Drag Queens

toscalily

A drag queen is a grotesque exaggeration of a woman, something that I find offensive.

Me too. It's offensive in the same way as is a golly.

Beetlejuice

Well, actually you are, whether you realise it or not. I'm very sorry that your childhood was not a happy one violetsky but I'm not at all sure what that has to do with drag queens reading to young children? As I said, your anger could derail the discussion and introducing your childhood is another distraction from the subject isnt it? Anyway, have you read the statement written by Chad Greene? He's an excellent advocate for transgender rights and he expressed some serious concerns about introducing children to the drag queen circuit. Do you agree with him? Or not? And why?

I don't know you and haven't ever spoken to you before

I mentioned punch and Judy, this does not give you free reign to comment on another person's childhood

Punch and Judy isn’t comparable to drag queens being chosen over other groups to read to children
What experience of reading with children do they have

A drag queen is a grotesque exaggeration of a woman, something that I find offensive.

Well, actually you are, whether you realise it or not. I'm very sorry that your childhood was not a happy one violetsky but I'm not at all sure what that has to do with drag queens reading to young children? As I said, your anger could derail the discussion and introducing your childhood is another distraction from the subject isnt it? Anyway, have you read the statement written by Chad Greene? He's an excellent advocate for transgender rights and he expressed some serious concerns about introducing children to the drag queen circuit. Do you agree with him? Or not? And why?

Drag is fine in comedy, Mr Humphries, lieutenant Gruber. Larry Grayson, Dame Edna it’s when it gets serious that problems start.
We all laugh at the characters played, real life, real people is different.

Punch and Judy's origins were in the early 19th century, not exactly enlightened times.

Violet - punch and Judy has always been horrific. There was a traditional one at the seaside we took our yiung grandchildren to. The six and seven year olds were excited wanted to watch. Within minutes the boys were horrified, wanted to know what was meant to be funny about hurting the baby.?

Genuinely baffled by your comment Fancythat

oops, sow!

I dont play word games, in case anyone thinks that I will.

VioletSky

I'm really not getting any real answers about how this is a problem at all

Well except for conjecture which isn't helpful

So I cannot possibly understand how a drag queen reading a book is an issue

Don't like it, don't go, let the parents decide

Drag queens promote vulgarity.
Promote loose morals.

You know, deep in your heart. In your conscience.
If you dont any more, that is a real problem for you.

For your own sake, be careful what you sew.

We all reap what we sew.

I'm not being rude or angry

I just don't find any logic here

My childhood was Punch hitting Judy with a big stick but you know

Reading to children is bad

Violetsky why are your posts so angry and aggressive? Surely you can express your point of view without being so rude and bombastic towards others can't you? Please, try and remain civil and calm and try to explain your points of view so that a proper discussion can be had.

Been to more drag than I can remember, the ones where they mocked the smell of womens genitals remain lodged in my memory. Hence the worry about misogyny.

Has anyone actually even been to drag queen story time?

Also again, isn't this up to actual parents to decide?

If there was boobage in the classroom in all the schools I know it would be addressed through code of conduct.

I'm not shaming anyone. I am wondering why it is (rightly) unacceptable for white people to parody people of colour, but some would say that it's ok for men to parody women.

BlueBelle

Violetsky if you cant see how a man with overlarge, bursting out boobs and face makeup you could scrape off with a knife as suitable to be chosen to do anything with young children then you amaze me

Be amazed then

I've seen plenty of thick makeup and boobage on the school run

But we are only shaming drag queens here right?

NanaDana

Doodledog

Would those who support the idea of drag queens reading to children be equally enthusiastic about someone in blackface doing story time?

If not, why not?

Surely you don't need this explaining to you?

Yes please.

Yes I liked both Paul O'Grady and Barry Humphries respective creations, not that they rocked up to read to pre school children as far as I'm aware, they were both funny and their audiences were always adult. I also took my children to pantos, I think pantomime dames in the context of theatre is not the same as a drag artists. Some drag artists dress in an overtly, sexualised way and are really the stuff of nightclubs. I don't think planting the idea in very young children's minds that female characteristics are only one ever dimensional all have over made up faces, big hair, exaggerated hand movements, eye lash batting, vertiginous heels, tight short skirts. Drives me nuts, like all women are some sort of composite of the facile, and why indeed would anyone want such people around very small children who don't understand the nuance of cross dressing, possibly confusing them altogether.

Violetsky if you cant see how a man with overlarge, bursting out boobs and face makeup you could scrape off with a knife as suitable to be chosen to do anything with young children then you amaze me

Chad Felix Greene, author of an excellent book called "Surviving Gender: My Journey through Gender Dysphoria", wrote a column for Newsweek on this very subject just last month. This is what he had to say about drag queens reading to children.

I love drag. I have done drag. Many of my favorite celebrities are drag queens. If you asked me a decade ago what I thought of, say, RuPaul sashaying into a library in full sparkling evening gown glory to read a popular children's book to kids, I would have said it was hilarious. RuPaul's Drag Race did for drag queens what Will & Grace did for gays in the 2000s. I would argue most Americans can name a favorite drag queen at this point.

But something has also changed in how Americans see drag. Drag queens went from a favorite gif to add to a particularly sassy tweet to the manifestation of everything conservative Americans fear about LGBTQ activism, especially toward children.
It might seem easy to dismiss these concerns as an overreaction or even as an expression of bigotry, but conservatives are right about this one.

The art of drag relies on exaggerated sexuality and female stereotypes. Drag queens, through dazzling performances, over-the-top humor, and a cultural dedication to irreverent commentary, have long acted as a release valve for the LGBTQ community. They could say and do things that others would never dare to express, and their unpredictable and provocative personas have long kept audiences on the edge of their seats. With careful inflection, a hand on an over-padded hip and a wink, a drag queen can speak truth to power and make them laugh.

This, however, has always remained within the private walls of adult entertainment and for good reason. Drag queens take on the most absurd sexualized elements of female stereotypes and gay culture, and add a few cans of hair spray to make it even bigger and bolder. They strut out on stage and without a moment of hesitation or shame, unleash epic poems of intentionally offensive obscenity, all with a smile and a sense of style no audience can resist.

Although many have argued this charisma can be redirected into child-appropriate entertainment, education and advocacy, the reality demonstrates otherwise. Drag queens can't turn it off. Whether in front of a cheering crowd in a gay bar or a room full of kids at a library, the performance doesn't change. They cannot translate the magic so many of us enjoy on stage to something children can understand.

I think he's summed up the general public's disquiet about it rather well.

That raises another relevant point Doodledog. I’ve always been vaguely uneasy about drag, despite appreciating Lily and Edna. I found them entertaining, challenging . I wouldn’t have prioritised them in persona as ideal to read to children

I’m definitely uneasy about the distorted view of women drag presents. Yes it reminds me of the black and white minstrel show , demeaning