Drag vs cultural misappropriation

[marahippo]

I'd like to preface by saying I am all for LGBQT+ rights.

However I can't see why we tolerate men pretending to dress as women with over the top make up and clothing. These are not trans men, these are men who dress up with the sole purpose to mock and humiliate for entertainment. They talk about "fannies", grab their artificial boobs, dress like no woman would really dress and make a mockery/objectify women as sexual objects.

Even the names are designed to offending- I give you a few examples:
Cheryl Hole
A'Whora
Ginger Minj

Why is this acceptable?
The days of dressing up and pretending to be a different race/culture for entertainment is now unacceptable. Why is "sexual misappropriation" different?

Genuinely, why did they have to call Snatch Game after a very vulgar term for female genitals?

Grim and tragic men. Clearly not about celebrating women at all.

Would someone care to explain why ‘snatch games’?

Just like people should not make comparisons to Nazis, neither should they make comparisons to Blackface. It trivialises the struggles of those who have fought and died in past conflicts. It also detracts from the point trying to be made and the thread descends into a wormhole of off-topic shenanigans.

Does some drag make an unkind and offensive parody of women? Yes. This is offensive with elements of misogyny.

Does some drag subvert the idea of gender and show true art? Yes. This is entertaining and thought provoking. This type of drag may show alien style forms, mythical creatures etc.

Drag has many forms, just as other genres of entertainment do. It is unfair to tar it all with the same brush.

Snatch Game is the challenge that highlights the season's front-runners and gives the audience a clue to who will snatch the crown. It’s a pun on Match Game, a popular game show where celebrities were contestants.

The Snatch Game is where contestants have to do a celebrity impersonation (in honour of Match Game). Not all of these impersonations are of female celebrities and in fact a few times a contestant has won by impersonating a male celebrity.

@winewolfhowls
Excellent post.

Ah, right.

So nothing whatsoever to do with the other meaning of ‘snatch’.

The innocence.

I’m reminded of Mrs Slocombe’s relentless references to her ‘pussy’. Oh yes, everyone did indeed only think about pet cats.

🥹

Nope. Nothing to do with genitalia.

In addition in American slang, “you are snatched” or “you snatch” means having a super fashionable look - outfit, hair, makeup.

In American black drag (which is Ru Paul’s background) “snatch” is the same as above but with an element of being fierce and on point with the entire look & mannerisms not just costuming, it comes from ”snatch your weave off” (akin to knock your socks off).

Ah found a link to show you origins of slang of snatched & snatch (both are covered).
https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/snatched/

So Ru Paul wasnt just rhyming with Match Game which had actual celebrity contestants, he did a parody of Match Game by having impersonations of celebrity contestants in which the contestants have to snatch, or Snatch Game.

It’s a play on words. Ru Paul’s fan Wiki page:

https://rupaulsdragrace.fandom.com/wiki/Snatch_Game

And yet, ‘snatch’ does also mean women’s genitalia, so 🤷🏻‍♀️

I mean, honestly, trying to persuade us there is no intended double entendre. Just why…………?

Oh sweet Mother of God. The Blue Meanies are trying to take over the world.

👏👏👏

Recently, I watch a documentary on Danny La Rue. I remember him from my childhood. Danny started his career as a 'female impersonator' in the Entertainment Corps of the forces during WW2. When the war ended, like many performers, he kept his act up and took it to the clubs of post-war Britain. He was successful because his impersonation was ultra glamorous (in comparison to post war austerity) and was (to the audience of the time) funny. Quite significantly, he always began his show with 'Watcha mate!' establishing the fact that he was a man (albeit a man in a frock).

The humour did not come from 'taking the piss' out of women, but rather through the art of allowing caricature, innuendo and double entendre to imply things that were not said publicly in the days when it was taboo for women to talk about sex and sexuality and it was illegal to be openly homosexual.

Paul O' Grady/Lily Savage took the drag genre a little further in the later Twentieth Century, and again, there was a political element to his act. Strong women were in vogue at the height of the act, but the LGBT+ community was still oppressed.

Like others have said, there are some 'good' drag acts, which retain the humour, and which challenge prejudice and boundaries. There are also some acts that just don't work.

Agree, I dislike it

Paul OGrady continued the Female Impersonator style of drag - for me the line is drawn when it’s an act and the artist gets into character and puts on a costume and then takes it’s all off at the end of the day. She also Hinge and Bracket, Dame Edna etc. Mrs Merton was in the same vein, but acted by a female actor.

I am uncomfortable with the modern form of drag for all the reasons already stated. In my perception, in the modern form the drag characters seem to be an expression of an integral part of the artistes, rather than a part they play.

i have absolutely used the phrase “woman face” before now because it reflects the offence I have felt to be on a par with how I feel about “blackface”. However, if my use of the term gives offence itself then I apologise and will stop. I would like to be an ally to black feminists, and it is an eye opener to read that many feel that as a white woman I would not be an ally.

This