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Feminism: Sex and gender discussions

Drag Queen on Strictly

282 replies

HelenaWaiting · 13/08/2025 17:38

I didn't see a thread on this, and it seems to have been slipped out quietly. I'm assuming this man in woman-face will be taking the place of a female?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/strictly-come-dancing-la-voix#:~:text=A%20powerhouse%20of%20charisma%2C%20comedy,no%20stranger%20to%20national%20television.

La Voix is the seventh celebrity contestant announced for Strictly Come Dancing 2025

The legendary singer, entertainer and Drag Race UK finalist will enter the famous ballroom when Strictly returns to BBC One and BBC iPlayer this September

https://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/2025/strictly-come-dancing-la-voix#:~:text=A%20powerhouse%20of%20charisma%2C%20comedy,no%20stranger%20to%20national%20television.

OP posts:
illinivich · 15/08/2025 14:36

If drag is just panto, why is it treated as if its something extraordinarily good?

Do we think a feminists thread about the sexism in panto would go the same way?

illinivich · 15/08/2025 14:39

HRTQueen · 15/08/2025 14:33

Of course there is a drag queen on strictly and the judges will fawn all over him
🙄

And lots of he/hims when dancing out of drag, and she/hers when in drag.

But its not about a parody of women, apparently.

Ereshkigalangcleg · 15/08/2025 14:39

Yawn. How tediously predictable.

NoBinturongsHereMate · 15/08/2025 15:07

Emonade · 15/08/2025 14:14

What do those things have to do with a man in a wig lip syncing to Shania Twayne?

What does a man with bootpolish on his face singing about plantations have to do with Jim Crow laws?

partystress · 15/08/2025 15:08

I live where La Voix was a pantomime regular I hate drag with a passion and DQ story hour even more do. It’s offensive mockery. I didn’t see La Voix on Ru Paul, so I don’t know if he strayed into that sexualised territory, but I think La Voix has for years been what would have been called a female impersonator. He does the big voiced divas and sings, no lip synching. The outfits are glam rather than tarty and the breasts realistic. I’m a bit conflicted, because I think he has talent beyond doing his make up, and probably earned a place more than a lot of the influencers they’ve had on.

Zerox · 15/08/2025 15:14

I saw La Voix on RuPaul and he came across as a very lovely person. I am looking forward to watching Strictly and I couldn’t care less whether he had a male or a female partner.

La Voix is IMO old school drag: Danny Le Rue, Lily Savage. Elaborate costumes, great showmanship and a joy to watch.

Don’t get me wrong - there have been some RuPaul contestants who are creepy AF and some who do not hide their loathing of real women. I think the producers chose Chris Dennis for a reason.

LittleBitofBread · 15/08/2025 15:39

Zerox · 15/08/2025 15:14

I saw La Voix on RuPaul and he came across as a very lovely person. I am looking forward to watching Strictly and I couldn’t care less whether he had a male or a female partner.

La Voix is IMO old school drag: Danny Le Rue, Lily Savage. Elaborate costumes, great showmanship and a joy to watch.

Don’t get me wrong - there have been some RuPaul contestants who are creepy AF and some who do not hide their loathing of real women. I think the producers chose Chris Dennis for a reason.

I'm pleased to hear this and I hope his appearance on the show bears it out. I do think I hope and would rather see Chris Dennis doing Strictly than La Voix. It's not easy to get to know and like a persona.

Digidestined · 15/08/2025 16:03

Ereshkigalangcleg · 15/08/2025 14:39

Yawn. How tediously predictable.

Feel free to move on then 😀

Namelessnelly · 15/08/2025 17:37

Emonade · 15/08/2025 14:19

Goodness me. I think there needs to be a huge amount more empathy understanding and grey areas in the world.

Exactly. Then maybe men wouldn’t think it was ok to mock women with names like. Anna Norton and Miss carriage. And call women “fishy”. Do are you saying you’re ok with men mocking women? Why?

SirChenjins · 15/08/2025 18:21

Zerox · 15/08/2025 15:14

I saw La Voix on RuPaul and he came across as a very lovely person. I am looking forward to watching Strictly and I couldn’t care less whether he had a male or a female partner.

La Voix is IMO old school drag: Danny Le Rue, Lily Savage. Elaborate costumes, great showmanship and a joy to watch.

Don’t get me wrong - there have been some RuPaul contestants who are creepy AF and some who do not hide their loathing of real women. I think the producers chose Chris Dennis for a reason.

Yes, let's choose an old-school drag queen and then we can all pretend that they're all just such wholesome, entertaining characters - there there, nothing to fret about, it's just a bit of fun, don't be such an old fuddy duddy, blah blah 🥱

taxi4ballet · 15/08/2025 19:19

StrictlySequinsandStiIettos · 14/08/2025 18:54

Oh yes it is.

Sorry, thought we were doing panto now.

Oh no we're not.😂

Suntree32 · 15/08/2025 20:11

6 women/9 men split, or 7 women/8 men if we assume La Voix is classed as competing as a women.

SnowFrogJelly · 15/08/2025 20:23

SirChenjins · 15/08/2025 18:21

Yes, let's choose an old-school drag queen and then we can all pretend that they're all just such wholesome, entertaining characters - there there, nothing to fret about, it's just a bit of fun, don't be such an old fuddy duddy, blah blah 🥱

What exactly is your problem?!

SirChenjins · 15/08/2025 21:36

See my previous posts - that's my problem with this mockery of women by men.

Plasticwaste · 15/08/2025 22:31

SnowFrogJelly · 15/08/2025 20:23

What exactly is your problem?!

Are you incapable of reading the previous 10 pages?

Gowlett · 15/08/2025 22:35

Have drag queens not been on telly for years?
Dame Edna? Lily Savage? Shirley Temple Bar?

AuntieAgnesPoodle · 15/08/2025 23:31

illinivich · 15/08/2025 12:12

I never told you to not worry about it. I was responding to you saying that drag is a parody of women, but misogyny is everywhere. And talking about it on a feminists board makes us outraged.

I'm afraid I still don't understand. Could you explain the bit about drag and misogyny again?

I think the angry, shouty, rude posts attacking other mumsnetters for their opinions meant "no debate" in my eyes - that is, we're right and you're wrong. That's what I meant by "outrage". It's uncalled-for and counter-productive in any debate especially where there are strongly held views. Shouting and insulting others isn't debate. Women must remember the very recent attacks by trans rights activists saying there was to be no debate.

Enough4me · 15/08/2025 23:54

It's disrespectful to pretend to be a different ethnicity or to pretend to be disabled.
Strictly wouldn't employ a person pretending to be pregnant or pretending to need a wheelchair.
It's no different to accepting a man who's mocking women.
Drag isn't neutral. It's not non-comforming to stereotypes. It's all about taking the worst known stereotypes thrown at women to mock them.
I'd be happy to see men wear makeup and dresses as the true men they are, bringing their full selves to the dance with long hair if they like, red lipstick etc.
Non conforming and choosing non expected outfits is fun.
The stereotypes, strained voice, head tilts, playing with fake breasts is purely disrespectful to women.

AuntieAgnesPoodle · 16/08/2025 00:39

OneWildBengal · 15/08/2025 11:21

I am conflicted on this. Like many I believe that drag is adult entertainment and should be nowhere near children’s story hours etc. I am also fed up of seeing it so often on the BBC given that it is niche adult entertainment (not family friendly IMO). But then I wonder if it was Lily Savage or Dame Edna in the competition would I view it the same way. They were mainstream and family friendly. What do others think?

It's not easy to give a single, clear answer.

Quite a few posters have referred to "old-style drag" as in Dame Edna Everidge and Lily Savage. Danny la Rue went into drag performance (1950s/60s) after being told he was good at making people laugh and should concentrate on that www.theguardian.com/stage/2009/jun/01/danny-la-rue-obituary#:~:text=Yet%20what%20La%20Rue%20achieved,saucy%20jokes%20and%20sentimental%20songs. I remember several comic drag acts in TV sketch shows in the 1970s - Les Dawson and Roy Barraclough as Cissie and Ada, Stanley Baxter did sketches in drag in his comedy show, drag duo Dr Evadne Hinge (George Logan) and Dame Hilda Bracket (Patrick Fyffe). Then there was Kenny Everett, whose drag name in the show was Cupid Stunt, "all in the best possible taste".

I was a teenager in 1970 and didn't know quite what to make of these drag acts and sketches. I never liked Hinge & Bracket and I didn't find Cissie and Ada very funny. I liked Barry Humphries as Dame Edna Everidge and found Kenny Everett's drag sketch incredibly provocative (bearded man as "woman") but it made me laugh. Danny La Rue was all ruffles and old-fashioned elegance (from a previous century), so I wasn't interested in him.

I was after something clever and very funny. Hit-and-miss. Never liked pantomime dames, so when in my 60s I saw some Drag Race episodes (because friends liked them) I was curious. It's artifice to the nth degree, but there's also artistry at times. No-one else I know watches it apart from this small group of much younger friends. It's like a secret vice, mostly harmless, but can be addictive. The formula isn't that different from any reality tv show. There's wit and creativity and stories of overcoming difficulties in life, not merely smut and innuendo. The costumes and makeup are sometimes extraordinary.

Perhaps watching that drag show is the antithesis of everything else in my life. It's an escape. I had/have no idea why men would wish to perform as women, and being unable to imagine it properly, got drawn into to the stories they tell.

I was interested in the discussion here because the show under discussion is Strictly. I don't like Strictly and part of that not liking it is (ironically) all the artifice. How the women must dress in high heels and revealing gowns. The illusion of a man lifting a woman when the woman has to do just as much work as the man does, to make it look elegant. How the woman must be smaller and lighter than the man. I'm nearly 6ft tall and have never learned to dance. I feel clumsy. I can't wear high heels. I don't wear makeup.

So if a drag queen is to appear on Strictly, it's not so important in my eyes. But I can appreciate the dislike of drag queens per se having considered the discussion here. If I were a big Strictly fan, no doubt I'd feel differently.

Also, I agree with the posters who say that the drag queen persona is not the one that should compete - it should be the man behind the act.

Plasticwaste · 16/08/2025 02:28

Aww. Perhaps if the B&W minstrels came with a glitzy teevee show featuring a bunch of sob stories about the challenges they've faced in their lives before bravely donning some black facepaint, people would be cheering on that, too.

ThatBlackCat · 16/08/2025 04:44

Gowlett · 15/08/2025 22:35

Have drag queens not been on telly for years?
Dame Edna? Lily Savage? Shirley Temple Bar?

I don't know the last two, @Gowlett , but Dame Edna was never a 'drag queen'. And just because something has been on tv 'for years' does not make it right! Is misogyny ok, just because it's on tv 'for years'? Blackface was on stage and tv 'for years', was that ok?

illinivich · 16/08/2025 07:13

I agree, just because its always been around doesnt mean its quality TV and doesnt mean it needs to be on tv now.

I remember the old school drag on tv, and i remember it being dated by the late 70s and into the 80s. We didnt need danny la rue 40 years ago, we dont need a new version now.

Gowlett · 16/08/2025 09:03

ThatBlackCat · 16/08/2025 04:44

I don't know the last two, @Gowlett , but Dame Edna was never a 'drag queen'. And just because something has been on tv 'for years' does not make it right! Is misogyny ok, just because it's on tv 'for years'? Blackface was on stage and tv 'for years', was that ok?

Fair point. However, Lily & Shirley went on to become TV presenters as themselves (Paul & Declan). Both very talented, drag aside. But, hat was 20 years ago, things have changed.

Plasticwaste · 16/08/2025 14:05

Drag then is not the same as RuPaul-style drag.

Paul O'Grady even said he wasn't a fan of it.

SapphOhNo · 16/08/2025 16:59

I hope they have a drag king on next 😊