Drag - Fun or Fundamentally Insulting

[hellosumner]

Triggered by the strictly line up thread I wonder how people feel about drag.

YABU - Drag Queens are incredibly witty and talented and they are not insulting women by dressing as an exaggerated version of the female sex. It’s funny and clever.

YANBU - Drag is woman face and any other type of comedy based upon stereotyping a group in an exaggerated manner would be seen as unacceptable.

I love drag. It's a performance

I’m not agreeing at all with the list of reasons why womanface is different to blackface.

It’s not because the person doesn’t know black people or because black people are outnumbered red. It’s an oppressive class using costume to make a mockery of and exaggerate - using harmful stereotypes - the class they oppress. It’s really that simple.

I wasn't mocking you, I was just pointing out - and I know from experience if someone's into conspiracies and 'watching monitors" that you're right, nothing will get through or change anything. So crack on.

What else would you call men in costume parodying women?

It’s exactly the same. One oppressed group (women) being parodied by their oppressors (men).

Panto is different is ok.
Lilly Savage was funny and worthy of respect
The rest, rubbish. Woman face. No not acceptable.
The ones that get into classes or libraries for storytime with kids. Weird or perverted. I M O.

Drag is a performance, not a diversity. Why not invite people who were born disabled or into some disadvantaged group that cannot be shed with a costume? Can't remember every seeing someone with a congenital limb disorder come into to read stories to children and talk about their experiences.

Yep. As I said it’s a job, not a sexuality/identity.

Found it. For @ExtraOnions

https://x.com/Belstaffie/status/1959435948925849901

Very funny if they’re good, in the right setting.

I bloody hate it.

Blackface isn’t ok- so why is this?

Are you deliberately misunderstanding everyone who disagrees with you?

I agree.
Also remember a thread on here about DQST where someone asked why other experiences of being gay/queer/whatever we want to call it were not being modelled to school kids eg a gay woman talking about her job as a librarian.

You’ve hit the nail on the head there with your post. Your internalised misogyny is part of the reason why between the sexes is still not achieved.

Current drag is in no way an homage to beloved older women.

Drag acts can be vastly different, you can't put them all in one category and call it good or bad.

I loved Dame Edna, for example, but Drag Race is generally tawdry and not at all funny to me.

Spiteful misogynistic womanface with a side order of being co-opted into some man’s fantasy. Dressed up as a giggle for the girls. Ban it.

I’m conflicted because of the stereotypes. But it’s not the same as blackface in that women don’t ‘own’ glitter and sequins and eyeshadow and mascara. Where as black people do ‘own’ black skin.

I personally don’t wear makeup and I believe men (and women) should be able to wear mascara and even outrageously colourful and ‘excessive’ make up if they want. It’s an art form.

pantomimes are just weird tho. My 9 year old had her first pantomime experience this last Christmas and I honestly couldn’t answer most of her ‘why’ questions. I don’t think she particularly enjoyed it

What??! They are the same people! I liked his dog TV show, didn't make the connection at all until now 😁

I think it is inevitable that alongside all the problems women are having defending their sexual status drag now, whatever the type, has to be viewed differently and more carefully. Those who use it for sexual gratification or to stomp on our rights have to be stopped and therefore sadly in some cases so do the rest. It has been weaponised.

I'm curious where people stand on Mrs Brown? Apart from the fact that it is shite. Brendan O'Carroll modelled her more on old fashioned panto style drag version. I don't like drag but I find the character inoffensive, endearing even. She was developed over 30 years ago and takes the piss out of a certain type of older lady who was around at the time, but with a crude innuendo element. Women of that age at that time (over 70s in early 90s in Ireland) would not have gotten away with her language, it wouldn't have been aired or supported but a man in drag got away with it. At least that's my take on it having grown up in the culture.

Are you serious lol

That’s how I read that post.

It certainly didn’t explain why blackface is bad and womanface isn’t.

Hate it. Even in panto though I hate panto full stop as well.

Its always over sexualised and women the but of the jokes a panto I endured the other year the same even made a fish joke. So funny. Not.

What is the justification for a man to dress up as a woman and make sexualized (non) jokes that aren’t even funny. It’s degrading to women. Thats all there is to it.