Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Why is drag so popular now?

712 replies

Nothingcomesforfree · 17/08/2019 09:43

Genuine question. I have seen lots of posts on a Facebook this morning about attending some drag queen event. Mostly women and several bringing their teens ( both sexes)

It seems really popular but I have no idea why or what people going get out of it? Is it comedic or fashion or something else.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
15
Fraggling · 18/08/2019 09:46

'Drag is a USA thing. The glam costumes. set to music and imitation of a sexy female. That’s the Minstrels. Look it up!'

No, you look it up.

1880s - 1920s usa and Paris seemed to feature in that article, there were lots of other results on Google.

I dislike misinformation.

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 18/08/2019 09:46

I'm saying the idea it was invented on the black and white minstrel show... I don’t think anyone said that did they? I seem to remember white female (women) minstrels on the show.

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 18/08/2019 09:47

Ah a US thing - it’s older than the US!

0pheIiaBaIIs · 18/08/2019 09:47

Black and white minstrel show was, what, 50s?

Blackface for 'entertainment' has been a thing since the early-mid 19th century.

BertrandRussell · 18/08/2019 09:47

“Doesn’t explain why some women seem to like it.”

Internalized misogyny. Some women hate women too.

OneEpisode · 18/08/2019 09:49

Ok apologies. I didn’t mean the tv show in the uk called something like “the black and white minstrel show” I just googled it that was 1950s to 1970s. I mean the USA concept on which it was based. 1830s for instance. It does depend what you google. Try this link “en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drag_queen

LordProfFekkoThePenguinPhD · 18/08/2019 09:50

I’m not sure - but I do think that some women automatically put males on a pedestal above women, and I’ve always worked with women who definitely are ‘men’s women’. Do they hate women? I think they just prefer men.

Fraggling · 18/08/2019 09:50

'And drag, men dressing as a caricature of women, was invented in those black and white minstrel shows'

This is bollocks though.

OneEpisode · 18/08/2019 09:51

“Development of the drag queen in the United States started with the development of the blackface minstrel show.[26] Originally the performers would only mock African American men, but as time went on they found it amusing to mock African American femininity as well. They performed in comedic skits, dances, and "wench" songs.[27] These minstrel shows and their "wench players" were used by white men to both mock and oppress women and African Americans.[27]“

Fraggling · 18/08/2019 09:51

Not that it matters to the thread.

USA centric bollocks.

OneEpisode · 18/08/2019 09:58

I think Ru Paul is probably a well intended person. But he is an American.

Strugglingtodomybest · 18/08/2019 09:59

Likening drag to blackface is horrendously racist, I can't believe you can't see that!
@SweetPetrichlorI can't see it, no. Please can you explain?

I can't see it either, please come back and explain!

Fraggling · 18/08/2019 10:00

Xposts

That is about the usa specifically, it says a6 the start

All this is irrelevant to the thread

TooTrueToBeGood · 18/08/2019 10:07

Fanciedachange1 I class those examples as a caricature of femininity. Actually, I'll go further, they are a caricature of a fabricated idea of femininity that has been fraudulently promoted for too long. I'd feel the same if the individuals in those photos were actually women. Real women I know are clearly "feminine" even if they've just got out of bed or have spent a hard day grafting in the garden and are dressed in their old clothes, covered in mud and have literally been dragged through a hedge (e.g. my wife yesterday). Let's see the Jocks in frocks pull that off. "Woman" is not make-up, hairdos and glamourous clothes and ridiculous levels of make-up and glam does not equal more "woman". It's a shallow, one dimensional and completely false interpretation of "woman" that ignores human depth and tries to devalue women as if they are some sort of inferior sub-species with only aesthetic value.

Fraggling · 18/08/2019 10:12

How long men have been 'dressing up as women' is beside the point. What is the point is that in 2019 when the word 'appropriation' is in fairly standard lingo and the world is more aware of minority issues than ever, drag takes off in a big way.

Men have a thing about the trappings of femininity, i suppose as they invent them, and then society enforces them.

We are styled as 2d sex objects with all these uncomfortable/ expensive / time consuming accessories and things, for the make gaze, which men then fetishise.

Eg men dressing in womens underwear for sexual kicks is still known and has also been around forever. Why is womens underwear fetishised so? A long one for almost thread.

I have yet to hear that anyone is 'dressing up' in men's underwear for kicks. When you have beckham in his pants then it's an attractive man in some nice pants. The pants themselves alone are not a common fetish. Nothing like a lacy bra and knickers. Even when we wore giant bloomers men were creeping around putting them on.

Maybe the prevalence of fetish in men is encouraged by the structural inequality between men and women / with men as dominant and women as sex class? Or maybe lots are just a bit odd.

HandsOffMyRights · 18/08/2019 10:16

Good post, Fraggling.

MhysaMhysa · 18/08/2019 10:16

I understand why women could be offended and how it can be likened to black face, but I do think there is a difference.

Black face was deliberately performed with intent to mock and belittle black people and a lot of people believed in the stereotypes they acted out.

Drag came about as a form of self expression, not with intent to lead people to believe in the stereotypes, or to mock anyone - as it is more about the individual and more so now, to make fun of gender stereotypes.

I'm not saying that isn't harmful to women, but most people realise that the stereotypes are over exaggerated and false, unlike black face where people really believed in what was being portrayed.

I think drag can be artistic and creative and can have a place in theatre and in entertainment, it's when performers rely on lazy, misogynistic acts that I can't see how it's entertainment and some of the drag speak I do find offensive.

Fraggling · 18/08/2019 10:18

Couple of typos in there

Make =male

Still known = well known

howwudufeel · 18/08/2019 10:20

I have read a bit more about Les Dawson’s Cissie and Ada characters. Apparently Les Dawson was uncomfortable about dressing up as a woman. I don’t know why that was though.

BertrandRussell · 18/08/2019 10:24

“
Black face was deliberately performed with intent to mock and belittle black people and a lot of people believed in the stereotypes they acted out.“
So is/was drag.

Fraggling · 18/08/2019 10:25

How

Maybe he felt it very demeaning
Maybe he liked women and subconsciously felt it wasn't quite right

He didn't half hoick his bosom with gusto though

PegasusReturns · 18/08/2019 10:27

Drag isn't denigrating femininity though...it's celebrating femininity. It's probably the most female positive performance out there!

Well that's quite a take Shock

JamesBlonde1 · 18/08/2019 10:30

Not my cup of tea at all. For some reason, I'm quite repulsed by men dressing up as women (bork).

Whatwouldbigfatfannydo · 18/08/2019 10:31

@PegasusReturns

Yep, didn't you know!? The men are even better at being women than we are!

sackrifice · 18/08/2019 10:44

Drag came about as a form of self expression, not with intent to lead people to believe in the stereotypes, or to mock anyone - as it is more about the individual and more so now, to make fun of gender stereotypes

If this was the case, where are the women self-expressing and parodying men for money?