Why boys are allowed to enjoy Gossip Girl

Published on the Guardian's TV and Radio Blog - September 10th 2008

I'm a man – and I like Gossip Girl. It's taken weeks for me to admit to this, a watershed comparable to coming out as gay. Well, maybe it wasn't that traumatic - but there was certainly a considerable element of doubt about making my disclosure.

But why? To my knowledge, there is no disclaimer that precedes the programme – which began its second series in America last week – stating that only women are allowed to watch. Nor are there any obvious injunctions, subliminal or otherwise, that crop up during the show itself. Yet, as each episode of the first series rolled by, I couldn't help but wonder whether I was the only man watching.

Gossip Girl, for those who aren't aware, tells the story of a group of American teenagers who reside in New York's posh upper east side. They spend their summers in the Hamptons, their weekends (and, if I'm honest, week nights as well) taking drugs in night clubs and, when the programme makers feel like it, they attend school. They do all this dressed in clothes that make Sex and the City look like an extended TV advert for Primark.

As one might naturally expect from that synopsis, there isn't a person on the show who isn't a hottie. Each character, from Serena van der Woodsen to Chuck Bass, boasts a savage sexual appeal. Thankfully, however, it's all tempered by the only person the viewer never sees: Gossip Girl. The ruthless narrator documents every last detail about the lives of "Manhattan's elite" via blogs and text messages like a sordid fusion of Perez Hilton and Robin Hood – only she steals from the rich to give to the even richer.

If you followed the first series, then you'll know it all made for rather impeccable viewing. So why then have I found it so hard to admit being a fan?

It could be that shows like the aforementioned Sex and the City, and other recent examples such as Ugly Betty and The OC (whose creator, Josh Schwartz, helped bring Gossip Girl to life) are still being packaged with a female audience in mind. After all, the name, Gossip Girl, doesn't exactly read like a call to arms for the male population. But there's no doubt that all of these shows appeal to both sexes. You only have to look at the number of males who crawled out of the woodwork because the movie adaptation of Sex and the City couldn't arrive via home delivery.

While I have no doubt that as the second (third, fourth and no doubt fifth… ) series of Gossip Girl hits the screens, more males will admit to being a fan of the show. I just wish we could do it earlier – at least then I'd have someone to talk to about Serena's infuriating relationship with Dan Humphrey. After all, they're meant to be together. Aren't they?