Here is the latest response to my initial complaint about the offensive portrayal of women/feminine stereotypes on Ru Paul's Drag Race
Again, avoiding confronting the issue of the use of misogynistic and demeaning language; trying to present drag as a culture which celebrates women, rather than demeans them....etc
Obviously this is in an inadequate response -even if quite thorough......so the only recourse is for continued complaints going forward. If drag is to be presented in such mainstream ways then the producers must certainly expect further, criticism analysis and discussion. This is not going to be brushed under a carpet......
^Thank you for your email to the Executive Complaints Unit, in which you raised yourconcerns about the above programme. You feel it was “ugly and offensive” and containedwords and imagery used to demean women.As you may know, this unit considers complaints that material broadcast or published bythe BBC has failed to meet its editorial standards. The relevant Editorial Guidelines are
those on Harm and Offence and Portrayal. These say that content may reflect but shouldnot perpetuate the prejudice which exists in our society.I am sorry you were offended by the programme and felt it was demeaning and offensive to women and displayed misogyny. I appreciate you want a response which answers the
specific points you have made. However, as you do not cite particular episodes, but the show generally, I can only respond in similarly general terms^
^You use the example of The Black and White Minstrel Show to make the pointappropriation of this kind is inappropriate and say “much of” drag is equally offensive. Sexand race are both protected characteristics. It does not however follow the sensitivities
attaching to portrayal are exactly the same. Gender and ethnicity are not preciselyinterchangeable, and nor are other protected characteristics like age, disability, or religious belief. In all cases any review of the offence attaching to portrayal must consider
a wide range of factors, including the nature of the prejudice and discrimination a group has experienced, and from whom.
On male privilege, you refer to “the imitation and mockery of a less powerful group, by a more powerful group”. However, as you know, drag is a tradition emerging from, and most commonly associated with, gay culture. That is not to say that one oppressed group may
not oppress or unfairly caricature another (and as you say, sexuality does not remove all male privilege), but it does not support the comparison you offer between minstrelsy and drag^
The former was a form of entertainment intended to ridicule people of colour bypresenting crude caricatures of their supposed inferiority. By contrast drag – as explored in RuPaul’s Drag Race UK - largely concerns people engaged in performances which are celebratory, or which offer homage to images of women
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^These may satirise gender conformity or play with traditional ideas of femininity and masculinity, but they are not in my view typically targeting a particular group and offering a prejudiced portrayal of them. A primary focus of Drag Race is how such performances
may empower contestants, who have often felt themselves to be “outsiders”, and who may have experienced prejudice and disadvantage themselves on the basis of their sexual orientation or not conforming to gender archetypes^
^Writer Matt Baume put it that this distinction was to do with the nature of the portrayal, and the individual performer’s relationship with gender: Drag isn’t actually an attempt to portray women in the way that blackface was a racist portrayal of African Americans. Blackface is a lie about a minority group, and drag is an exploration of gender.
And more importantly, drag queens are performing an aspect of themselves. When a man puts on a wig and heels, he’s experimenting with his own relationship to “boyness” and“girlness.” In contrast, a blackface performer isn’t expressing the fluidity of his race. He's
just creating a false depiction of someone else^
I think it is well understood that drag of the kind shown in the programme is not solely concerned with efforts to literally present as a woman, but reflects ideas and archetypes specific to the drag world, which are now well established and which go beyond merely
caricaturing women (I note RuPaul has said “I do not dress like a woman. I dress like a drag queen!”)^
It would of course be perfectly possible for drag performances to be misogynistic in nature– just as they may be racist, homophobic, or transphobic. However, I do not believe this is by definition an integral and unavoidable outcome of drag, and I could not identify
material in the episodes of the programmes I watched which would in my view have “perpetuated prejudice” against women. You point to the use of words which may be used to “demean women in real life” – the extent to which these would breach the guidelines would have to be considered in the context of how they were actually used here. In theepisodes I watched any mockery was of the performer, rather than a generalised attack on women of the kind the guidelines seek to guard against^
^I hope this explains why I don’t feel able to uphold your complaint. There is no provision for further appeal against this decision within the BBC. However, it’s open to you to approach the BBC’s regulator, Ofcom. You can find details of how to contact Ofcom and
the procedures it will apply here. Alternatively, you can write to Ofcom, Riverside House^
2a Southwark Bridge Road, London SE1 9HA, or telephone either 0300 123 3333 or 020
7981 3040. Ofcom acknowledges all complaints received, but will not normally write back
to individual complainants with the outcome of its considerations.
Yours sincerely
Richard Hut
Complaints Director