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!

Fish jokes were in the drag I have seen, I assume others have witnessed it as well. That's what we are talking about.

Fish jokes, "on the rag" banter, can't work because I might break a nail themes, dependent on my sugar daddy cracks, breastfeeding/leaking milk gags--just some of the "humor" I've seen presented. Walked out of one where rape was being hoped for because "she" hadn't been laid in awhile. Demeaning, wrong, and certainly not funny.

I am trying not to be complicit in my own oppression.

lime

bert I was looking for a comment here that you found offensive, I didn’t realise you were referring to individual performers.

To be fair one of my friends who’s a lesbian often makes jokes about ‘ball cheese’ and ‘Sphinx cats’. I think clearly theirs an audience for these sort of performances, and some of you are clearly not it and would find things offensive. Those with a different sense of humour enjoy it. They’ll obviously be assholes in any category, too.

It’s like when people get all worked up over comedian sketches that are clearly not intended for the easily-offended yet continue to watch and complain. Because if they don’t like it, no one else is allowed to watch it.

I used to like Hinge and Bracket when I was a teenager, but I hate the ott parody stuff that's displayed now. It's nasty and insulting to women. I feel angry about it due to the trans stuff. It's like we're just a joke to people. It feels like blackface to me.

fish jokes
Drag acts often refer to women as fish - not sure why, hope it is not to equate women's discharge as fish-smelling but iirc in some clubs where audience members included women the compere talked about being able to smell fish in here.
Overtly feminine drag queens - I guess those who might have passing privilege or are naturally beautiful - are described as fish or fishy or serving fish.
If vagina = fish, that's a grim misogynist joke
but according to some, fish just comes from reclaiming the insult 'that woman's fishy' (suspicious) ie cottoning on to the fact that there is something different about them.
A queen who is serving fish is a queen who looks so much like a woman you start to have doubts about her being a man.

People change their tune so often on here. One minute it’s ‘wear Makeup and dresses and embrace your want to be feminine, just don’t call yourself a woman’
[drag acts do exactly this]
Same woman: ‘omg woman face! You misogynist!’

Women have smooth foreheads.

In the Klingon language, that’s a mortal insult.

Very true, I mean FFS can't win lol - they don't claim to be a woman and it's still "wrong"

Of course, "fish" is referring to a woman's genitalia. Straight from RuPaul's dictionary:

"Fishy, adj. A term used to describe a drag queen who looks extremely feminine, or one who convincingly resembles a cis woman. The term is a reference to the scent of a vagina, which is colloquially likened to the smell of fish. Although the term is considered to be a compliment among Drag Queens, it is often considered to be an insult among non-drag women."

rupaulsdragrace.fandom.com/wiki/RuPaul%27s_Drag_Race_Dictionary#F

Oh and someone else claimed the term comes from a “fish” fitting into the clothing and accoutrements “like a fish to water.'' That seems as likely as it coming from fishtail dresses.
Whereas RuPaul himself said fishiness was alluding to the look and feel of 'real' and drag taking itself too seriously instead of poking fun at gender which is his aim: not to look like a woman but to mock gender stereotypes.
But...if that is the case why did cabaret acts of old say things like: Any fish in the crowd? I can smell the tuna

Thank you george RuPaul would probably deny it but has also been in hot water about using tranny and she-mail in series gone by. Occam's razor would be the misogynist explanation.
Others claim drag is mocking consumerism and some of the trappings of femininity.
It's an interesting debate. Where do we all stand on Dolly Parton?!

Ooh I like this game. wistfully thinks of the 80’s

Heh heh heh Marilyn... his Twitter is quite funny and he is still a glamour puss.

Rather than acknowledge her as a non conformist, you can sack her on the grounds she "never made an effort" as happened with my lawyer friend

Really? She was sacked for not being feminine enough? I have been in private practice for over 35 years and find that incredible.

Lass

Nothing is incredible in law.

First rule. Reality is more incredible than fiction.

Sorry but I find the claim a solicitor was sacked for not making an effort to be feminine incredible.

Of course some one can be sacked for not making an effort, but that's an entirely different matter.

Since when do you get sacked for not wearing make up (making an effort?)
Sounds very my friend of a friend's neighbour's sister said this and so it's true" to me.
Fwiw I NEVER wear make up and haven't for my entire adult professional working life or known anyone to be sacked or disciplined for not.
Never has anyone suggested I wasn't making an effort and they'd know about it if they did, surely that's discriminatory.

There's no need to apologise.

Some people may find it offensive, but it is not offensive per se, at least not when your intention when doing it is not to offend.

I've never known anyone who was a murderer.

That doesn't mean that murderer's don't exist.