To feel uncomfortable with regards to Drag?

[ShawshanksRedemption]

Am I the only one who feels uncomfortable with Drag?

AIUI Drag came about because women's roles were originally played by men on the stage, and from there it's evolved to have pantomime dames, which is a caricature of women. Drag has now become an art form, a performance, with programmes like RuPaul's Drag Race showing how popular it is, but at it's core it's still a caricature, it's still a parody of women, and it's gaudy, brash and the wit and put downs waspish!

I can't help but feel a bit uncomfortable about it all, maybe it's something I'm reading too much into, but effectively it's men aping women in a very unattractive way (and I'm not just talking the make up here).

Anyone else feel the same? Or should I just embrace it and get over myself?

If you don’t like it don’t watch it.

Have you been invited to a drag show? If its something you don't want to see, I don't see why you would embrace it?

I hate it too. It's just another way for men to take the p**s of women and get away with it by screaming 'ART!!'.

I think it’s telling that, when we think of drag, it’s almost always drag queens and not kings we think of. Drag kings are very very rare beasts.

Why is this? When you start to think about why, it gets more unsettling.

I’ve always felt uncomfortable about it. I think floodypuddle hits the nail on the head.

I found myself feeling similar. For the same reasons. To parody any other protected characteristic would be considered a hate crime. Mock a woman's appearance, voice, walk , mannerisms- fair game

YANBU I agree with @floodypuddle I find it uncomfortable and offensive.

Er, I’ve been to live drag shows and honestly, they are more akin to tribute singers. They’ll dress up like a celebrity and perform a song. So you’ll have a Cher, a Whitney Houston, a Dolly Parton, a Marilyn Monroe, etc etc.

RuPauls drag show is completely different and is more about fashion design and camp than live drag shows which are really singing/dancing entertainment.

I honestly didn’t mind them as women also dress up and perform as men on stage too.

I love drag. One of my favourite nights out is going to drag cabarets. Nothing offensive about it at all unless you're looking to be offended.

I hate it too but this thread comes up quite often now and I think the last one was deleted....

Should they be reading to children in libraries?

floodypuddle yes. Also people are scared to question it because it's a massive part of gay culture and no-one wants to be accused of homophobia

It's akin to blackface as far as I'm concerned. Can't bear it.

I was going to say the same Alcon.

Nothing wrong with drag, are we in the ice age or something.

I can’t bear it either, it’s awful.

Misogynistic mockery of women.

There’s different sub-categories in drag.
Just from Rupaul’s drag race they’ve been body queens, fashion queens, queens that sing live, queens that lip sync, celebrity impersonators.
There’s a very small number that want to look like a “real woman”.

@louderthan1 Interesting about the homophobia - one of my DC is gay and I've been chatting to them about it, and that I feel uncomfortable with it. They've managed to listen without telling me I'm homophobic.

I guess I'm thinking, what is the intention behind it? Is it to mock women (particularly women of a certain age) and degrade the female role in some way?

@Stickybeaksid If you don’t like it don’t watch it.
I think you've missed the point, that I'm exploring how I feel about it - it may make me think and possibly influence my viewpoint. That's the point of discussion, isn't it?

I find it funny especially if you can tell it is a man. Our local pub decided to have a woman only night with male strippers. It was for a charity (breast cancer) so I went along with a couple of friends. Well it turned out to be more like the Full Monty than the Chippendales and it was very funny especially when some men tried to gate crash the event dressed as women - it was hilarious and we didn't actually see any penises so it was all in good taste. We also raised a lot of money for breast cancer.

Someone said one day we will look on drag like we do now on minstrels.

Some drag artists are genuinely funny comedians and they work good comedy into their acts. However there is something misogynistic about it.

What floody said: I hate it too. It's just another way for men to take the ps of women and get away with it by screaming 'ART!!'.

It depends.
Ru Paul-esque drag - fine
Mrs brown's boys drag - absolutely awful and should be banned immediately.

Nothing wrong with drag, are we in the ice age or something.

Was the ice age a particularly anti-drag era?

Not got a fucking clue Property lol