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?

waterlego, bit tricky in rural wet Wales
I do happily swan around the lanes in leopard skin faux fur coats but a sequinned dress would get ruined trailing through the mud !

@Notimeforaname

So what in your opinion is the difference between blackface and womanface? Or is it just your feelings?

Because a lot of my friends are drag artists and I've lived and performed around it for many years. They are not just 'being women' .

People often approach my friends and will say ''are you a man or a woman?' The answer is always..''I'm whatever you see. If you see man..I'm a man..if you see a pig, I'm a pig'' My friend does not think he is a woman on stage.

To him, he is creating a performance from all the things he love and enjoys, all the things that have inspired him from a child up to adulthood, all the things he has worked for over the years, his make up artistry, his dance skills his costume design.

So I cant see it as a ''mockery'' or somthing mean and nasty. Because I have never seen an ounce of that. Thats not what I have lived.

But again, I totally respect some people hate it . I just cant agree that the people I know are mocking or hating. That's all.

But the people performing blackface aren't trying to actually be black. They are trying to entertain, just like your drag friends. This is not about them being nice, or about us hating it. It is about being offensive to a large group of people amd that is wrong. There is no difference between blackface and womanface and your only reasoning is that you like your friends who do it.

Yanbu. For all the reasons already stated.

Hate, it, disrespectful and demeaning to real women.

I love drag, and don’t feel at all offended by it. Other people find it offensive or not enjoyable though, so I don’t think you’re unreasonable to have an opinion. I just think it’s unreasonable when people tell me how I should feel.
I know a few drag artists out of drag and they are all wonderful, welcoming, inclusive and kind people

This is not about them being nice, or about us hating it. It is about being offensive to a large group of people amd that is wrong. There is no difference between blackface and womanface and your only reasoning is that you like your friends who do it

I respect your opinion. I understand its offensive for some.
I just do not feel that way. I adore drag. And I dont feel its anything like blackface at all.
But totally respect your opinion nonetheless you are as entitled to yours as I am mine.

@Notimeforaname

Let me put it this way: do you think that blackface is acceptable if the people performing are noce people and if it is meant as entertainment?

There are loads of things which have become very popular/fashionable which I don’t like. Live and live - I don’t feel the need to explain why I don’t like them, I just don’t.

Let me put it this way: do you think that blackface is acceptable if the people performing are noce people and if it is meant as entertainment

No,blackface isnt acceptable. Drag is. I dont see the two as the same. But that's ok! We all have differing opinions on things. I am able to understand this.

Yep horrible and a reflection of the growing acceptance of misogyny

@Notimeforaname

This is not about them being nice, or about us hating it. It is about being offensive to a large group of people amd that is wrong. There is no difference between blackface and womanface and your only reasoning is that you like your friends who do it

I respect your opinion. I understand its offensive for some.
I just do not feel that way. I adore drag. And I dont feel its anything like blackface at all.
But totally respect your opinion nonetheless you are as entitled to yours as I am mine.

I'm struggle to understand why you think that blackface is different. I could understand it better if you wouldn't see that as offensive but you do say that you view it differently.

I used to like watching drag queens until I read about it basically being womanface and when I thought about it, I found that I agree with that on principle. Since it is as offensive as blackface I feel that it should be made illegal. But before I thought about it, it didn't bother me.

I don't like it either. One of my first boyfriends confessed to me that he liked cross dressing (he never did it infront of me) and that kinda freaked me out - I don't know why. But I remember feeling a vague sense of him trying to "take ownership" of feminity which i found grossly offensive.
Maybe I am just an insecure type of woman and call me old fashioned but i wanted him to "let me" be the woman in the relationship and his desire to do this somehow offended me.

Womanface. It's shit. It always has been.

I'm struggle to understand why you think that blackface is differen

I'm sorry I cant help you understand better. That's just how I feel 🤷‍♀️

I said it on another thread but the drag queens on the BBC NYE show last night really summed it up:

Mediocre, talentless blokes doing crappy dance moves and awkwardly lip syncing, whilst an actually talented woman sings off camera. Apparently this is hugely entertaining....

It was embarrassing and I really hope drag, at least in the mainstream form I have seen it, has soon had its day.

Since it is as offensive as blackface I feel that it should be made illegal

I dont think itll ever be illegal but who knows with this world!!

YANBU OP

If you go back and read some of these posts as if they were in response to a black person posting about their objection to 'black face' it's very interesting ...

Well I like it so ... (everyone else should?)
Don't get your knickers in a twist over it.
They are just having fun doing it so leave them alone.
No one is forcing you to watch.
Yawn - this is boring.
But it's part of our culture!
Sometimes it's ok ...
Get the stick out of your arse and enjoy it.
It's only dressing up.

Imagine saying any of that on a thread about black face!

At some point in the future we'll look back and be horrified that this was ok.

My parents took me to a New Years Eve dinner & show that featured a Drag Queen light in the 1980s. I remember as a young teen finding it annoying and disingenuous and just a bit yuck. It's incredibly attention seeking and I found it manipulative towards the audience. I remember feeling uncomfortable and not liking it at all. It wasn't anything overt just the body language was off.

@Notimeforaname

I'm struggle to understand why you think that blackface is differen

I'm sorry I cant help you understand better. That's just how I feel 🤷‍♀️

If RuPaul painted his face white and took the piss out of white people would that be ok?

I find them very offensive to be honest. Imagine the outrage if women did the same to men. I also think it’s another example of male domination over women.

At some point in the future we'll look back and be horrified that this was ok

Yes..who know what will happen! I just cant force myself to be offended over something that I enjoy. I just dont feel that way about it. But I understand others wont like it. That's fine.

@Laiste - exactly.
Knickers in a twist/pearl clutching - always used to insult women and minimise or devalue our opinions and concerns.

Not sure what to make of them myself as don't watch Rupaul or many shows like that. (Hate reality tv in general!)

I loved Priscilla back in the day though and I've always thought drag was a way for gay men (or trans men/women) to express themselves safely - ie: the overdone drag look is a bit like armour and is exaggerated to protect themselves from abuse, same with the sarcastic humour, used to keep people at bay. (Attack first lest ye be attacked kind of thing).I don't know if this attitude has changed to become more misogynistic, if so that's a real shame.

I do find that when I've seen them on tv lately or online (though I don't seek it out) they do seem a lot more aggressive these days, and frankly intimidating. I wouldn't want to get on the wrong side of some of them, that's to be sure!

It’s sexual appropriation

It’s basically a load of men taking the piss out of women for laughs and getting paid for it.