To find drag queens offensive?

[MrsMummy500]

AIBU to find drag queens really bloody offensive?

I hate the term offensive, it’s bandied around far too often at far too insignificant things (am aware this may be one of them). BUT, men dressing up as some fetishised version of a man made ideal of a woman really pisses me off. Hyper hair, max make up, drink in hand, revealing clothes.

I do not know a single woman like that. It riles me and I feel like I’m unable to express it as women have lost so much of their space to LGBTQ+ community (I perceive this, I don’t say it as a fact).
potential bomb drop alert but if white people are taken down (rightly IMO) for ‘blacking up’ should it be acceptable for men to parody women in the form of drag queens.

Ps- I do not buy for one minute that they are celebrating the female form with balloon breasts. It feels more like a piss take.

If any of you have actually looked at drag properly, you would see that it is an art form a lot of the time.

Tracey Emin’s bed was ‘art’. It was still crap.

This could easily be a woman. It's not a parody, over-exaggerated or meaning to be offensive. There are also 'drag kings', though less common.

What is it MN and drag queens?!
This is about the 95th are drag queens offensive thread in this month alone (OK, slight exaggeration, but can't be far off lol)
No I don't find drag queens offensive
No they don't all shout fish so immediately need cancelling
It's nothing like black face (even though I'm aware people think it is) and tbh I think comparing the struggles of women to black people is a little bit offensive in itself
All women are different and like different things.

I agree, OP. It is womanface to me and in no way "celebrates" women.

@confusedfeelingss

So I'm assuming none of the posters 'offended' by drag ever go to the panto then?

Honestly, get something new to complain about

If any of you have actually looked at drag properly, you would see that it is an art form a lot of the time. Yes there is some crap, same as with anything, but to tar all drag in the same way is ridiculous

Sure. We’re just not subtle enough in our understanding of performative misogyny.

I never found drag queens offensive until people's sexuality etc was so politicised in recent years. It was just fun and part of the rich fabric of life until then.

Now the whole grim, crude politicisation of everything to do with sexuality has made me dislike it all somehow. The opposite of what was intended to all those campaigning for "political rights" and "acceptance". I steer clear now.

The only one who was even vaguely funny and attractive was Danny La Rue. The modern ones are just disgusting, crude and a turn-off,

It's nothing like black face (even though I'm aware people think it is) and tbh I think comparing the struggles of women to black people is a little bit offensive in itself

You don’t think the historical (and incomplete) journey of women towards equality with men bears any comparison with the experiences of black people?

You don’t think forced marriage, circumcision, prohibited divorce, control of contraception and abortion, prostitution of women - any of that makes women a vulnerable group?

YANBU

And then, of course, there are 'drag kids'

thefederalist.com/2020/02/17/video-emerges-of-drag-kid-desmond-is-amazing-pretending-to-snort-ketamine/

I'm not offended. I dont find them amusing either. Sometimes I'm impressed by the elaborate costumes and make up though. I suppose it can be a spectacle.

I dont find them offensive, just pathetic and cringeworthy and people like Michelle visage who hang on to their coat tails are equally as ridiculous.

I find them really offensive too. Outdated, only used to poke fun at the bitchy stereotype of woman.

@Quaagars

What is it MN and drag queens?! This is about the 95th are drag queens offensive thread in this month alone (OK, slight exaggeration, but can't be far off lol) No I don't find drag queens offensive No they don't all shout fish so immediately need cancelling It's nothing like black face (even though I'm aware people think it is) and tbh I think comparing the struggles of women to black people is a little bit offensive in itself All women are different and like different things.

This might amaze you but 50% of black people are women too, it's not about 'women don't have it as bad as black people historically' (wtf) it's all intertwined.

Some just aren’t funny, most of the ones I’ve seen have been... guess it just depends on your sense of humour 🤷🏼‍♀️

@Soontobe60 I like kim chi and Crystal Method

I think that in a few years it will be a bit like the black and white minstrel show. Some of the dancing was an art form when done well, some of the singers were brilliant.... but it was offensive. We see that now and I think later on few will consider drag inoffensive.

It is not about whether there is some artistic value, nor whether it is done well. It is whether a reasonable portion find it offensive - even mildly so. It doesn’t matter if some women enjoy it.

I also believe people have a right to be offensive, but not against one of the protected characteristics. Women should be no less protected against this than black people are against the black and white minstrel show.

BTW, I’m not saying they are exactly equal, it is not a game of top trumps!

You don’t think forced marriage, circumcision, prohibited divorce, control of contraception and abortion, prostitution of women - any of that makes women a vulnerable group?

Out of where in my post did you get that I don't think women are a vulnerable group - when I even mentioned women's struggles?
Talk about whataboutery - I was talking about drag, and no I don't find it offensive.
Of course prostititution, forced marriages etc makes a woman a vulnerable group, but talk about going off on a tangent!

I never used to have an issue with it, thought it was funny, entertaining, etc.

But increasingly, I do find I have an issue with it, for many of the reasons outlined by everyone else.

It does feel like a piss-take. I mean, clearly they’re not dressing as real women, so I should be able to compartmentalise them, but I can’t, really. It does feel like woman-face, and I really agree with a point in your first post - it’s also my perception that women are losing some of their space to LGBTQ+ and we’re just supposed to accept it.

I don’t know. I have sort of come to view them as a bit sad, cringe-y and tragic now.

Those of you who find drag offensive - do you know any drag queens personally? Have you spent time with them? And do you understand why they do it? Genuinely interested.

I’ve never been to a drag act but they don’t offend me, i’ve watched a few seasons of RuPauls drag race and really enjoyed them

I absolutely hate drag queens they just arent funny and they look so stupid.

My ex son in law was a drag queen ..his show was amazing.He was not in the slightest crude or offensive to anyone.My child was brought up around these performers who were kind,caring and very much family orientated,my dd is not scarred by the years she spent with these people.Thing I have found is these performers do not judge,do not need acceptance and do not follow the crowd like sheep....their performance is their own kind of expression and art,there is no right or wrong way to please anyone.Its like anything else there are good performers and bad ones.....pretty much as in life really. Makes me slightly giggle this thread,so much pearl clutching at such a random subject when the world is falling about all around us....pandemic issues,life.redundancies,deaths,mental health issues,groundbreaking vaccines,,,,and drag queens....shakes her head and walks away in wonder....

@flaviaritt

BrumBoo

Indeed. Women making cock jokes and showing off their actual breasts would be called dirty sluts. Men doing it with their fake ones? Artists.

And that's what people refuse to see. Men dressed like women making these 'outrageous' jokes are being 'fabulous'. They're just being what women want to be, right? They're just giving a voice to women, giving them sexual liberation, being the gobby, bit-of-rough we'd all really like to be!

Except that's not how most women want to be. It's just the male ideology of women, mocking us about the voice that we can't use. Because if we did, if actually women behaved/lookes like drags do, no one would be laughing. It would just be name calling and putting us back in our places.

Drags don't represent any female identity or experience. They represent a culture of misogyny from a group of men who have a poisoned idea of what a woman is. They perpetuate stereotypes in the worst possible way, and worst of all people are celebrating it, in a way a liberal society would NEVER stand to if it involved stereotype acting of black/gay people.

Just look at the backlash David Williams got recently about his 'I'm a ladeee' act - why was his stereotype of a transperson brought up as a backwards act, yet drag acts can carry on in this manner? There's no difference.

Those of you who find drag offensive - do you know any drag queens personally? Have you spent time with them? And do you understand why they do it? Genuinely interested.

It doesn’t offend me particularly but am very interested: why do they do it?

I actually love a good drag queen night... yeah the concept is a bit outdated now but I find a drag show incredibly entertaining.
The quick wit, the confidence, comedy and the way they tear strips off audience members make me howl.
It's like panto for adults!