Is female impersonation/drag offensive?

[dannybb]

Hi. As a teenage hairdressing apprentice I used to do a drag act in my spare time - a few decades ago. With more time on my hands I'm now thinking of returning to female impersonation - doing drag queen bingo and entertainment mainly in old peoples homes etc.

While I am (and always will be) very respectful of women I'm wondering if the era of men dressing as women to provide entertainment has had its day.

Has this now become offensive or inappropriate?

Any responses much appreciated!

Would RuPaul mind reruns of the black and white minstrel show then?

Loving the “WDIT” apologists. Yep, the world is full of women dressing up as offensive male stereotypes. Can’t move for “manface”.

I don't really think that's the point. Though the OP was thinking about drag the question was a little bit broader. Some people answered it in the sense of, is it a problem generally for someone to dress up as the other sex for theatrical purposes. That's a totally valid way to think about it and while its not so common in drag it does happen in other contexts.

the OP asked for opinions on him taking up drag again to entertain at an old people's facility and as usual on here everyone goes off on their own crusades.
drag is an art form and an amazing form of entertainment it is not a man putt8ng on a dress and saying or pretending to be a woman. the theatrical makeup can take hours and the wigs and hair peices are extraordinary not to mention the hand made gowns etc. there are several forms of drag out there...... from beauty to comedy and you either love it or not but it is certainly not offensive its simply a matter of taste ...... let's not get all messed up with the gender arguments this is a side of entertainment that people love and flock to the shows which are getting more popular by the minute

..it is not a man putt8ng on a dress and saying or pretending to be a woman.

Altogether now: oh yes it is!

(Panto season already?)

@jesss123
I totally agree, I just can't get my head around it being compared to blackface, I was shocked to see people being offended by it

Fundamentally theatre is always people pretending to be someone else, isn't it? That doesn't mean anything goes, but presumably unless we are against the whole idea of theatre we are ok with people pretending to be things they are not, writing about people who are different from themselves, and all the rest?

I don’t think anyone without a victim complex genuinely finds drag offensive OP

I feel as if it is a caricature of what men think women are. Dolled up with fake hair fake lashes fake boobs, overly sexual and sparkly clothes. Big fake overdrawn lips. Silly high voices. Tottering heels. Bitchy humour.

I actually went to a drag show on Friday as part of a hen do (I wouldn't ever have chosen to see a show, myself) and couldn't help but feel that we as women were paying money to see a man take the piss out of us?!

and do you get equally offended when theres a dame in a panto? or were you too deprived to be taken to one as a kid

everyone going on about you don't see a woman dressing as a man scratching a fake penis....... is that the way you see all men? what about a woman in panto playing peter pan or robin hood etc.

I kind of like seeing people have the piss taken out, including of myself.

It is difficult to do it well, and when it flops it tends to come off as offensive.

when its done well it's hilarious. I'm just back from playa del ingles and there are three drag bars with shows that are packed every single night of the week. if it wasnt popular they wouldn't survive

or were you too deprived to be taken to one as a kid

Wtf is that about?!

“I totally agree, I just can't get my head around it being compared to blackface,”
How is it different? Can you explain?

I don't like it at all. The only drag(ish) act I have ever laughed at was Paul and Pauline Calf (Steve Coogan) maybe because Paul and Pauline were as bad as each other but likeable with it, and weren't really a classic drag act.

I agree with PPs who have drawn the comparison with blackface and minstrel shows. If drag really was a form of art, why don't the performers just do the costumes, makeup, wigs, banter and jokes as themselves, as men? Why drag women into it (accidental pun I swear).

By the way I don't care about its historical roots at all. There are a lot of things that were done historically which we no longer do because they're harmful and offensive.

Jesus. Anyone who thinks it’s remotely acceptable to compare where woman are in 2019 with where black people were in 1850 needs to give their heads a wobble.

Mocking someone who you have enslaved based on the colour of their skin for the pleasure of other slave owners is just not comparable to drag acts. Black people weren’t even allowed to sit at the same section of the bus as white people at the time FFS. Playing the happy slave to make white people feel good about themselves.

Drag is about expression of the individual. Predominantly gay males being extravagant and over the top, they are not taking the piss out of woman.

Some of you should be ashamed, using struggles that black people faced to further your own agenda. smh.

I was about to post why it's nothing like blackface when @Earlywalker beat me to it and said it much better than I would

So why not dress as extravagant Beau Brummells is The sun king? Why as a cartoon version of (generally very sexual or bitchy women?

I see the usual suspects have turned up to tell women they're imagining it all and to get back in their box and be kind to lovely men.

If you read the thread, it's been explained, multiple times, why things have evolved from feminine gay men in gay culture that many of us enjoyed in the past, and have been poisoned to the point that yes, it's extremely offensive. It's an active part of trying to erase the sex class. If you're okay with women as a sex class being erased with all the many down sides for women and children that involves then whatever, you're entitled to your opinion. But I'm not ok with it and there are depths here that shutting your eyes to does not get rid of.

Predominantly gay males being extravagant and over the top

Why does being extravagant and over the top involve looking like a walking cliche of the worst stereotypes of woman? Why does being extravagant and over the top involve anything female? How about exploring the extravagance and over-the-topness that lies within the male?

Love your post Nottonight. Hit the nail on the head.

“It is completely analogous to blackface, which was the grotesque parody of blackness by non-black whites for shits and giggles.”

Yep. This.

@EarlyWalker says my thoughts perfectly, much more eloquent than mine that just said "don't find it offensive at all" up thread

The drag I have seen has been loaded with misogyny, with plenty of references to fish and particular targeting of lesbians. That was crowded/sold out too so I am sure that makes it fine.