Please or to access all these features

AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

AIBU to find drag on mainstream TV disrespectful to women?

213 replies

sanctuaryyi · 12/05/2026 11:20

AIBU to think that drag is derogative woman face and unacceptable.

Women are oppressed by men, for example;

  • 1 in 4 women will be raped by a man in their lifetime.
  • Men generally hold most of the power and wealth, 90% of the ultra-wealthy in the world are men.
  • Men are less likely to experience sexual harassment and often have more freedom of movement without fear of violence.
  • Men are generally free from unpaid caring roles
  • Women are more likely to be objectified by men and valued for their body and youth whereas men are not and this creates a power imbalance.

With this in mind AIBU to think drag on main stream TV such as this 'artist' is totally unacceptable.

He has made fun and a jokes about lactation in grotesque fashion, squeezing cream out of his huge fake tits into a cup and has made fun of pregnancy and wears comedy size 'tits' and 'arse'.

The portrayal of any group's body or bodily functions in a grotesque manner for humour should surely be considered unacceptable, particularly when it mirrors historical patterns of oppression. Shouldn't it?

The link is twitter
Drag Race

For those that don't have twitter I have added some screen shots.

AIBU to find drag on mainstream TV disrespectful to women?
AIBU to find drag on mainstream TV disrespectful to women?
AIBU to find drag on mainstream TV disrespectful to women?
AIBU to find drag on mainstream TV disrespectful to women?
AIBU to find drag on mainstream TV disrespectful to women?
OP posts:
Thread gallery
7
Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 15:07

sanctuaryyi · 12/05/2026 14:03

Maybe your children or their children will look back at your views and be shocked at your dismissive attitude towards women's concerns and your inability to engage as to why it might be offensive and similar to racist shows.

I am not responsible for what people find offensive and neither are my children. I never said drag was acceptable but there are plenty of shows going on and plenty of women attend them and find them funny. Like I said, if people want it banned they need to join a protest and lobby the government to ban it

Naunet · 12/05/2026 15:00

Apparently we're all meant to find objectification and misogyny absolutely hilarious when its gay men doing it for some reason. Not sure why that is.

sanctuaryyi · 12/05/2026 14:35

MrsShawnHatosy · 12/05/2026 12:22

Also same with Dick Emery, Stanley Baxter and Hinge & Bracket. None of them wore huge fake boobs.

No but The Dick Emery show was steeped in sexism.

Someones dressed as an old man leering over young women, scenes with him dressed as a woman surrounded by school girls in a gym and falling on top them or patting their arses with a wry little pervy look towards the camera.

Grim but typical of the carry on style 'humour' of the 60's and 70's but would not be seen as ok nowadays.

I also think that these older style 'drag' artists or female impersonators back in those times all had elements of portraying an older woman who was desperate for a shag. Pretty misogynistic really, woman left on the shelf needing sex but too old to get it type stuff.

OP posts:
sanctuaryyi · 12/05/2026 14:03

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:54

I never said I was ok with it. If people want drag shows to be banned they need to start a petition

Maybe your children or their children will look back at your views and be shocked at your dismissive attitude towards women's concerns and your inability to engage as to why it might be offensive and similar to racist shows.

OP posts:
HeyHoHenryHippy · 12/05/2026 14:02

EmeraldShamrock000 · 12/05/2026 13:01

I didn’t have a problem with Drag, until a recent holiday when the drag queen was wearing g string of jewels with his penis tucked in, nipple tassels with half of a skirt. Extremely sexualised unlike the Christmas panto actors.

Grim. They parade like that in front of children and get away with because it's 'drag', it's a bunch of perverts being perverts.

AImportantMermaid · 12/05/2026 14:01

I hate drag. I’ve always hated it. Even as a child I felt it to be terribly wrong. It’s men making fun of women. They exaggerate sexual characteristics and/ or negatives stereotypes. Even pantomime dames and Lily Savage (as much as I liked Paul O’Grady) made a living from being bitchy, sarcastic, and overly made up. Drag queens, with their fake breasts, miniskirts and heels, and ridiculous hair and make up, are laughing at us, not with us.

OtterlyAstounding · 12/05/2026 13:59

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:54

I never said I was ok with it. If people want drag shows to be banned they need to start a petition

I feel like 'start a petition' is a bit over simplified! At the moment, much of society still sees drag as a harmless jolly, just like much of society used to see the minstrel shows in the years long before it was eventually taken off the air.

It takes time, awareness raising, and conversations, in order to enact a change in attitudes.

sanctuaryyi · 12/05/2026 13:56

Would you have signed a petition if it was handed to you to get the Black and White Minstrel show off air?

Would you sign a petition to get drag off main stream TV?

OP posts:
Millymollymandy4 · 12/05/2026 13:56

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:53

Oh give it a rest FFS

It needed to be said as I for one was also confused by your about turn - poster saved me scrolling back

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:54

OtterlyAstounding · 12/05/2026 13:48

So you're not okay with racism after all, but you are okay with misogyny?

Black people shouldn't be mocked with caricatures acted out by their oppressors, but women should be?

How are we (by which I mean you) justifying this? 🤔

I never said I was ok with it. If people want drag shows to be banned they need to start a petition

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:53

Upstartled · 12/05/2026 13:46

Full points for trying really hard to remain oblivious to your own hypocrisy.

Oh give it a rest FFS

HeyHoHenryHippy · 12/05/2026 13:51

TFImBackIn · 12/05/2026 11:50

I just can't see the difference between drag and the black-and-white minstrels from decades ago - both equally bad.

In the same way I can't understand how that Rachel woman who said she was black was freely hated when a man who says he's a woman isn't.

This.

It feels like women don't matter. Men can use womenface and be praised for doing it. It's isn't something to celebrate men with ridiculous cariacatures of women taking the piss out of things they know nothing about eg lactation.

OtterlyAstounding · 12/05/2026 13:48

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:44

That is precisely why it was taken off air because it was racist

So you're not okay with racism after all, but you are okay with misogyny?

Black people shouldn't be mocked with caricatures acted out by their oppressors, but women should be?

How are we (by which I mean you) justifying this? 🤔

Upstartled · 12/05/2026 13:46

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:44

That is precisely why it was taken off air because it was racist

Full points for trying really hard to remain oblivious to your own hypocrisy.

Dollymylove · 12/05/2026 13:44

sanctuaryyi · 12/05/2026 12:45

And how do you think Black people felt whilst it was showing and white people were enjoying the parody of the then oppressed group for fun.

That is precisely why it was taken off air because it was racist

MinnieMountain · 12/05/2026 13:44

There's a drag artist in my town who's getting increasingly popular, to the extent that he's hosting a stage at the local free festival. I just don't get it.

OtterlyAstounding · 12/05/2026 13:34

YankSplaining · 12/05/2026 13:29

Again, I think it depends on the act. Billing yourself as, say, Crystal Chandelier and singing on stage wearing an evening gown is a different thing from billing yourself as Harriet Minge and making jokes about sagging breasts and hot flashes.

Why?

Is billing yourself as an 'articulate' and 'educated' black man, crooning on stage in a suit in full blackface, really that 'different' to billing yourself as a black gangster from Detroit who does derogatory rapping about black people?

Should we be allowing blackface if it's 'classy'?

Jc2001 · 12/05/2026 13:31

FatterthanBarbie · 12/05/2026 11:55

Who watches this crap. It's not even funny. There must be a demand for it as otherwise they'd stop.

It's a good question. Most women seem to find it offensive and I don't know any men who would be remotely interested in watching anything drag related. So who is there audience?

But they must be getting the viewing figures I guess so someone must be watching.

Upstartled · 12/05/2026 13:30

raisinglittlepeople12 · 12/05/2026 13:25

I don’t think the issue here is so much that it is drag, but rather he’s mocking womanhood. A lot of drag is an appreciation of femininity and a valid art form, but this is not very tasteful

Is it bollocks. There's nothing feminine about drag, it bastardises the feminine in a grotesque display of the female form. It is to the appreciation of femininity as the human caterpillar is to the appreciation of surgery.

SapphOhNo · 12/05/2026 13:29

I think there's good drag and bad drag. Some I find funny, some not so much. I can't get too worked up over it.

YankSplaining · 12/05/2026 13:29

OtterlyAstounding · 12/05/2026 13:17

If it's about glamour, then why not dress like a more flamboyant David Bowie? Or an even wilder Harry Styles?

Why the need for fake breasts, the emulation of exaggerated female characteristics, or the need to take on female pronouns and a feminine name?

It's clearly about becoming a caricature of a woman.

Again, I think it depends on the act. Billing yourself as, say, Crystal Chandelier and singing on stage wearing an evening gown is a different thing from billing yourself as Harriet Minge and making jokes about sagging breasts and hot flashes.

firef1y · 12/05/2026 13:26

MrsShawnHatosy · 12/05/2026 12:22

Also same with Dick Emery, Stanley Baxter and Hinge & Bracket. None of them wore huge fake boobs.

Kenny Everett did!!!

sanctuaryyi · 12/05/2026 13:25

OtterlyAstounding · 12/05/2026 13:17

If it's about glamour, then why not dress like a more flamboyant David Bowie? Or an even wilder Harry Styles?

Why the need for fake breasts, the emulation of exaggerated female characteristics, or the need to take on female pronouns and a feminine name?

It's clearly about becoming a caricature of a woman.

And the gross names of women's body parts

Cheryl Hole
Penny Tration
Kitty Beaverhausen
Madame Ovary

etc...

OP posts:
raisinglittlepeople12 · 12/05/2026 13:25

I don’t think the issue here is so much that it is drag, but rather he’s mocking womanhood. A lot of drag is an appreciation of femininity and a valid art form, but this is not very tasteful

SpringSunshines · 12/05/2026 13:22

Well it’s making money out of making fun of women, such an easy target.

It’s crass and makes me wonder how many men see women as these outrageous collection of body parts, as figures of fun, are jealous of our biological bodies and biological abilities.

It’s hard to imagine equality having ever been a thing when this stuff is promoted on mainstream tv.