Does the general public want to watch programmes about Transwomen?

[TiredOldHen]

Media like The Guardian, Independent, BBC…etc really seem to push and promote any programmes with a very prominent transwoman/transwomen content. I just wondered how popular they actually are with viewers. For example there was lots of Trailers and ‘You must watch this’, ‘Essential viewing’… for What it Feels Like for a Girl. Do viewing figures reflect the same level of interest amongst viewers for programmes launched like this or Drag Race. I would genuinely like to know if they are satisfying a demand. Most programmes for young people now seem to have at least one trans person. It’s hard to tell in my bubble how interested people are outside the GC/TWAW debate.or if it’s just (in a Dr Who way) pushed upon them as something they should be aware interested in.

Would you mind sharing what it is that’s so entertaining about it? It’s a genuine question I’d like answering because I cannot fathom what it is.

In answer to the op's question. No. I really don't think the general public want to watch programmes about Transwomen.

It would be interesting to FOI the BBC (and can we also FOI Channel 4?) on their viewing and repeat figures vs money spent.

I used to wonder who watched the drag race stuff -I make a point of turning off trans or drag stuff that’s the best treatment

I actually suspect that the programme makers either have trans identified children themselves or have close friends who do. They need to try to convince themselves that they are doing the right thing because deep deep down, they know it’s a lie.

You'll get lots of 'it's empowering/celebrating feminity etc etc'. It's not. It's a chance for men to lean into bitchy stereotypes about women and be applauded for it.

And after seeing comments about the definition of 'fishy' (complete with disgusted face and hand wafting) applauded during the Big Fat Quiz of the Year on Channel 4 a few years ago, it's also open misogyny and hatred of women.

I watched that live at the time. I think it pretty much shone a beacon on the misogyny of the genre.

But then you have drag acts performing late term miscarriages or abortions on stage too. The list is rather long by now. And yet, BBC publishes a large amount of articles about drag. It is really remarkable to see the focus that BBC has on this sub group.

Having a trans identifying child for those in the media is just another accessory that brings them attention, a few years ago the children of celebrities were drug addicts or alcoholics, it’s de rigueur these days for one or more of their children to be trans, it’s a social contagion.

The existence of Mrs Browns Boys is proof enough that what programme makers produce doesn't necessarily have anything to do with what is good, needed or wanted.

Same, Hoarda. My adult/older teenage DC are not in the slightest bit interested in these programmes and find it all rather tiresome.

I think there are at least two possible markets, but both I have thought of are small. One is the "freak show" that I see on TwiX, the competition to find (or be!) the ugliest or the most outrageous. The other is trans people themselves (and possibly their allies) who would like to see some sort of positive representation.

The rest of us have plenty of real life concerns to worry about. Many of us have trans people in our daily lives, and they are like everyone else in how nice, funny, or unpleasant they are. Those I know, I like; but at the same time, I do not think their worldview is healthy, even the ones who are not exhibiting extreme behaviour. The normalisation of extreme body modification, though not confined to gender identity people, worries me a lot, along with messing up healthy endocrine systems. The enforcing of gender based language is authoritarian. The insidious narrative that those who disagree are hateful and bigoted, and the pressure to go no contact with anyone who doesn't affirm, is appalling and cause huge damage to loving relationships.

aye so ye ur.🤔

Think they've had a "lovable but wise" drag queen though. Gave up watching it a few years back and caught the tail end of that episode so not 100% sure...

Paris Lees thinks street harassment is a compliment to women so I'm not interested in what he thinks it's like to be a girl.

This thread seems a bit mad but I wanted to try and answer the OP- although I must say I have few hard figures OP, so maybe you won't find my answer helpful.

I think the first thing to note is the figures I do know are that whereas once 18Mn people watched an episode of EastEnders, today I think a few million is considered really good. TV viewing is very fractured.

Anecdotally, I know loads of people who like Drag Race, both those I would have expected (gay male friends, female friends who love shows about dressing up) and those I wouldn't (friends from Church, Rugby friends of DH). I'd be surprised if it didn't draw in at a least a middling to good audience. It is on Netflix too if that helps. A very random internet site (Parrot analytics) says it has 10.5 times the average viewers for its timeslot.

No-one I know has mentioned watching What it Feels Like for a Girl tbh. It's on BBC 3 though, which I always thought had a remit to take risks.

On the Netflix side Sex Education has trans characters, quite a few people I know like that show and from what I can find online viewing figures have been high- 97.6 million viewing hours in the first month. Heartstopper also has a trans character, viewing figures seem to have been more modest according to Google, but it's popular enough for continued renewal.

I know they've been very controversial on FWR but I don't really see Rose from pottery throwdown as a casted character really- they just shove the stuff in the kilns, and have the odd cameo about the firing process, I don't see that their gender matters at all. The characters are more the contestants surely?

I think that a gay /lesbian series could do well or they could do a series where everyone is pansexual so the couples aren’t always male/female.
I’m assuming that the viewers are female heavy btw - I can’t imagine straight men watching gay men but considering how often young women end up writing gay fan fiction, I think they’d watch male couples.

I enjoy the artistry of the makeup, they spend hours on it and it's really artistic. The clothes are fabulous and I love seeing the transformation. It's a performing art and I love performing arts in general for all the lights and sequins etc.

The dancing is brilliant and totally over the top, as a dancer I enjoy watching daft over the top dancing you wouldn't see in a serious genre. The lip sync battles are entertaining to us and you really get into rooting for a winner, they are quite a spectacle.

Then obviously the main purpose of drag is comedy. We enjoy the comedy and laugh quite a lot because most of it is utterly ridiculous, which is the point. Bagga chips doing Margaret Thatcher was hilarious. When they take it too seriously it's not fun anymore.

Sprinkle in some touching stories about the homophobia the contestants face and coming out stories and it can be touching at times too.

I don't watch the BBC anymore, or any of the usual tv stations because I got tired of them shoe horning it into everything, even science programmes. They're trying to normalise it, it's all part of the general plan to bring them in from the margins, they see it worked for same sex attracted people, so they just copying a try and tested formular. The fact that the entertainment industry is a natural home for the genderwangers has made it possible for the tv industry to swamp us with this barnpot ideology.

Thank you for such a considered post. Art is a broad spectrum and so it must be to tickle everyone’s fancies. Each to their own. The offensive ones pp mention as with everything a minority of dicks.

I totally agree. I abhor the term 'fishy' it's gross. There some bad eggs in drag like there are in all groups of performers and people.

But a short fat brummie bloke taking the piss out of Margaret Thatcher? Pass me the wine!

On a more serious note Alyssa Edwards was always my favourite contestant and he runs a dance school that is the gayest sparkliest establishment you've ever seen and the little dancers he teachers are incredible. There's a Netflix series about it and I loved every minute of it. It's just all the campness of musical theatre and some wholesome making kids dreams come true. Thoroughly recommend it!

It's like the Ballet Trocadero, men doing comical ballet but with all the elegance and grace and technical ability of professional ballerinas. They're hilarious! Especially when you're a ballet fanatic and understand the nuance of every silly step and what is was supposed to be if they weren't hamming it up. Some posters claimed they were just stealing women's jobs and hated women last time I bought them up here, which is absurd because women couldn't do what they do, it wouldn't be as funny if it wasn't a 6ft burly man in a tutu. Women get all the Prima roles and fill up the corps de ballet, there are no shortage of roles for them and I seriously doubt drag queens hate women and want them erased from ballet.

Some people don't like drag queens, fine. But they can't claim it's not actually an art form or that a lot of people don't find them entertaining. Clearly they do or drag race wouldn't come back season after season with eye watering sums of money for prizes from sponsors who are clearly profiting from it.

Suppose so But in the past many many people watched the black and white minstrel show. Now we know blackface is wrong. I’m wondering if in 30 years we’ll look back at all these men in woman face and cringe.

I think its a bit sexist to describe women being concerned over losing their rights as 'frothed up' 🙄

This is a thread about what's on tv. Aren't women allowed to discuss what's on tv? Is our sole purpose being concerned with all the shit going on because it's our job to sort it, because we are everyone's mummy?

Want to discuss NHS dentists? Start your own thread 🤷‍♀️

Good grief.

Woman face isn't a thing.

Speaking as a member of the general public... do I want to watch programmes about transwomen? About as much as I want to watch programmes about transmen.