Drag and misogyny

No and black women have repeatedly asked for people to stop conflating the two. It’s nothing like blackface.
Makeup and dresses don’t inherently belong to women and drag queens don’t claim to be literal women.

I think I first fully realised how misogynistic drag is was when I saw Big Fat Quiz of the Year a couple of years ago when they had two drag Queens on to explain the terminology used in that community. They talked about 'fish' or 'being fishy' and I watched the comedians laughing and joking about the term and thought 'hold on, isn't that going back to the whole awful idea of women's genitals supposedly smelling of fish and being used as an idea to degrade them (generally by men)?'.

I just couldn't believe that such an unpleasant, derogatory term was being used to allude to women's body parts and that this was acceptable to laugh and joke about on mainstream TV.

Some of it is certainly highly misogynistic.

Take this list of names. Entrants include "Malestia Child" and "Anna Bortion".
www.pride.com/comedy/2019/7/19/18-funniest-drag-queen-names#media-gallery-media-16

I've also come across one whose stage name was "Miss Carriage".

Its very language is full of misogyny and open disgust for the female body.

I'm impressed it was discussed on Thinking Allowed though, I'll have to have a listen. I am a social science nerd and do like that programme.

Yep. It is sexist and very often nasty.

And it fuels more nastiness by normalising a caricature of woman which others and dehumanises us.

I wrote this after hearing a man (not in drag, but on a drag / trans stage) at Pride in Manchester say that the protesters from Get The L Out should have been dragged off the London Pride march "by their saggy tits." a couple of years ago.

I'd been wrestling with ideas around drag for a while, and talking to people in the hope that they would help me see why it was ok.

It didn't, just made me clearer in my dislike, but this was the last straw.

medium.com/@janesprocket/on-misogyny-on-drag-or-how-it-became-ok-to-say-drag-them-off-by-their-saggy-tits-2765873c1dfc

Yes and I have a problem with the fact the BBC heavily advertise it targeting a young audience. This means it’s the most watched programme at Dds secondary school. Terms like ‘bitch’ and worse filter into everyday language. All the performative drama and hypersexualised stuff does too.

Yes, it’s an ugly parody of women. “Women - this is you, the way you look, speak and walk is ridiculous and repulsive, let’s all laugh at you”.

Absolutely, it's a way of mocking women

Yes. Everyone knows Blackface is racist. In a similar way, Womanface is misogynistic.

Why was Rachel Dolezal heavily criticised for self-identifying as black, yet males self-identifying as women are protected to the extent that anyone challenging their claims gets cancelled?

Why do the same people who would be up in arms over 'cultural appropriation' feel they must support the appropriation of womanhood by men?

Yes. I find it horrible. Interestingly I saw a post recently about Drag Race and a couple of women who called themselves 'fans' previously saying they had felt really uncomfortable with one bit in a recent episode. I suspect they may not be fans anymore... I daren't criticise in real life because it seems to be seen as at least mildly homophobic to be anything other than rabidly enthusiastic about drag in some circles... but I do wonder what women really think. And also why the feelings of gay men trump women's concerns about the cartoonish and insulting portrayals of women.

I think it's misogynistic. I completely disagree with those who say it celebrates women. It doesn't. There's no other form of humour where it's perfectly acceptable to take the piss out of an oppressed group.

I do. There’s a cruelty and ‘disgust’ for /about women running through drag which is different from the panto dame/principal boy cross dressing to which it’s so often compared.

Everyone’s talking about Jamie will be giving it a cuddly feel I think

I do