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.

If you think that drag queens are a significant safeguarding concern you're delusional. Picking out three examples and disregarding the thousands of referrals that come in every day for straight men? The only reason for that is prejudice, you can dress it up any way you want but it's obvious to anyone reading your post or the PP.

It's panto. If you don't like it you don't attend. It's quite simple really

You claimed that they don’t ’disrupt safeguarding’ and that you’ve never seen a safeguarding referral about a drag queens.

So as I’ve just done a quick search and come up with three, and you have never even had a safeguarding referral for one, don’t you think that points to the limitations of your experience rather than drag queen sex offenders not existing?

In what way do you think I’m delusional? You appear to be stating your case quite aggressively.

disregarding the thousands of referrals that come in every day for straight men

Are you suggesting that all drag queens are gay? That’s a bit of an odd generalisation. What is it about a man putting on a dress and make up do you think automatically above all suspicion for safeguarding?

They don't disrupt safeguarding. Never seen a safeguarding referral let alone a 'positive' (ie confirmed harn) s47 investigation about a drag queen.

And while we're talking about panto queens, one of Australia's worst cases of serial paedo offending involved Ric Marshall, a children's theatre director and TV entertainer who appeared for many years as "Dame Beezneez" in the pantomimes he produced.

For all those years, he and his cohorts had been sexually abusing the boys he hired to appear in the pantos, amongst other kids. He was later described by a judge as an "evil man through and through".

Statistically no more dangerous than any other man...most likely less...are you banning men from public spaces?

It's a non issue..this isn't a drop off and leave activity

Womanface is inappropriate full stop. The fact that society is catering to entitled people now more than ever before, meaning adult ‘entertainers’ can now legitimately gain access to children to further erode boundaries, is so worrying.

More Americanisation of British culture. Drag has been part of entertainment for centuries (if not longer!). Get a grip.

Drag shows, yes even the ones in gay clubs, aren’t all sexual. The end.

Do you remember the Black and White Minstrels? It was de rigeur Saturday night entertainment when I was a child. Many comics also used to used blackface as part of their routine. It was all considered good wholesome fun. Remember ‘the only gay in the village’ taking the piss out of gay men?
None of the above would be considered ‘harmless entertainment’ now and quite rightly so.
Drag is the act of taking the piss out of women, it’s misogynistic, and yes, I include panto dames in that definition.

I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this. No, I don't remember this because I'm in my early 30s so luckily missed out on those horrors.

I'm not going to argue with your opinion because you are entitled to it and I can very much understand your point of view. My view is different on this. I guess it's about parents deciding what is right for their families and acting accordingly. If you feel it's disrespectful to women you can opt not to take your children or young relatives to drag storytime. I would personally be ok with it because to me drag includes women in various forms (drag kings, female queens, fans of the genre) and it is about resilience, humour, and celebrating feminity. Of course there are misogynistic drag queens, but I doubt they'd be volunteering in a library entertaining "breeders" children.

Side note but I've actually met more misogyny from gay men than from the drag scene (not to mention, of course, straight men!).

Very creepy picture.

Ultimately though, it can't just be a 'you do what's right for you' approach. That didn't apply to black minstrels, now did it?

The vast, vast majority of the drag people see is men impersonating women. Some of it is done with humour and insight, the vast majority is not. As a woman, I feel that this kind of objectification of our experiences by men isn't good for society as a whole. I think it's deeply regressive and sexist.

I get that it's trendy to cheer it on at the moment, but I really wish people would think about the implications more critically.

Society as a whole isn"t particularly interested in drag queens though?

Was society as a whole interested in black minstrels? These things don't have to have a massive footprint to be doing damage.

The "minstrel" thing was a far bigger draw in it"s day when people went to music-hall etc. that somebody dressing up in a library and reading to ten people, and in the days of the BAWMS on TV they would be getting 20 million viewers, Mama G and co. would kill for those numbers.

There are plenty of TV programmes covering Drag. And the vast majority of people in the days of black minstrels would not have been visiting music halls

This is interesting, there was an American entertainer who had been actively against emancipation who made a point of touring his music hall minstrel show around Europe and further afield to underline that black people were good at "rhythm and dancing" but not at governance, business, or having the vote etc. etc. very sinister, but there were supposedly tribute acts that sprung up around that time where groups of men would put on black-face and do shows in the street, drawing large crowds.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001p474

You’re totally misrepresenting the act. They never advertise themselves as a drag queen. They are a panto dame. The shows are great fun. You’re creating an issue where there isn’t one.

The Music hall was at one time the "Dominant form of public entertainment" and to claim that "TV programmes covering drag" now have anywhere near the hold on people"s attention that shows like BAWMS had is ridiculous. To be fair the average person watching the BAWMS wasn"t a conscious acting out racist, they were just taking it in as entertainment without deeper thinking.

Well sure, but that doesn't impact the fact that the vast majority didn't have access to it and black minstrels would only have been a small part of what they're delivering. The reach of media and entertainment is unfathomably wider today than it would have been in the days of tue music hall.

Imagine the reaction if black people expressing offence at the Black and White Minstrels were told just to not watch.

Varying degrees of misogyny and disgusting insults have been tolerated by women over time but we just get told to put up with it. Great.

He’s not in a panto though.

I don’t agree. Every drag artist I’ve seen, and panto dame, has been a sexualised stereotypical woman from large breasts to oversized eyelashes, to heavy makeup, to extravagant hairdo. To put these features in front of children as an example of womanhood is insulting and offensive.