Drag Queen Storytime at my local library (photo attached)

[Carla786]

I had a lovely trip to my local library yesterday. Spent a long time there choosing books, basically the whole time there was a very noisy toddler event going on in the next room. I didn't mind, they host a lot of stuff for various people & that's good.

As I left, I looked at the posters of various things they were advertising. I saw one for 'Mama G', clearly a drag queen, which I photographed for identification purposes. I thought this nonsense of drag story hours might be quietening down, but clearly not at my library. I'd never seen them advertise anything like that before 🤦‍♀️

Checking the photo when I got home, I saw the event had taken place that day, while I was choosing my books. I wasn't listening particularly hard, but from what I heard it sounded more like a 'panto dame' style event than anything sexualised. It still seems odd and inadvisable though. If a drag Queen wants to do panto style entertainment for kids too, he should have a separate line in that, rather than mixing it up. 'Drag queen shows ' are by nature sexual and adult, so 'drag queen' shows blur boundaries whatever the content/intention.

I asked you a question: who is this obscene caricatures 'kind' to?

If you can't justify your position, that shows it's not credible.

That's interesting, thank you..

Are you sure principal boys were necessarily catcalled though? Pantos weren't burlesque, they were family events. People like Vesta Tilley were seen as respectable and talented. I read about the Queen acting in a private Cinderella panto during WW2 as Prince Florizel - surely if principal boy was primarily a sleazy role to be catcalled, that wouldn't have been allowed?

I think cross-dressing like that can still work. Peter Pan performances sometimes still use an actress, and so do operas like Der Rosenkavalier which use women since we thankfully don't have castrati anymore.

A gay person who dresses in a gender-conforming way isn't 'dressing straight'. As a feminine lesbian friend of mine has said,'Straight women don't own conventional femininity.' And vice versa.

I agree gender non-conforming gay people should be represented, but most feminine gay men don't go round dressed as drag queens or calling themselves a female name. A drag queen is not a typical,common or garden, feminine gay man!

It sounded like they enjoyed it- they were certainly noisy!

Wow, that's funny 🤣 Tbf I love that song but I've listened to a lot of the old CDs my now 90something grandmother has (she lives with my family).

It's definitely true people seem to assume elderly person = born in 1930s or before, strange..especially since Boomers are a large & vocal generation.

Not at all sure how I feel about the drag queen situation, but I don’t think anyone would have blinked if they had advertised themselves as a clown and turned up in that costume. (I think clowns are icky, but I understand that’s subjective.)

If he's wholesome and family friendly, why was he teaching kids twerking as per recent links?

Glad to be entertaining 🤣

I think people should be aware of the potential dangers of drag queens, though.

Lots of drag queens at these kind of events have behaved inappropriately though, despite DBS checks. This Mama G incited kids to twerk at an event a few years back.

I really don't understand how social workers in ss aren't getting involved when they see parents putting their children in these positions where these drag queens are getting kids to twerk, to lie on top of them, etc. If it were a male dressed as a male, ss would certainly get involved. I genuinely believe parents who take their children to these events should lose custody of their children. It's out and out child abuse. Lets call it for what it is. In any situation where the male isn't dressed up as a woman, he'd be seriously looked into - at the least.

In Plain Sight.

And I have in a folder almost 12 cases where drag queens have been charged with child molestation.

I can't really see the difference between drag and black and white minstrel shows. Both seen as highly entertaining by some, and both involve dressing up as an exaggerated caricature of another group of people for comic effect. Drag is not my kind of thing at all. I am not particularly offended by it but I doubt it will age well. However, I can't see how it is dangerous for children in a library with their parents there. Anything sexual will totally go over the children's heads. It isn't any more dangerous than any other man reading a story to children in a library.

Have a day off

It’s all a bit of fun. I personally don’t see the harm in it and would take my children they’d love it. People saying about drag queens sexualising things it’s a story time for kids. No different to taking your kids to a pantomime in my eyes and to be fair they’ll see and hear worse at a panto I’d say 🤷🏻‍♀️ they’re full fo adult inuendos and jokes most of which go over the kids heads.

It’s literally a person dressed up so the people who have an issue with it wouldn’t let their child be around someone dressed up as a princess or something because it would be inappropriate? I don’t think so I bet that’s be different.

if they were parading round the library grinding on books yeah that’d be an issue but they are reading a story to kids what are you afraid of your kid might stick a fancy outfit and some make up on? 🤷🏻‍♀️

They dress up as a hyper-sexualised version of women, it's deeply misogynistic. Why can't men go and read books to children without dressing as a woman? Why? Too many women have been desensitised, programmed and brainwashed to accept this misogyny.

Maybe so. As were alot of things ... like racism and sexism. Like The Black and White Minstrels. Just because drag queens have apparently always been popular , doesn't mean they aren't shite. And not funny. Raise the bar for our children please.

I agree. There has been a change in the drag queens that gave leaned towards the more narcissistic and misogynistic end of the scale.

It started off I think making fun of gender ie panto dames and female dressed up like boys and Prince Charming. Then it got more into character comedy Dame Edna and Lily Savage who were fully rounded characters with backstories that were played by men because of the obvious physical differences.

Now there is a group of “Drag” queens that are just men who are a bit shit and can be very misogynistic- but because it has the rainbow politics behind it- women have been forced to accept it. This feels like a double standard as in other areas the people who cause the problems that then take the piss are called out. Sometimes I wonder if it is because gay men suffered
discrimination and ridicule that they think that they have the right to punch down when it suits.

I agree re the change. Pp mentioned horrific names like : Anne Abortion' and 'Miss Carriage' (not to mention 'Molestia Child'). Was this historically typical of drag? I don't think so.

Judging by the pics, Mama G wasn't dressed in a hypersexualised way. The twerking video, otoh...

One article I found argued :

Most names are diva fantasy (Sasha Velour, Violet Chachki, Bianca Del Rio, Alyssa Edwards Valentina, Jinkx Monsoon, Raja), punning/camp (Anita Wigl’it, Paige Three, Ella Vaday, Ivana Drink, Amanda Tori Meating, Crystal Ball, Sharon Needles, Kitty Scott-Claus, Tia Kofi), cartoonish or theatrical (Bimini Bon-Boulash, BenDeLaCreme, Ginny Lemon, Milk, Peaches Christ, Lady Bunny, Coco Peru), or after women they admire/family members/pop culture : Chad Michaels (after actress/impersonation tradition), Delta Work, Mariah Paris Balenciaga, The Vivienne (after Vivienne Westwood).
Extreme names tend to come from underground club scenes, punk/alt drag, shock comedy traditions, sometimes deliberately “bad taste” humour
It’s closer to gross-out stand-up comedy or John Waters–style transgressive art, not mainstream drag culture.

Is this fair? Certainly the vilely named Miss Victoria Carriage doesn't seem to be a mainstream figure.
Misogynistic drag should be criticised but using extreme example from fringe elements is like saying most comedy is misogynistic because of people like Frankie Boyle, or most rap promotes violence because of gangster rap.

Do you have a source for those terrible names, Anne Abortion and Molestia Child? I googled to find out what sort of venues were hosting such dreadful people and couldn't find anything.

Drag queens are not the enemy. Take a brief look at the news and get angry at the real fucking monsters

Totally unnecessary. Libraries should just get an ordinary clown, if they're going to do that. I think panto dames are offensive too, frankly, and I don't understand the UK's obsession with them.

Also, I hope everyone who's fine with drag queens and panto dames is also okay with a rollicking good minstrel show - because let's be honest, they're not any different.