Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Feminism: chat

Original poster

Ru Paul's Drag Race FOI request?

299 replies

WineIsMyCarb · 15/11/2019 20:54

Given that the BBC does not allow 3rd party advertisers, is an FOI request the right way to go about finding out if the headline slot on BBC iPlayer for RuPaul's Drag Race is paid for? Have had wine, am cross. Sick of the fucking sight of him. (Follows previous thread about iplayer not having an algorithm and others' about drag being misogynistic in large parts).

OP posts:
socialworker222 · 17/11/2019 08:11

nobody objected until the trans thing Agree the two feel closely related mixed up. I don't remember feeling uncomfortable with Danny La Rue/Dame Edna etc when I was younger. But now in our house no-one can stomach Drag Race. My teens hate it (unlike all their mates) because it reminds them of their father who transitioned and men doing this is very sensitive. (Before I'm jumped on WE ALL KNOW IT'S NOT THE SAME THING) but I agree there's something going on where those of us tired of the transactivist movement feel drag is resonant. Even though as other posters note, those involved don't believe they're women. I don't have the sense that 'new' drag is more misogynistic than 'old' drag some of which was quite funny (I recall Dame Edna bring quite a wit). Is it more hateful, or are these issues overlapping?

ColaFreezePop · 17/11/2019 08:14

@thefluffysideofgrey agree.

British drag has been around for centuries and is different from the US version.

People complaining clearly haven't heard of drag kings, and forget one well-known artist who has two drag characters the male one is absolutely disgusting.

ColaFreezePop · 17/11/2019 08:22

@socialworker222 On the American version one one series one man did say he was trans. There was a backlash from the other contestants who made it clear they were men.

The American show is different there are more issues covered just by the way they filmed it.
They also had to be drag kings as well in one episode.

Didiusfalco · 17/11/2019 08:37

I enjoy it, and see it as quite separate to the trans issue. Drag comes from a very different place than black face and I don’t think the comparison is particularly valid. @Justhadathought I think the cow you complained about was during an episode where the contestants referenced their home towns and was actually the bull from the bullring in Birmingham.

Birdsfoottrefoil · 17/11/2019 09:46

To say it has been around for centuries doesn’t stop it being offensive misogyny. For centuries people have mocked those with mental health and learning disabilities. It used to be considered a ‘fun’ afternoon to visit Bedlem hospital. Fortunately most people now see how offensive this was.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 09:59

You haven't a clue. Stop being offended by something you don't understand. There's more to worry about in life than men being queens

Would you say that to a black person offended by blackface? No, of course you wouldn't......You don't need to understand someone's motives to find something offensive.

There are indeed lots of issues in life.....that doesn't make drag inoffensive. It is, and always has been for many of us; and now with it being pushed down our, and our children's throats - even by national broadcasters dependent on the public purse - the time has come to stand up and say it as it is.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 10:05

There's more to worry about in life than men being queens

Furthermore, having the lived experience of being female and subject to misogyny and abuse purely on account of that...I'd say that drag queens replicating the language and insinuation that has been used to demean and oppress women is pretty central to what feminism is about.

It is clear that many ( gay) men, and even some of their female allies and friends have little real awareness or sympathy for the oppression that women face, and the struggle which many women have engaged in over time to bring an end to it.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 10:12

This horror of drag is a new thing I think, it's just a backlash from the whole trans thing

Nobody has described it as 'horror'. And no it is not a new sentiment at all. when I was visiting the Vauxhall Tavern with my friend in the 1980's I disliked it then ( but never said so); and have never enjoyed it since; often finding it simply offensive and ugly.

But you are right in mentioning the impact of the radical trans agenda - and many of us have been saying it is going to set back the LGB movement and decrease sympathy - but haven't been listened to or taken seriously.

That so many gay men have such little awareness or sympathy for the women who have long supported them has now come home to roost in the fact that many are no longer prepared just to sit back, grin and tolerate it.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 10:16

Reading this and wondering what banner you're seeing to see porky men in bad wigs?!

Because of the heavy promotion off Drag Race on BBC1 at peak viewing times ( such as just before the BBC1 6 pm news) I made an effort to watch the first episode, and it did indeed feature a couple of porky men in bad wigs; gurning and referring to 'slappers'. It didn't entice me to watch any more......
I

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 10:18

Using fattest words like 'porky' doesn't help this 'cause' either

You mean 'fatist', maybe? What about using words like 'slag' and slapper? How does that help 'the cause'?

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 10:23

*People complaining clearly haven't heard of drag kings, and forget one well-known artist who has two drag characters the male one is absolutely disgusting8

Of course we've heard of drag kings....the idea that some seem to have of women who post on Mumsnet is really quite quaint.

But no-one is interested in women performing drag...otherwise Drag Race would feature drag queens and kings. Even then, who wants to watch "disgusting" acts? That's the point, really.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 10:26

I think the cow you complained about was during an episode where the contestants referenced their home towns and was actually the bull from the bullring in Birmingham

Nothing to do with the fact that women are often called 'cows' then? Sorry, you are not convincing me. 'The cow' actually features on the IPlayer advert too.....

BooFuckingHoo2 · 17/11/2019 10:32

Nothing to do with the fact that women are often called 'cows' then? Sorry, you are not convincing me. 'The cow' actually features on the IPlayer advert too.....

What are you talking about? It was a costume to be the bullring from Birmingham Confused

Do you always try this hard to get offended?

Dommina · 17/11/2019 10:50

I can't imagine getting enraged over an advert for a TV programme. They're advertising it because they want to market it. Its new and they want it to do well. Not really a mystery. There's no agenda.
I love the show anyway. Always loved the US one and its strange but cool to see it with British accents. Smile

HandsOffMyRights · 17/11/2019 10:57

New? It started on 3 October and has appeared on my home screen for nearly 7 weeks!
Pose was also on there for weeks and weeks.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 11:09

Do you always try this hard to get offended?

It is not hard at all when people are wilfully offensive...such as yourself.....and not when something is just 'in your face' offensive, no!

Why are you so upset & offended that people are offended by drag?

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 11:14

I can't imagine getting enraged over an advert for a TV programme

Nobody is 'outraged'. We've disliked drag for as long as we can remember. Times have changed, though, and some of us can no longer be prepared to sit meekly and not say it as it is.....

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 11:16

I love the show anyway. Always loved the US one and its strange but cool to see it with British accents. smile

So you love it; we don't - and we're explaining to our publicly funded national broadcaster precisely why.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 11:18

New? It started on 3 October and has appeared on my home screen for nearly 7 weeks!Pose was also on there for weeks and weeks

Also noticed Channel 4 pushing 'Seahorse' in a quite determined way via newspaper and magazine adverts ( Transgender 'father' story)

UpfieldHatesWomen · 17/11/2019 12:19

My main problem with Drag Race and drag in general is that it isn't funny. I can appreciate the creativity of the costumes and the make-up, but the humour itself is just bad 1970s innuendos, bad impressions and stereotypes of working-class women as slappers and slags. It's as though the outfits are meant to distract away from the lack of any real wit. I don't have a problem when comedians such as Chris Lilley dress up as women, because they're not just depending on crude stereotypes for their humour, there's more depth, observation and wit to it. I get that drag is liberating for the gay men who do it in an 'I'm out and proud' kind of way, but why is the only target women, who they portray as ridiculous or disgusting? When I've seen it in real life it's always made me slightly uncomfortable and left me cringing at the bad humour, but I'd go along with it to be supportive. It comes across as cold because it recognises the ridiculousness of being a woman - how we're expected to perform in restrictive and often contradictory roles - but it just uses that to get cheap laughs.

thefluffysideofgrey · 17/11/2019 14:09

This reply has been deleted

Message deleted by MNHQ. Here's a link to our Talk Guidelines.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 14:14

It comes across as cold because it recognises the ridiculousness of being a woman - how we're expected to perform in restrictive and often contradictory roles - but it just uses that to get cheap laughs

It also translates to real life, everyday situations, in which gay male friends make similar innuendos and 'jokes' at their female friend's expense. She's just supposed to laugh, though.

People saying "but drag queens aren't saying they are women, they are just dressing up and being expressive".......just doesn't wash it anymore. Recall the onslaught Justin Trudeau was on the receiving end of for dressing up in costume that involved using black make-up?
I can't imagine he was using demeaning language, though, in the way that drag acts do about women.

DuckWillow · 17/11/2019 14:14

I bloody love it.

I am 53 so hardly a trendy young thing.

Drag isn’t trans....it seems they are mostly gay and doing terrible caricatures. It’s about that rather than women.

None of the UK men seem remotely interested in transitioning into women. They just perform in drag....in a pantomime way,

It’s performance rather than anything else.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 14:16

This is just silly though

It always is when you are made to examine a little more closely your own habits and unconscious prejudices.

And calling women TERFS is not permitted on this board as it is considered offensive, and will most likely be removed soon.

Justhadathought · 17/11/2019 14:18

I used to think they had point and they probably do in regards to prison, children etc

Furthermore, coming onto a women's rights board and referring to women in the third person is pretty tacky, and pretty revealing of your total lack of empathy or brotherhood,

Swipe left for the next trending thread