Drag artists - am I the only one who doesn't find them funny?

Oh I think they are just challenging societies norms. That's healthy. If one does not feel comfortable then really do not put yourself in that arena of entertainment.

adaunas

Not for me at all.
Seamstress, it is a bit reminiscent of ‘blacking up’, which became unacceptable. This time though they’re parodying women and that’s evidently OK.

I don't like drag, I don't find it at all entertaining and it's the aspect of putting on a caricature of a woman that I don't like. I never liked Danny la Rue, who was on TV a lot when I was a child - I just couldn't see what was meant to be entertaining about his act. But there was a lot of 'variety' on TV in those days and I think drag acts were a valid part of variety.

I do feel drag has been pushed down out throats a bit by the BBC with Drag Race, but if it appeals to some members of the public I'm happy for it to be on as long as I don't have to watch it! Some of my friends love Drag Race - each to her own, I guess.

I find them offensive and misogynistic on the whole.

I don't get why (quite rightly) 'blackface' is roundly condemned but drag isn't seen as unacceptably offensive to women.

And I'm sick of the likes of the BBC shoving it down our throats.

They are comedians/comediennes - the sense of humour is hit and miss, depending on individual tastes

They have mad skills on the makeup department!

I had the misfortune to be sitting it a pub with a group of friends when it turned out to be an LGBT evening, and a drag act came on. I did feel extremely threatened, s/he spent the evening criticising us for the amusement of the crowd around her, being extremely rude about our clothes, what we were doing sitting in their pub evening, there must be something wrong with us, we were ugly, thick etc etc. It was absolutely horrible, and I couldn't wait to get out of there, but there was no warning on the door that it was an LGBT evening.

I’m not entirely comfortable to be honest. I just see men overly tarted up, almost as a caricature, their Adam’s apples covered with a velvet band and lots of glitter and sequins ... mind you drag artistes are not the same as transvestites. Drag is for entertainment isn’t it? To each their own. I just change channels.

SueDonim

Drag artists challenging the stereotypes of how women are supposed to present is just about the best bit of mansplaining I’ve heard in a long while.

Anyone can do drag. It is not purely a male thing. Thinking it is shows just how little some people know about it. Read about it www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/10/workin-it-how-female-drag-queens-are-causing-a-scene

GrannyGravy13

The Lady Boys we saw whilst travelling around Thailand were some of the most beautiful people we have ever seen. Those we spoke with appeared to beautiful on the inside also.

Lovely post GrannyGravy I know I’ve met some too, your last sentence made me emotional, so true.

SueDonim

Drag artists challenging the stereotypes of how women are supposed to present is just about the best bit of mansplaining I’ve heard in a long while.

Drag artists challenging the stereotypes of how women are supposed to present is just about the best bit of mansplaining I’ve heard in a long while.

It’s not for me - I watch a few minutes of Ru Paul’s Drag Race each week out of curiosity, but find it quite grotesque. Oddly fascinating and clever makeup and costumes, but that’s about it. I must have double standards though as I enjoyed the Rocky Horror Show when I saw it on stage a few years ago - it was at least entertaining, but I don’t find the Drag Race in the least entertaining. And I don’t like that Visage women who sometimes hosts it. I do like Dame Edna Everage - amusing and quick witted. The Drag Race is not entertainment to me, but each to their own.

I like them and find them very entertaining. After all, it's art, comedy and entertainment - so they're not aiming to be 'real life' but an exaggeration, a caricature.

I really do wonder about people who, somehow, feel 'threatened' by them. Why?

In not particularly entertained by drag queens but we all like different things. But I think that the caricatures of women portrayed by the Two Ronnies and Les Dawson do more damage to the image of women.

Discuss....?

The Lady Boys we saw whilst travelling around Thailand were some of the most beautiful people we have ever seen. Those we spoke with appeared to beautiful on the inside also.

But actually some drag artists challenge the stereotypes women are supposed to conform to. They will for instance dress in clothes that would be considered unsuitable for fat women. They dress and present as they choose. It is an artistic statement.I wonder how people feel about Grayson Perry who used to dress as girl but now appears sometimes as an older woman.

I don’t like drag either. To me, they’re parodies and caricatures of how they think women ought to be. Some are ok, Barry Humphries and the Les Dawson pair, but the others I think are belittling to women.

don't like the Drag artists at all. except danny la rue

Loved Two Ronnies when they dressed up as old women
in their shows and Les Dawson with his Cissie and Ada was hilarious........Dame edna everadge yes love 'her'.....

Drag Kings exist as well.

I enjoy drag. I like the way it shows gender as performance. We all perform gender, drag just caricatures it.

I liked Dame Edna as Barry Humphries' humour was very irreverent.
Lily Savage was ok but I much prefer him in RL. Paul O'Grady's programmes about dogs make me quite tearful.
My Mum always enjoyed watching Danny la Rue.

Perhaps it was because these drag artistes were more in the tradition of pantomime dames therefore brought a smile?

Cissie and Ada were classics, EllanVannin ?

Can’t stand them. Barry Humphries and The Two Ronnies were more in the tradition of pantomime dames: they never tried seriously to look like real women.

Lily Savage is great but, in general terms, I don't like this sort of entertainment. I accept that other people do enjoy it.

BlueBelle
“I did love seeing the ladyboys of Bangkok got to admire the way they are all such pretty men and dance so well on high heels”
Agree with you BlueBelle very talented as well as stunning looks!

Thank you for your comment Blondiescot. I too can't see why a comparison to blackface is made however. This comment has made before. Some years ago Mary Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, outraged the drag and drag-allied community by comparing drag to blackface in a post on her private Facebook page. It went viral resulting in commentators ranging from college professors to RuPaul herself condemning the comparison, mainly defending drag as a means of self-expression and empowerment.

I've watched both UK series with Ru Paul and enjoy watching them transform their looks. Over the weeks their confidence grows probably because they're getting the opportunity to talk and discuss why they chose drag in the first place. It's been very emotional for all of them.

Never watched any of them, never appealed. But Dame Edna or Mrs Brown I would watch.

I don’t like the modern ones didn’t mind Danny la rue and Lily savage in the day but these modern ones are such caricatures and so unfunny and pretty vile
I did love seeing the ladyboys of Bangkok got to admire the way they are all such pretty men and dance so well on high heels