Please can someone explain the appeal of drag? ***MNHQ TWEAKING TITLE TO POINT OUT STRICTLY SPOILER IN THE OP***

[CurlewKate]

Watching Celebrity Strictly last night, it was obviously set up for Tayce to win. Why? A group of celebrities of varying degrees of charm and bumble- then they are all soundly beaten by a clearly skilled dancer who's a drag queen.
There have been drag queens on Sewing Bee and Masterchef and House of Games. And loads of other shows I can't remember.
What's the appeal? And why no drag kings? Strictly has been great at featuring same sex couples- why not do more of that?

I would love it if we could discuss this in a way that doesn't get the thread deleted, so please post with care.

Maybe he can play his piano with his weenis, like Jordan whatsisface did on Channel 4. That's terribly masculine, innit?

Apparently Tayce uses she/her pronouns when in drag and he/him when not.

And was in a relationship with the charmingly named A'Whora at one time

The nerve.

The gall

The audacity

Drag is men acting as exaggerated caricatures of women.

That makes no sense.

If drag was a caricature of camp gay men there wouldn't be fake breasts nor would queen names reference female reproduction, female anatomy or any aspect of life associated with women

Yep.

I do love the MN feminist hatred of drag artistes as if they are somehow demeaning women
Yeah whereas there's such a rich tradition of parodies and stereotypes being rooted in respect 🙄

It’s remarkably both homophobic as well as misogynistic to say that an exaggerated version of gay men is a woman. Jesus.

@PuppyMonkey I thought the same, they have the exact same writing style, foul language and lack of commas in their responses.

You are the only person to introduce "effeminate" men into the discussion. No idea why. The discussion is about drag.

Drag is not about the daily life or clothing choices. It's a performance/ entertainment genre that relies on exaggeration, parody and demeaning women.

Why do even "effeminate" men need to impersonate women?

You said drag - wearing fake boobs, dressing in derogatory, stereotypical ‘women’ wear and styling yourself as a ‘she/her’ queen (ya know, woman words) - is an exaggerated version of gay camp. Not anyone else here.

Both incredibly misogynistic takes of women (reducing them to sexualised and contemptible) and homophobic suggesting gay men when exaggerated are the worst ‘women’ traits.

I'd like male drag artists in sparkly tuxedos with top hats. Like a glitter version of an old movie dance scene. Fred Astaire in sparkles. Why not?
Someone earlier gave the origin of the term drag - dressed as girl. Presumably because in Shakespearean times, women weren't allowed on stage so all acting troupes were all male. I think we're a bit beyond that now. So why does it continue? 1 - there's obviously money in it. 2 - it's only picking on women. They don't matter ha ha!

I can't stand drag! I understand the origins, but it has evolved into misogynistic attention seeking immaturity. The whole library story time drag was the absolute lowest for me. It was all about emotionally immature men seeking validation from young children whilst having absolutely no idea about child psychology or education. They purported to be demonstrating and encouraging tolerance. It was utterly farcical and was lapped up by the middle class mums in my area all trying too hard to appear fun and open minded. If you want to encourage tolerance, then by all means have a trans person sat quietly reading them a story in a way that demonstrates similarities rather than perpetuates differences. But instead it's a bunch of male individuals who just want and crave attention and that need for attention surpasses the desires of their audience. And no one dare object. Now I don't object to drag in nightclubs where you choose to pay to see it or contestants on TV who dress in drag outside of the tv show. But generally I don't find it funny or witty (aside from Barry Humphreys).

I am so glad I have brought my son (who is gay) does not to feel the need to degrade women in an attempt to deal with the prejudices he might face. If he feels his community has issues with the way straight men behave towards them - dressing up as a parody of a women and attacking who they are is not how to deal with male gay rights and discrimination - women do not need to be implicated.

The OP asks why drag artists are appearing on all these shows. The hidden agenda in my opinion is from the bbc - to promote their other shows and from the individual - to build their profile and expand their fan base. I think that's true of everyone who goes on these celebrity shows surely?

I don't see why it's an issue how anyone dresses other than myself. As long as they're not forcing anyone else to dress the same way as them let's just let them get on with it.

In what way drag acts "demean" women? They are generally act sassy, sexy, loud, projecting "no shit taken", independent attitude; in what way this is demeaning? It is very clearly an act, an exaggeration - but its not hateful in any way.

Because of the way that they are parodying women. It's been said on here time and time again.

Exactly. He's being intelligent and sensitive.

I dont think they are "parodying" women. Have you ever seen a drag act saying "oooh, I love him, he beats the shit our of me but I love him and I had 5 kids with him? " Drag acts always act independent, sassy ad strong. In what way this is parodying?

I've absolutely no idea what you're talking about.
The element of parody has been clearly explained, with examples, throughout this thread.