Aibu to not like drag Queens?

[Draggedalong1]

And why don’t I? To me there is something intimidating and scary in the make up, and harsh glamour, parodied until it’s ugly and I think, aggressive. I remember going to drag shows long again in the 90s and they seemed to be a bit of fun and almost innocent compared to whatever it is about ru Paul et al. Nothing wrong with a bit of dame Edna from what I remember as a kid. What’s the reasoning behind this new style I wonder, and aibu?

@AnyFucker

It’s sexual fetish made public. Aggressive, distasteful, demeaning to actual women.

Agreed

Yes, drag names are very offensive to women, our local one has a very offensive name to women

Things like Fanny OLick and so on

I agree with you, it's how sexualised and offensive it is, calling each other fishy if they pass as women. Having sexualised stage name and targeting children in libraries. I would have no problem having a pantomime dame reading in a children's library, they are silly and not trying to pass and not sexual at all whereas the one that came to my local library was called Ivana Humpalot.
I loved Lily Savage and Dame Edna but I wonder if their stand up was much more crude than their TV work, I was young in the 90s and don't really remember.

Jeff Goldblum has a shown on Disney+ where he looks in to different things, he did one on make-up and went to a San Francisco drag show to talk to the men there. They spoke of how dressing in drag was an acceptable way for a flamboyant gay man to be himself at a time when being homosexual was outlawed and I understand that and singing dolly Parton songs etc dressed in a sparkly costume. I think it's the current mockery and sexualisation that makes it so unpalatable whilst womens rights and spaces are being eroded world wide.

Yabu starting another thread about this.. yawn. Done to death. Overall concensus MN hates them. Personally I find no offence in someone dressing like a woman and calling it drag. It is nothing like me and my life as a woman. I don't tuck. I don't wear corsets. I don't paint on eyebrows. I don't wear a wig. I don't even really wear make up. So I find it so far from my life as to take no offence. If I didn't like it I would just not watch. (Like I avoid Mrs Brown's Boys and that programme with Lee what's his face being grandma).

@SuspiciousHumanoid

YANBU

Dressing up in extremely sexualised costumes and mimicking exaggerated misogynistic stereotypes is offensive. Blackface is offensive, and so is womanface.

This Drag is repulsive

Drag queen fans - what’s the difference between black face and drag? Both mocking parodies of an oppressed group by oppressors for laughs. I can’t see the difference.

I detest drag, always have, even the old fashioned Dame Edna stuff seemed to me as a child just to be "odd".

Hate clowns, creepy, unfunny, and would never go to a pantomime, don't get them either.

Each to their own I suppose, but I am getting fed up with so many of these "artists" being given air time on tv shows. They are generally just unintelligent and facetious, and I am not sure what they add to quiz programmes etc. other to than demonstrate how shallow they really are.

I’ve always found drag sinister and it makes me feel very uncomfortable. But who cares what some women think, eh?

I agree so many seem to have become more aggressive in tone. There also seems to be more arrogance and less ability to show self-deprecating humour. But like comedy tastes change and we can render them redundant by not watching.

@Mumdiva99 feel free not to comment if it bores you. Lots of things bore me and I scroll in past. Maybe it might be important to others? We don’t need to ask your permission

[quote doorornottodoor]@Mumdiva99 feel free not to comment if it bores you. Lots of things bore me and I scroll in past. Maybe it might be important to others? We don’t need to ask your permission [/quote]
But maybe a quick search before starting yet another generic thread with no specific point or new perspective.....

It's definitely not for me. Have never liked the overtly sexualised drag queen type act and never understood why it has become so popular and main stream, let alone sometimes deemed appropriate for children to be involved with.

I don't see pantomime dames and things like Lily Savage (to version anyway) in the same light. They don't come across as being sexualised in the same way and are very clearly a different approach to it al.

To me, drag queen is just not designed to be mainstream entertainment for families.

@AnyFucker

It’s sexual fetish made public. Aggressive, distasteful, demeaning to actual women.

Some might be a sexual fettish but most aren't.

That said I feel exactly the same way as several responders. Think it's ugly and grotesque portrayal of women..

I loved Lily Savage and Dame Edna but I wonder if their stand up was much more crude than their TV work, I was young in the 90s and don't really remember.

I have seen Dame Edna live and she was no cruder than on TV. And absolutely brilliant. Sir Les Patterson was crude as you might expect but also no worse than on TV.

targeting children in libraries
I can assure you my drag artist friends do not 'target' children at libraries. They are contacted, requested and paid for events. It's a job for most and a hobby for all.

Dressing up as the opposite sex doesn't automatically make you a sex pest or a danger to children 🤣

Totally fine that some people hate drag. I hate clowns. They scare the shit out of me! But I do laugh whenever I hear 'womanface' I've never heard it anywhere else. My best friend has been doing drag for 15 years..never,heard it being said. Mumsnet is a great old place for a laugh!

I do not care for it at all.

Anyfucker and so many others have voiced my thoughts on it perfectly.

Are drag kings 'manface' or are drag kings allowed here ?

Its hellish. And not funny.

Ice never ever seen a drag king.

Oh we've lots of drag kings here in Ireland. A few that are well known on the scene.

And Perry, of Kevin and Perry is a woman parodying a man. Only watched that a few weeks ago . ''Awwriii missus Patterson '' 🤣

I hate it too. It's misogyny dressed up as entertainment. But god forbid women find it offensive. If you're female or white you simply cannot find anything offensive, however sexist or racist or cruel or unpleasant it is. I too hope that one day parodying women will be seen as unacceptable, but I can't see it happening any time soon, because it's an 'art form' innit. Bleugh!

It depends - some of them dress up ridiculously and as a mockery of women or what their idea and thoughts about women are and then act in a way that takes the complete piss out of us - I don’t like that type of drag.

However - and yes I am a big Ru Paul fan and watch most of the shows - some drag queens are absolutely beautiful and really embody femininity and are so creative and imaginative and I love that type of drag.

There are also female drag queens, one was on the UK version which I also found really inspiring.

So I think it depends on what the intention is behind the drag - are they doing it as a mockery or are they doing it because it genuinely is something that lives inside of them and part of their identity.

I must admit I do shed tears when watching the shows when you hear what some of them have gone through just because they want to wear make up and a dress - being shut off from family members, bullied and abused, one was even shot on the Canada version - which I think is absolutely horrific! X

@Notimeforaname

Are drag kings 'manface' or are drag kings allowed here ?

You'd need to ask men. Men I've known don't handle being made to look stupid very well, especially if it's a woman making them look foolish. They'll laugh along through gritted teeth and clap with clenched fists.

I don't understand how the drag queen lip-synching section on Olly Alexander's show last night got beyond rehearsal. Very little charisma or performance ability in evidence, while the woman actually singing the song was only occasionally visible in the back of a shot.

I get it that lip synching is a thing (no idea why), but it was so flat and dull.

@Notimeforaname

targeting children in libraries I can assure you my drag artist friends do not 'target' children at libraries. They are contacted, requested and paid for events. It's a job for most and a hobby for all.

Dressing up as the opposite sex doesn't automatically make you a sex pest or a danger to children 🤣

Totally fine that some people hate drag. I hate clowns. They scare the shit out of me! But I do laugh whenever I hear 'womanface' I've never heard it anywhere else. My best friend has been doing drag for 15 years..never,heard it being said. Mumsnet is a great old place for a laugh!

Why is it funny? What’s funny about some other women finding it uncomfortable or demeaning or downright offensive to see men dressed up as grotesque, usually highly sexualised caricatures of women?( Usually accompanied by a catty, hostile sense of ‘humour’).

Only women can be so openly caricatured and mocked in such a blatant way. And the ‘cool girlfriends’ laugh along. Good for you.