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