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New York, 11:38 PM
Sat Dec 19
19 posts in the last 24 hours

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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of OneTwoPunch OneTwoPunch
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    Brilliant! I knew it when I saw that drag episode of Project Runway that it was one of their best, if not the THE best, show they've aired. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    OneTwoPunch was starred OneTwoPunch was unstarred
    Image of TransFat TransFat
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    No drag act, or any stage/variety act, will ever come close to when I watched a drag queen lip synch to Whitney's version of "I will always love you" while being urinated on by naked musclebound men in pig masks. Even on mouth contact, she didn't miss a note. Good time had by all! #queensofdrag
     Reply
    TransFat was starred TransFat was unstarred
    Image of dcdulce dcdulce
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    I know that there are serious analyses of drag out there...but at the end of the day..Lady Bunny says it best...
    "you may like your cake, that's how I love my pie..that doesn't make any of you better than I"... #queensofdrag
     Reply
    dcdulce was starred dcdulce was unstarred
    Image of boxspelunker boxspelunker
    11/12/09

    @dcdulce: Maybe she can heal the Team Cake/Team Pie rift in the Jezebel readership. We wait for your wisdom! #queensofdrag
     Reply
    boxspelunker was starred boxspelunker was unstarred
    Image of Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny. Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny.
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    Oooo, I don't know anything about how shows get produced but is there anyone I can email to let them know I would watch this show if it was picked up? #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny. was starred Vivelafat says Sweep the leg, Johnny. was unstarred
    Image of Mireille is German for the Bart, the. Mireille is German for the Bart, the.
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    I don't hate drag, I just don't get what's inherently funny about men acting like stereotypically "fabulous" women. I understand gender identity, which I don't believe drag is so much about. Rather, I see drag as a sort of minstrel show where the target is women rather than African Americans... I've only been to two drag shows and I was bored to tears.
     Reply
    LaComtesse promoted this comment Edited by Mireille is German for the Bart, the. at 11/12/09 1:34 PM Mireille is German for the Bart, the. was starred Mireille is German for the Bart, the. was unstarred
    Image of Cairn Cairn
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: Wow... great analogy. I've never thought of it like that, but it kinda makes sense. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Rare Affinity promoted this comment Cairn was starred Cairn was unstarred
    Image of LaComtesse LaComtesse
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: "I see drag as a sort of minstrel show where the target is women rather than African Americans"

    Very interesting way to put it. I’d say, however, the main difference is that gay or trans men are marginalized groups. So it’s a marginalized group pretending to be another marginalized group, unlike blackface. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    LaComtesse was starred LaComtesse was unstarred
    Image of Rare Affinity Rare Affinity
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: You beat me to it. I was just about to post the following: I have always found it odd that drag queens are so celebrated for something which, for me at least, sometimes has undertones of misogyny. If they targeted any other traditionally oppressed section of society for their often unsubtle caricature, many people would be rightly offended. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Rare Affinity was starred Rare Affinity was unstarred
    Image of Rare Affinity Rare Affinity
    11/12/09

    @LaComtesse: So does that mean Al Jolson in blackface was less offensive because he himself was Jewish?
     Reply
    Edited by Rare Affinity at 11/12/09 1:45 PM Rare Affinity was starred Rare Affinity was unstarred
    Image of molo_lola molo_lola
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: Yikes! I know more drag kings than I do queens, so my perspective is a little different about this.

    I understand drag to mean representing gender in some way in public, in a way that mocks, mimics, criticizes, or admires gender roles in society. It is inherently playful, yet can be very thoughtful. The drag shows I've seen have had some numbers where the kings/queens go through conflict about masculine versus feminine presentation (through dance--I know, hard to describe, but awesome!) which ultimately challenges gendered stereotypes and assumptions.

    I know my friends have a really open drag troupe, but my understanding is that a person, regardless of their identity off-stage, can represent themselves any way on stage. (For example, if a woman acts fem on stage, she's doing a burlesque act at a drag show.)

    And personally, I have never been bored at a drag show! #queensofdrag
     Reply
    JerseyGrrrl promoted this comment molo_lola was starred molo_lola was unstarred
    Image of LaComtesse LaComtesse
    11/12/09

    @Rare Affinity: Another excellent point. I don’t even necessarily disagree with the original statement (I’d have to think about it a bit more). I’m asking your question of myself, though something that comes up for me (and this isn't my answer, but something I'm mulling over) is that, historically (from the beginning with few official exceptions) to be a Jew in America is different than being a Jew anywhere else in the world. Jews were never denied the right to vote, or civil liberties on account of their being Jewish as a matter of law; they were never told they were 3/5 of a person or not a person at all. Women and members of the Queer community, however…

    That said: I really don’t know the answer to this. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    LaComtesse was starred LaComtesse was unstarred
    Image of JerseyGrrrl JerseyGrrrl
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: I see it like this too, and I love the analogy you make. When I explain my feelings on this, I've never been able to convey them so well as you just did.

    I think drag performers are mocking a gender construct, or more exactly the existence of gender constructs. They're playing with gender as a way to disarm it, I think. However, doesn't it seem impossible to mock "femininity" without also mocking, by extension, those who subscribe to it or are shaped by it? This is what I can't reconcile.

    It seems like the relations between women and gay men as oppressed groups and as people is not always as cheerful as what's depicted by caricatures like Will and Grace, and Carrie and Sanford. If some of us treat them like accessories, some of them treat us like jokes. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    JerseyGrrrl was starred JerseyGrrrl was unstarred
    Image of Mireille is German for the Bart, the. Mireille is German for the Bart, the.
    11/12/09

    @molo_lola: I have to say, I've never seen a drag king show, or even a mixed drag show... And the only drag they ever seem to show on TV is drag queens. If this show features drag kings as well, I'd have to think about it a little more.

    And as far as gay men, I've run into gay men that are just as misogynist, if not more so, than Tucker Max. Just in different ways. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Mireille is German for the Bart, the. was starred Mireille is German for the Bart, the. was unstarred
    Image of TransFat TransFat
    11/12/09

    @Rare Affinity: I did my thesis paper in college about the use of crossdressing (male and female) as a comedic device and a lot of the tradition is absolutely based on how we generalize gender identity. For instance one would not see a drag queen in jeans and a t-shirt (unless everything else, make-up, wigs, made up for the banality) on stage at least. The humor and the showmanship lie in the extremes of what is universally considered gender fact and then subverting it (being grotesque and over-the-top to the point of cartoonishness). Actually, I should say the subversion is only a recent development in the tradition. There were drag kings in vaudeville at the turn of the century for instance who were extremely popular for their uncanny impersonation of sailors and working men without much irony.

    I'm leaving out a lot but it's a big topic. God, I loved writing that paper. I called it Dress to Kill by the by. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    TransFat was starred TransFat was unstarred
    Image of Lymed Lymed
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: I don't think it is meant to be inherently funny. There are definitely comedic drag queens. But there are also very serious drag queens who clearly have tremendous respect for the women they imitate in their performance. I have seen incredible impersonations of Tina Turner by drag queens that focus on her strength and dancing abilities. I always saw the humorous acts in the show no different from humorous acts in a variety show. They happen to be drag queens performing the acts because the entire performance is drag queens.

    I have also heard things that are clearly anti-woman by drag queens, but it is almost always incorporated into the act as the queen being caddy because she is jealous of the real woman or making fun of heterosexuality. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Lymed was starred Lymed was unstarred
    Image of Lymed Lymed
    11/12/09

    @molo_lola: You would have probably appreciated my friends performance of Bowie singing Suffragette City at a drag king show many moons ago. Most of the audience didn't understand a feminine drag nor nor the be-sparkled female backup singers. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Lymed was starred Lymed was unstarred
    Image of molo_lola molo_lola
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: Of course gay men can be mysogynist. We live in a crazy world, I'm sure woman-hating drag queens exist.

    But not all gay men are misogynist. And not all gay men are drag queens. And not all drag queens are misogynist. And on and on.

    Your issue doesn't seem to be with drag then, you know? #queensofdrag
     Reply
    molo_lola was starred molo_lola was unstarred
    Image of molo_lola molo_lola
    11/12/09

    @Lymed: Haha, that does sound great. And don't get me wrong, sometimes drag is about being campy, and being dramatic. But if feminist drag can and does exist, then I refuse to believe that all drag is misogynist! #queensofdrag
     Reply
    molo_lola was starred molo_lola was unstarred
    Image of Ms Meghan Ms Meghan
    11/12/09

    @Mireille is German for the Bart, the.: Get thee some Judith Butler. She has an essay on gender performativity and it is one of my favorite critical essays ever. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Ms Meghan was starred Ms Meghan was unstarred
    Image of Tchotchke Tchotchke
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    I love drag queens. I find them fascinating and often, very beautiful. Perhaps this is in part because so much of the music and art that I love has been inspired by them. Perfect example: Antony & the Johnsons, Lou Reed/Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol's Factory. "Candy Darling on Her Deathbed" is one of my favorite photos of all time. I will definitely watch this show (assuming that it is much better than that VH1 travesty, "RuPaul's Drag Race.") #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Tchotchke was starred Tchotchke was unstarred
    Image of LucilleMcGillicuddy LucilleMcGillicuddy
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    didn't he leave the show due to a health issue? glad to see he's well. I'll dump the newly sucky PR and watch this instead.
     Reply
    Edited by LucilleMcGillicuddy at 11/12/09 1:32 PM LucilleMcGillicuddy was starred LucilleMcGillicuddy was unstarred
    Image of ucelluccia ucelluccia
    11/12/09

    @LucilleMcGillicuddy: He's healthy but HIV+ and got an infection (I think a staph infection?) and had to leave to get treatment for it. V. sad. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    ucelluccia was starred ucelluccia was unstarred
    Image of roxrharris roxrharris
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    I also think that it would be tremendously good to have an HIV positive television host, hopefully breaking into the mainstream. Despite what we would like to think there is still a lot of stigma surrounding this disease in the US and I think that Jack Mackenroth has helped with coming out with his status on Project Runway and will help even more if this project is successful. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    ucelluccia promoted this comment roxrharris was starred roxrharris was unstarred
    Image of Mary McCarthyite Mary McCarthyite
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag

    I would order cable just to watch Queens of Drag ; sounds Divine! #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Mary McCarthyite was starred Mary McCarthyite was unstarred
    Image of Mary McCarthyite Mary McCarthyite
    11/12/09

    @Mary McCarthyite: Also, in case y'all haven't seen this...it's been stuck in my head for days. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Mary McCarthyite was starred Mary McCarthyite was unstarred
    Image of dcdulce dcdulce
    11/12/09

    @Mary McCarthyite: uhm, that's me :) #queensofdrag
     Reply
    dcdulce was starred dcdulce was unstarred
    Image of Mary McCarthyite Mary McCarthyite
    11/12/09

    @dcdulce: why...hello! #queensofdrag
     Reply
    Mary McCarthyite was starred Mary McCarthyite was unstarred
    Image of vitajex vitajex
    11/12/09

    In reply to Life Is A Drag
    Hedda Lettuce- that's pretty good.
    I always that that if I was gonna be a drag queen, my name would be Miss Anthropy. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    LaComtesse promoted this comment vitajex was starred vitajex was unstarred
    Image of LaComtesse LaComtesse
    11/12/09

    @vitajex: Miss O'Gyny.
     Reply
    Edited by LaComtesse at 11/12/09 1:34 PM LaComtesse was starred LaComtesse was unstarred
    Image of GirlFailer GirlFailer
    11/12/09

    @LaComtesse: Conny Lingus #queensofdrag
     Reply
    GirlFailer was starred GirlFailer was unstarred
    Image of ucelluccia ucelluccia
    11/12/09

    @LaComtesse: Tits McGee! (Yes, I am a lame Anchorman fan, but it's got a nice ring to it)

    Except I'd feel awkward using it as a drag name, as I'm not exactly super-endowed in the titular (heh) area.
     Reply
    Edited by ucelluccia at 11/12/09 1:38 PM ucelluccia was starred ucelluccia was unstarred
    Image of LaComtesse LaComtesse
    11/12/09

    @ucelluccia: Neither are most drag queens. Own it, child #queensofdrag
     Reply
    LaComtesse was starred LaComtesse was unstarred
    Image of PaigeTurner PaigeTurner
    11/12/09

    @vitajex: Paige Turner! nerdy bookworm drag queen! #queensofdrag
     Reply
    ucelluccia promoted this comment PaigeTurner was starred PaigeTurner was unstarred
    Image of ucelluccia ucelluccia
    11/12/09

    @lolabee: AWESOME. #queensofdrag
     Reply
    ucelluccia was starred ucelluccia was unstarred
    Image of dcdulce dcdulce
    11/12/09

    @vitajex: mine is Freida Chewz #queensofdrag
     Reply
    dcdulce was starred dcdulce was unstarred
    Image of MargaretMoony MargaretMoony
    11/10/09

    In reply to Lilly's Kids: What's Christmas Without Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes?
    True fact: I used to babysit this little boy who loved to get dressed up in princess garb and play witches or Sailor Moon. Super cute kid and his parents just let him go for it. I've always wondered what happen to him... #lilyskids
     Reply
    MargaretMoony was starred MargaretMoony was unstarred
    Image of GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11) GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11)
    11/10/09

    In reply to Lilly's Kids: What's Christmas Without Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes?
    Sigh. I wonder if I can get a copy of this magazine to prove to my (soon to be) in laws that my (soon to be) niece can play soccer and still cook and bake and clean and be pink. So far, they will only let her be a cheerleader and dance while her brothers play football, baseball AND soccer. #lilyskids
     Reply
    GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11) was starred GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11) was unstarred
    Image of thechibster63 thechibster63
    11/09/09

    In reply to Lilly's Kids: What's Christmas Without Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes?
    My parents couldn't afford the toy kitchen I always wanted, so going to my cousin's house was AWESOME because they had one.

    My brother liked the toy kitchen too. My favorite picture of him as a child is him playing at the toy kitchen, wearing the blue apron and yellow oven mitt that came with it, with a toy pot on the stove with a BABY DOLL inside it. I like to call the picture "Cooking the Baby." #lilyskids
     Reply
    maybeimamazed02 promoted this comment thechibster63 was starred thechibster63 was unstarred
    Image of maybeimamazed02 maybeimamazed02
    11/10/09

    @thechibster63: Our toy kitchen was handed down through three kids and insanely popular with cousins and neighborhood kids of both genders.

    As were our dress-up clothes. My sister and I took dance and my mom saved the prom gowns my grandma made for her, plus we had my grandma's old hats. Our collection was LEGENDARY. #lilyskids
     Reply
    maybeimamazed02 was starred maybeimamazed02 was unstarred
    Image of roxythekiller roxythekiller
    11/09/09

    In reply to Lilly's Kids: What's Christmas Without Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes?
    In response to image 3: Why would any kid--- male, female, or inbetween--- want a vacuum?
     Reply
    Edited by roxythekiller at 11/09/09 10:19 PM roxythekiller was starred roxythekiller was unstarred
    Image of kate! kate!
    11/09/09

    @roxythekiller: I know, right? I hate chores but kids love that shit. I work at a children's museum and our museum store sells out of brooms and rakes like nobody's business. They're our bestselling items. Kids are weird. #lilyskids
     Reply
    GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11) promoted this comment kate! was starred kate! was unstarred
    Image of GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11) GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11)
    11/10/09

    @kate!: I worked at a pre-school, and I closed out every evening. Those lucky kids whose parents picked them up at 6:00 basically cleaned the room for me. Anything that didn't involve toxic chemicals, they did. It was awesome. Child labor is still well alive at Kindercare-Knowledge Learning Centers. #lilyskids
     Reply
    GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11) was starred GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11) was unstarred
    Image of kate! kate!
    11/10/09

    @GoldenRatioφ (aka -girl11): That's just smart classroom management!

    Reminds me of my favorite childrens books...

    [www.buyolympia.com] #lilyskids
     Reply
    kate! was starred kate! was unstarred
    Image of MegiEr MegiEr
    11/09/09

    In reply to Lilly's Kids: What's Christmas Without Reinforcing Gender Stereotypes?
    zomg I wanted those McDonald and kitchen sets so bad when I was little. It is funny to think that my idea of a perfect afternoon then would be to pretend to work at the drive-thru window at Mickey D's. Dream big!! #lilyskids
     Reply
    Le Kangourou de Kataroo promoted this comment MegiEr was starred MegiEr was unstarred
    Image of Le Kangourou de Kataroo Le Kangourou de Kataroo
    11/09/09

    @MegiEr: We used to play "Sonic" for HOURS when we were little. Someone would sit in the van and be the customer, and someone else got to wear rollerskates and be the waitress. It was always a fight over who got to be waitress first #lilyskids
     Reply
    Le Kangourou de Kataroo was starred Le Kangourou de Kataroo was unstarred
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