BBC Rupaul Drag Quiz

why do so many straight men think it is so funny to dress up as females for things like stag dos, military nights out (wearing women’s underwear) and so on

Because it's a degrading thing for a male to do. It's the same as run like a girl, fight like a girl. Why it's socially acceptable for girls to wear trousers and play football and like blue, but not for boys to play with dolls and like pink and sparkly clothing without raising comment. Acting female is a lowering of status for a male, it's punching down. And there's the whole sexual thrill of the cross dressing. Oppression of women in action.

Women wouldn't bother dressing 'as men' for a hen party - why bother? Masculinity is higher status, women with beards.... are women with beards.

On the back of this thread I just posted on a family WhatsApp chat group about the emotology of the word cunt. DB discussed the various theories.

DF just posted this: What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet.

So no fish there then!

I usually like Graham Norton but this has put me off him.

(Graham Norton I can see from the web is a judge on RuPaul’s show. That’s lovely then. hmm)

Graham Norton can be a throughly unpleasant and nasty piece of work - and it's not in the slightest bit funny.I remember the comments he made about Amy Winehouse....amongst others.This camp, nasty , bitchy type of act is well past its date, surely?

I always liked Graham Norton. Not any more. Really disappointed in him.

I thought about the black and white minstrel show. Isn't drag like wearing blackface? How is it ok for men to dress as and parody women, when women have been and still are oppressed by men? Why aren't male impersonators allowed on Drag Race?

Bit of a side line here- but why do so many straight men think it is so funny to dress up as females for things like stag dos, military nights out (wearing women’s underwear) and so on.
I’m not exactly sure why, but I find that really offensive and always have done.

About the horrible anti-woman jokes: I haven’t seen this show from the OP but you’ve cleared up something for me.

RuPaul, was who that strange misogynist was on tv the other night! Now it all makes sense.

I just caught the very end of Graham Norton on the bbc with Helen Mirren last weekend and there was a female guest singer on (starts about 44.00) who was talking about the career break her and the male creative partner/bandmate (it turns out) were both having since 2013 where they both had children. (See 44.48) Norton asks if they are a couple because they hadn’t said. RuPaul (I now know it’s him) chips in to her snidely out of nowhere, no context ‘do you know who the father is?’ to try to put her down.

At the time i just thought, oh no who is that embarrassing woman-hater? why do they have him on?

(Graham Norton I can see from the web is a judge on RuPaul’s show. That’s lovely then. )

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0008szg/the-graham-norton-show-series-26-episode-1

I’ve complained to the BBC.

I heard a gay male historian of drag talking about what a wonderful history there was of men dressing up as women in theatre, for example during Shakespeare's time, completely ignoring the fact that women were banned from acting.

I'm always struck by how Peter Tatchell, as an example, seems blind to women's oppression - except incidentally to his crusade for gay men.

Can’t believe the BBC are showing this.

Well, this is it really. Drag may have a long and treasured place in the history of gay male culture. I have defended it online, having been involved in the gay scene since I was in my teens and having known some decent gay men.

But I'm a woman, and quite frankly, if a precious part of gay male culture is based very firmly in the sneering mockery and unfair exclusion of women, then it deserves to be dismantled and consigned to the same historical embarrassment hall where we keep black and white minstrel shows and jokes about dropping the soap in prison showers.

If drag is about men being feminine, then why can't men just do the dresses, wigs, lipstick and eyeshadow etc. without parodying the secondary sexual characteristics of women (e.g. larger breasts and wider hips)?

Yes, this. The minute a stuffed bra comes into the equation it becomes parody. Drag of that ilk is tasteless

If drag is, as some people claim, all about gay men subverting their oppression by homophobic men, and nothing to do with parodying women, then I think we could do without Ru Paul saying "may the best woman win", which seems to be a favourite tag line used by this drag queen in the Drag Race TV show.

If drag is about men being feminine, then why can't men just do the dresses, wigs, lipstick and eyeshadow etc. without parodying the secondary sexual characteristics of women (e.g. larger breasts and wider hips)? Why don't they subvert heterosexual masculinity by exaggerating male sexual characteristics in some way, and leave women out of it?

I heard a gay male historian of drag talking about what a wonderful history there was of men dressing up as women in theatre, for example during Shakespeare's time, completely ignoring the fact that women were banned from acting.

Rupaul isn't a character name, that's his given name.

Lots of horrible anti woman jokes draped in ‘but I loooooove women sooooooo much - but I’m better at it than they are’

Ru Paul is “making an appearance” so we can imagine how it’s going to go.

I was thinking more about women who presented as male to get a job or education, or to avoid rape, forced marriage, etc.

Yes, but how do men feel about the things men would like to do? And now for an alternate viewpoint! How do men feel about women saying things about the things men like to do?

If it’s like the piece that was on a little while ago it will just be blarbing on about men and nothing about women.

They are going to talk about “men dressing up as women” on R4 Broadcasting House within the next hour.

Ru Paul is not actually the name of the person in question, right? I always figured it was a character, but don't see any reason why that means we should pretend the person in question is a she.

I love long hair on men and don't consider it feminine at all regardless of how well groomed it is. If it isn't well groomed at all I'd consider that a negative trait rather than a positive masculine one (picture a metal roadie whose hair doesn't appear to have ever made contact with conditioner - not my idea of attractive regardless of who the hair in question is attached to).

A lot of what some societies frame as positive appearance stuff for men just looks like "needs a good shower and a lot more attention paid to personal grooming in the future" to me. As you can imagine, the rise of beardy culture in young men baffles me.

there can be a really dismissive attitude among some towards feminine women, as though they were letting the feminist side down.
Hell yes.

Lass left following a thread about a school banning girls from wearing skirts. Before it all kicked off there were plenty of posters applauding the school.