Is Drag sexist?
I've seen the "is drag appropriate for kids?" (it's not) making the rounds on youtube again and I have just been trying to pin down what bothers me about drag even when it's an adults-only event. I think I have figured it out. Drag is a caricature of what men think womanhood is. It is an overly sexualised amalgamation of negative stereotypes about women that gay men decided to perform for fun. It is mostly gay men making a mockery of womanhood and then claiming it isn't misogynistic because they're gay. I don't think men wearing make-up or more feminine clothing is inherently wrong but it's pretty obvious to me that the overly stylised and dramatic make-up and the sexualised clothing is a caricature of what some men think women are. A lot of it reminds me of old newspaper cartoons that mock women for wearing make-up or corsets it's the same stylization. I feel like drag treats womanhood as a costume men can put on and take off whenever they want. A sentiment that I have heard from some drag queens from videos I have watched online is that drag queens perform femininity better than women?? like womanhood and femininity is something you perform, a plaything. this has turned into a rant sorry I would love to hear other people's opinion on this.
