To wonder if a lot of people are still against drag ?

[INXS998]

Shows like Drag Race have become incredibly popular. I have tickets to see the live show in May, and I think drag culture is amazing. It shows how far we have come that such a show is so popular on TV, and I think it should be celebrated.
I asked some friends if they wanted to come to the show with me and they very firmly and quickly told me that they were not fans of that sort of stuff.
When I was a teenager, I used to think Drag Queens were just some middle-aged men on Canal street with a blonde wig and high heels, and I was quite intimidated and scared of them in a way. I wonder if some people still feel that way, and don't judge them for it, just curious.

@morgankitten I'm slightly concerned you're assuming that people who don't like drag have an issue with trans people, too. That's not the case. They're two very different things.

Shows like Little Britain which consisted of men dressing as women would probably never be aired now

Little Britain was horrific and not because the men dressed as women. That was a poor attempt at humour but there were much worse bits to it that shouldn't be aired now.

I don't really know what a drag act would be like. I used to think Paul O'Grady was hilarious as Lily Savage. Are they comparable?

Your friends might not be "against drag" any more than I might be "against" Love Island, Hollyoaks, TOWIE or anything else I don't like.

It might just be not their cup of tea.

“maybe you should try an educate yourself”

Sigh.

It’s just men taking the piss out of women in quite an aggressive manner. Nothing new.

I absolutely hate drag.

Minstrel shows are not allowed.
Pretending to be disabled for laughs? Absolutely not.

The way that men, regardless of their sexual persuasion, get free reign to make a caricature of women, showcasing all of the things we are told to keep a lid on, and get laughs and praise for it really pisses me off.

Women have been shamed for so long for being overly sexual. For swearing. For wearing revealing outfits and a lot of makeup. But put a wig on a man and he can do it.

With cultural appropriation being such a massive issue in this day and age it just baffles me that we let the equivalent run wild.

^This

*Those library sessions pictured upthread .... i used to run a story time session in our local library when DD was little. Can you imagine if I'd rocked up and started cuddling all of the kids? I cannot think of a situation or place where most sensible parents would be comfortable allowing their children to roll about on the floor with an adult they barely know. An adult for all they know does drag as part of a fetish.

Still waiting to be educated as to how drag celebrates women *

this . Absolutely

Not a fan because it's mediocre pub night entertainment, but I find Mrs. Brown's Boys far more offensive.

Doesn't bother me in the slightest.

It's self expression in the fact that drag is portraying a character that they have created of themselves as drag queens, they arn't walking around saying, this is what I think women are, this is what women look like, and taking the piss, they are finding their drag persona within themselves and using drag as self expression to bring that character and part of themselves out into the open.

Not all drag queens are bitchy mean stereotypes, but some are and I personally find that kind of humour and honesty great but I can see how others wouldn't.

Also drag kings are a thing, women dressing up as men and binding their breasts to give themselves a flat chest so they can entertain with beards painted on and act out male stereotypes for humour.

Look around. Real women aren't like that. Look at the women you work with, women in the supermarket, women just going about their daily business. They are nothing like these drag caricatures.

Some real women are. Look at Dolly Parton, Cher, Celine Dion or any of the other larger than life entertainers. Drag isn't about putting on women's clothes to pop down the shops. You wouldn't expect a female entertainer to get on stage wearing what she wore to Tescos what a stupid analogy.

Drag queens copy a kind of larger than life female entertainer. These are real women too. It's not their fault that your definition of a real woman is so narrow.

@NekoShiro what exactly is so great about that sort of humour?

Also why does their act of 'expwesshing themshelvesh' always involve hypersexualised hyperfemininity with a sprinkling of misogyny? If that's them expressing themselves, then they're fucking unpleasant men, and I ain't giving them my money.

I'd like to see Dolly, Cher or Celine put down other women.

I'll wait.

Or make jokes about women’s genitalia, or call themselves sexual stage names. Or did I miss that show?

They're expressing a fucking disgusting side of themselves that should not be expressed. Think I'd rather crawl up a cow's arse than to go and pay some stinking dude to prance around in heels and shriek nonsense.

I fail to see the appeal. I fail to see the appeal of a lot of things though.

I'd like to see Dolly, Cher or Celine put down other women.

I'll wait.

Yes, looking forward to some footage from VH1 Divas where Dolly and Cher start wafting their microphones at each other and going 'oooh, fishy...'

I don't like them. They're an insult to women.

Meaning drag acts. I have no issue at all with the LGBT community.

Maybe I could dress up and tell some Jewish/black/Muslim jokes (I’m none of these). How would that go down?

Oh Paws, don’t be silly, it’s not the same thing at all! How’s that then?

I don't understand and think it's really sad that we're at a point where women think among things of importance are ''how make up looks'' and if men can do it better. That's freakin sad.

And then with names like Barbara la Bush, how is that NOT misogynistic?

All they're doing its imitating (over exaggerating) how the patriarchy wants women to look and being sarcastic pricks along with it.

If you find it funny then you must not have a very good sense of humour.

And mrs browns boys is pish too.

I don't understand and think it's really sad that we're at a point where women think among things of importance are ''how make up looks'' and if men can do it better. That's freakin sad.

Yup yup yup.

Can't stand the fawning. Dude turns up in a dress and makeup, no matter how stupid the makeup looks, I can guarantee there will be a bunch of women queuing up to say how 'amaaaaazinggg' he looks and how 'his makeup is sooooo much better than mine and omg he looks sooooo much better in this dress than I would'...

... erm. Nah.

Not my cup of tea. Give me Mr Bean any day.

Why is it such an achievement for a man to do makeup well? There are many many excellent male make up artists working within the fashion and media industry today, and that's been the case for decades. I don't mind a man in makeup. I grew up with the gender benders like Boy George, Marilyn (now THERE was a a beautiful man....). David Sylvian and his gorgeous brother Steve Jansen, the beautiful Steve Strange, David Bowie, Marc bloody Bolan. All of them gorgeous, all of them caked in make up and wearing flamboyant clothing and yet I never felt any of them were taking the piss out of women, or being disrespectful or spiteful. Drag is all of those things. It's perfectly possible, as the gentlemen mentioned above show, to be extravagant, arresting, flamboyant and dramatic without being a bitch.