Can someone fill me in on wtf is going on with drag in the US?
I’m from the UK, drag is like our longest running joke, and families go to pantomimes all the time. Recently theres been a more direct association with the LGBT community in the popular understanding of it. I’d say that most people’s view on drag here is:
not necessarily an LGBT thing, though it very often is
kinda traditional
can be funny, or just a fun performance
pretty lighthearted
not expected to be overtly sexual by default, depends on context
Some of the stuff I see out of the US is bizzare. I realise that the weirder stuff is always going to be amplified in the news, and people are not necessarily trying to show the full context in photos. But I’ve seen shit like
rightoids getting so worked up that the pickets outside resemble the Gaza Strip or, as I’m reliabily told, the average us abortion clinic
performances in weird places like libraries
people watching a clearly sexual show in dive bars with their kids in tow that look like they’re starting at a painting in a gallery pondering the meaning of nothingness and looking way out of place
Like, wtf? Drag isn’t the problem, it’s the weird-ass way that people seem to be responding to it. Go to a show if you think you might enjoy it, read up on the performance or use context ques to understand what kind of drag performance it’s going to be. Certainly don’t go for political reasons and ruin the fun for performers who are just trying to have a good time. But equally, don’t plan shows that are meant to provoke a reaction for political reasons, for the same reason.
And why the right wingers care so much if fucking beyond me. Imagine having enough free time to consider that important enough to spend your precious free time protesting it rather than doing literally anything else.
Just chill, it’s a fucking stage show. It’s like the whole toilet thing again, just hysterics over something inconcequential. I’m trans and fabulous as fuck and don’t seem to consider these issues nearly as important than a middle-aged cishet blue collar dude from Texas who may never have met a single trans person or encountered anything like this outside of the Internet.
Republicans in the U.S. have decided that drag shows are corrupting the children. But they can’t stop with just “they’re corrupting the children” now. They’re going after drag as a whole. Because it’s never just been about drag, it’s been about oppressing LGBT+ people. And when they’ve gotten their way and made them fully second-class citizens, if citizens at all, they’ll go after the next group. Maybe it will be Jews. Maybe it will be black people. Maybe it will be something else. But there always has to be a corrupting “them” for Republicans to fight against.
Would be at least somewhat believable if they were doing something about pedophiles and predators in their own ranks. From over here the Repubs look like a bunch of black people in hoods or something similar ironic.
Yeah, especially after their top man, aka the annoying orange, talked about dating his OWN DAUGHTER if she would not be his daughter (there were other similar quotes).
Exactly. They all make it seem as if drag shows were sexual pole dance and strip tease shows. Which is absolutely wild! It’s just a comedy show for f*ck’s sake!
Unfortunately the right wing rags in the UK have started to join on this rabid right wing extremism from the US about drag shows.
Forgetting that christmas pantomimes, a very British institution, are usually performed in drag. We’ve had multiple drag performers like Dame Edna over decades and it was never an issue however if you peek at the rags then it seems drag performers are the downfall of society.
I’ve recently seen a video of one of Tom Scott’s mates who went and did drag. It was pretty interesting to learn about it, but one of the things I had to think of when reading your comment was that in the video it was made very clear that US drag and UK drag are very different. In the UK it stems from performative art, in the US it was different. I can’t recall what it was exactly, but I think that explains the sexual focus in the US compared to the UK
Can someone fill me in on wtf is going on with drag in the US?
I’m from the UK, drag is like our longest running joke, and families go to pantomimes all the time. Recently theres been a more direct association with the LGBT community in the popular understanding of it. I’d say that most people’s view on drag here is:
Some of the stuff I see out of the US is bizzare. I realise that the weirder stuff is always going to be amplified in the news, and people are not necessarily trying to show the full context in photos. But I’ve seen shit like
Like, wtf? Drag isn’t the problem, it’s the weird-ass way that people seem to be responding to it. Go to a show if you think you might enjoy it, read up on the performance or use context ques to understand what kind of drag performance it’s going to be. Certainly don’t go for political reasons and ruin the fun for performers who are just trying to have a good time. But equally, don’t plan shows that are meant to provoke a reaction for political reasons, for the same reason.
And why the right wingers care so much if fucking beyond me. Imagine having enough free time to consider that important enough to spend your precious free time protesting it rather than doing literally anything else.
Just chill, it’s a fucking stage show. It’s like the whole toilet thing again, just hysterics over something inconcequential. I’m trans and fabulous as fuck and don’t seem to consider these issues nearly as important than a middle-aged cishet blue collar dude from Texas who may never have met a single trans person or encountered anything like this outside of the Internet.
Is only fun show, why you heff to be mad?
Republicans in the U.S. have decided that drag shows are corrupting the children. But they can’t stop with just “they’re corrupting the children” now. They’re going after drag as a whole. Because it’s never just been about drag, it’s been about oppressing LGBT+ people. And when they’ve gotten their way and made them fully second-class citizens, if citizens at all, they’ll go after the next group. Maybe it will be Jews. Maybe it will be black people. Maybe it will be something else. But there always has to be a corrupting “them” for Republicans to fight against.
Even worse we have fascist Republicans who have been photographed in Drag and still oppose it. But same with blackface sadly…
Yes, but those people were making fun of people who wear drag. Don’t you see how that is different? /s
It’s modern blood libel.
Would be at least somewhat believable if they were doing something about pedophiles and predators in their own ranks. From over here the Repubs look like a bunch of black people in hoods or something similar ironic.
Yeah, especially after their top man, aka the annoying orange, talked about dating his OWN DAUGHTER if she would not be his daughter (there were other similar quotes).
short clip of this insanity
Exactly. They all make it seem as if drag shows were sexual pole dance and strip tease shows. Which is absolutely wild! It’s just a comedy show for f*ck’s sake!
Unfortunately the right wing rags in the UK have started to join on this rabid right wing extremism from the US about drag shows.
Forgetting that christmas pantomimes, a very British institution, are usually performed in drag. We’ve had multiple drag performers like Dame Edna over decades and it was never an issue however if you peek at the rags then it seems drag performers are the downfall of society.
I’ve recently seen a video of one of Tom Scott’s mates who went and did drag. It was pretty interesting to learn about it, but one of the things I had to think of when reading your comment was that in the video it was made very clear that US drag and UK drag are very different. In the UK it stems from performative art, in the US it was different. I can’t recall what it was exactly, but I think that explains the sexual focus in the US compared to the UK
Here’s the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUf8-P3d5mk