Panti Bliss - By ConorRonoc
There is a long tradition of men dressing up as women stretching back at least to Ancient Greek times as women were not allowed on stage, something that was perpetuated across the centuries to various degrees until gradually going out of fashion so to speak.
In modern times we still see men dressed as women in Pantomime and various stars such as Paul O'Grady as Lily savage. Plus of course the wonderful Alistair Sims as the headmistress in the original and nequealed St Trinians films from the fifties and sixties.
However I was not aware of the existence of Drag Queens (Faux Queens, Diva Queens) played by women until a report appeared in The Daily Telegraph (Saturday 31st March 2018):
As drag queens go, Lacey Lou and Georgie Bee love nothing more than dressing up in garish women’s clothes, slapping on layers of make-up and showing off to their adoring fans. But, they are among a growing number of performers in Britain who are very different to the traditional crossing dressing acts.
Unlike men who work as over the top female impersonators, Lacey Lou and Georgie Bee are actually women camping it up as women.
And resistance to this new breed of live performers is coming from unlikely adversaries - male drag queens who fear their female colleagues have a very unfair advantage. Worse still, it is even being seen as an example of cultural appropriation, the adoption or use of elements of one culture by another.
Photo: By HolyMcGrail
Apparently Drag Queen Supremo,RuPaul has a show on US TV which he says is for men only:
...he declared that drag is a male only sport and women would most likely be barred from competing on his show, which is also broadcast in the UK.
He has claimed that women drag artists lack “danger and irony”, in part because when men - invariably gay men - dress outrageously in women’s clothes they are openly rejecting masculinity.
According to Lacey Lou there's a lot of misogyny in the gay community and she rejects the idea that not only can't she play a Drag Queen but rejects the notion this is a "men only" zone.
“A person’s biological sex or gender identity should not prohibit or inhibit their participation in an art form that mocks gender.”
Perhaps the men think a real woman would be unfair competition? Good luck to the girls I say. Perhaps some men should try out for Drag Kings, I see no reason why.
Photo: By David Shankbone
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Catch up Posts are an occasional series of posts designed to catch up on items of interest whilst I was in hospital and unable to blog.
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