Guardian: drag protests are a hard-right American import

[PotteringPondering]

Guardian determined to portray all drag protests and objections as hard-right and imported from the States.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/22/british-extremists-us-right-family-drag-shows-children

No reference at all to the feminist/progressive case that drag is misogynistic, or to the rising tide of UK concerns about drag.

Almost as if they were trying to smear the anti-drag case. Surely not?

The Guardian as always is pathetic.

He keeps talking about research but bit provides no evidence that he has talked to any protesters.

There is in fact a tie to "research" that the writer's organisation has published, strange they didn't provide a link https://www.isdglobal.org/isd-publications/a-year-of-hate-understanding-threats-and-harassment-targeting-drag-shows-and-the-lgbtq-community/

But like so much research the basis on which it is carried out is totally skewed by the research proposers.

For instance a man never notices or if he does never thinks that what women are doing or saying is worth paying attention to

But of course listen to what other men say or do

Added to which is the media bias that means a protest will get more coverage when violence is used (ie many protestors now know that to get media attention you have to do something extreme)

So yet again what women say or think is erased.

There is one slight reference to women's views:

Framing drag as misogyny

A narrative that is present primarily in the UK and
Australia, with minimal notable representation in the
US, portrays drag artists as misogynists due to the
exaggerated caricatures of femininity they often portray.

It is worth noting that drag’s relationship to gender and
feminism is contested, and the question of whether drag
may have misogynistic elements is a live debate.35
The gender critical group Women’s Rights Network
attended an anti-drag protest in Glastonbury. This
group promotes transphobic tropes and views DQSH as
misogynistic and homophobic.36

In Australia, anti-drag Senator Ralph Babet, who
was elected off the back of anti-lockdown and anti-
vaccine movements, argued “It’s time for us to actively
campaign against men playing ‘woman face’.”

(Have looked at the footnotes ie the "source" of the "evidence" the report is based on, ie Pink News and so on. Funny that this is accepted as research, given that only recently a report based on anecdotal evidence has been with drawn. Would be interesting if mumsnet was one of the links used a a valid source of information. Oh no, that wouldn't be research, that's just women talking.)

Ironic that that the biggest American import was drag queen story hour itself which was started in 2015 in San Francisco by author Michelle Tea, to give young children queer role models.
It has received a backlash here but it is not in the same political landscape as the US where far right groups are more prevalent. In the UK it is easy to scapegoat opponents as 'bigots and fascists' because it is an easy argument and they are lazy journalists who are not interested in the truth anymore or balance, they are just mouthpieces for American Left wing political beliefs.

Haha!

Women have disliked drag for a long time, and they dislike DQST even more so.

Helpful to see this, thanks.

But it's just more smears: the women's group protesting at Glastonbury 'promotes transphobic tropes', and the Australian senator sides with 'anti-lockdown and anti-vaccine movements'.

Verdict: all concerns about drag and misogyny from a progressive/feminist stable can safely be ignored then...

Can someone who is on twitter get on to his twitter account and put him straight.

The article has just appeared on the Guardian Opinion Twitter feed. A chance for those of us who are on Twitter to comment...

It's very odd, because in my experience plenty of gay people don't, and never have, really liked drag, and certainly never thought it was something for kids.

That whole element is basically totally new, it's not like there is some established tradition of drag for children.

What also always strikes me is that this is the kind of thing, saying only the "hard right" has an issue with this, that makes normal, centrist conservative Americans sure that progressives are completely bonkers and possibly evil. They, reasonably enough, take it more or less at face value when they hear the Guardian say, only far right people would believe this and conclude that being anywhere near the left means losing your mind.

Of course opposition to drag shows for children is an American import. What an absolutely daft thing to write; how is he not embarrassed?

Yes, Tim, nobody thought of opposing Drag Queen Story Whatever before the Yanks invented Drag Queen Story Whatever. Very perceptive of you.

There seems to be a collective pretence among left-identified netizens that drag queens in stripper outfits reading to children is a much-loved ancient longstanding tradition and people not liking it just came suddenly out of nowhere as a sign of an incipient fascist insurgency.

It’s always very inconvenient when left-leaning, progressive, liberal (often educated, critical thinking) people start opposing something.

It means that, just maybe, there might be something in it.

When those people happen to be women (inevitably, because it invariably impacts on them), it’s super-easy to patronisingly discredit them.

Throw ‘(ultra) right wing’, ‘conservative’, perhaps even ‘Christian’, certainly ‘Nazi’ is a quick, easy one - at them, and a). they’ll shut up, and b). all the other ‘progressives’ will distance themselves from the position at the speed of lightening.

It’s a tried and true tactic, straight from the Women - Shut The Fuck Up playbook.

And for anyone on facebook and wants to comment posted there at https://www.facebook.com/GuardianOpinion/posts/pfbid0RVn5RbFRneEfkt7Ymj17K2RH6tQrSNEXZk3SJrmQNzTHnL28bD9DwYEohLvRUVd6l

And why do you never see women dressed up as grotesque parodies of men - all hairy, with beer bellies, builders’ cracks and 5 o’clock shadows - reading to children??

…and, for that matter, why do drag queens always have to read to children?

Why can’t they … pick up litter? Be an old person’s companion? Start a community garden? Help at a homeless shelter…?

Etc, etc…..

It will never cease to amaze me that so much effort is put into defending adult entertainers' spurious "right" to perform in front of children in the name of "diversity" and "inclusion"...

Drag and cross-dressing have been a part of British cultural expression for centuries. From Shakespeare plays to pantomime dames, and the late Barry Humphries’ creation Dame Edna Everage; playing with representations of gender in all its forms has long been widely enjoyed by audiences. Drag shows are a modern expression of this tradition

But American drag shows just seem like a bunch of talentless oiks lip synching and showing off

Oh and BTW, Barry Humphreys was not British

Drag has nothing in commone with cross dressing and "female impersonators" eg hinge and bracket, or pantomime.

Drag is very much part of queer culture and is overtly sexualised.

I never know when men write stuff like this whether they really are stupid, or the male gaze means they just dont recognise what presumably they feel is acceptable is highly offensive to others.

Long before trans inclusion meant that Pride ceased to be about a celebration of same sex attraction, queer culture turned Pride into a fetish parade, similar to having a march to celebrate heterosexuality being represented by the dogging community.

And because of these queer male exhibitionism many lesbians drifted away from Pride. And then not much later the trans takeover happened so maybe a lucky escape.

I can’t believe they even brought up Dame Edna which was satirical comedy for adults.

It was quite a day for the Guardian yesterday, there was an article and an opinion piece both on this.

Also Barry Humphreys was relabelled as "problematic" prior to his death due to....... "Transphobic comments". So not the best example.

simples. Protestors need to have big banners that read: Anti-Drag Liberal Lefty - Drag is blackface on women

"How many different kinds of lavatory can you have? And it's pretty evil when it's preached to children by crazy teachers"

A Barry Humphreys quote.

Exactly!! But no, it's always children!