Drag Queen Story Hours

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just something else to do. Always looking for new things to do on the weekends - mainly for me because I think my kid would be fine going to the same park forever, but I need some new kid-friendly experiences mixed in.

Would you be ok if your child asked your husband to dress up and put make up next time they want a bed time story. I’m sorry but it is weird.

Obviously yes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:They're fun?

Not sure I see the fun of having to escort my kid through a parasol patrol hiding protesters and a police presence. I can find many other things to do with my kid on a weekend. Like to go a bookstore and read to them myself.

+1
No one has ever been able to explain the *value* of drag queen story hour. Ever.

I already did in like the first or second post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:NP. I don’t really get it either. However, I’ve been uncomfortable with the overt sexism/misogyny at adult drag shows I’ve attended, so wouldn’t be comfortable letting a child attend.

Yeah um, I love drag shows but I wouldn’t take my toddler! But I love drag queen story hour. It’s for kids, it’s not the same performance! People can’t be this dense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Minstrelsy blackface, it is sometimes claimed, was one of the first uniquely – and uniquely awful – American forms of artistic expression.

For decades and decades, on stages and then in movies, white Americans darkened their faces with burnt cork or shoe polish, exaggerated their features and mannerisms, and pretended to be black Americans – lazy, oafish, superstitious, sexually rapacious, illiterate, stupid, inferior black Americans.

It was a direct outgrowth of the nation’s history of slavery and racism, a white-supremacist reflection of a majority culture ridiculing the very people it was oppressing. It flourished in the years after slavery was abolished – a knee-jerk cultural reaction by white Americans who were clearly uncomfortable with the social ramifications of free black Americans.

That is why blackface remains so offensive today. It’s not just the burnt cork. It’s the history and context.

So when people try to co-opt blackface for their own unrelated political aims – by, say, comparing drag queens to blackface performers – it cynically reduces the historical crime of blackface to little more than a selfish, opportunistic political strategy. It’s like comparing a hangnail to the Holocaust.

If drag queens freak you out, you should at least not pretend it’s because you’re so dang woke.”


https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/12/dont-compare-drag-queens-to-blackfaced-minstrels/

Right. A white male author is invested in telling women that objecting to the exaggerated physical, emotional, and language features that drag queens use to mimic women is just “selfish” and “opportunistic.”

For historic reference, there were many, many white people over the years who were invested in telling Black people that blackface was “just entertainment” and they should “get a sense of humor” and blackface was just fine.

Women should just get a sense of humor, right? Why are they so dang uptight? I, a white man, need the right to mock them as I please!

As a woman, I love a drag show. To me it proves that glamour doesn’t come from your taco and that gender roles can be challenged and adjusted. I’ve never met/seen a drag queen that didn’t seem like a feminist ally to me at least in terms of her performance/persona. But I’m sure there are bad drag queens out there doing bad things.

I’m open to arguments about it but for now, for me, there’s nothing about drag that conflicts with my values and they put on a great show which is what makes a great story hour.

What I’m less open to arguments about is the right they have to do those performances and the right we have to go watch them, which doesn’t inflict on your right to be mad about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is pretty interesting that in this thread, posters have respectfully and (largely) without name-calling, discussed their thoughts on misogyny and sexism in drag, but the responses to those posts have (largely) just been people name-calling and unwilling to address the substance.

It isn’t very persuasive to sound like you are having a temper tantrum when a member of a historically deeply oppressed group says “hey, I perceive this as entertainment based in deep and historic oppression.”

There were blistering articles written about the right to blackface back in the day. There is nothing like the entitlement of the powerful to provoke rage when questioned.

Why do you think we're trying to "persuade" you of anything? You make disgusting comments then people will call you out for it.

Saying that drag is rooted in a history of misogyny and sexism is “disgusting”?

In fifty years, articles about the history of sexism will be written about people like you, and drag will have entered the history books for the sexist minstrelry that it is at heart. But keep having your temper tantrum in the mean time.

Manufacturing "history" to support your bigoted narrative is disgusting.

It’s too bad you are clearly incapable of rational discussion.

You are being left behind.

Who do you think I am?

A person who thinks sexism and misogyny is the pinnacle of entertainment.

Drag will be regarded years from now the way that blackface is rightly regarded now. It is sexist minstrelry based on harmful stereotypes.

I mean I think we can agree to disagree on this. To me it helps deconstruct those harmful stereotypes. I don’t think it’s the same as a blackface performance at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s someone well trained in stage performance reading stories to kids in a way that is very engaging. They also wear costumes that are whimsical and ostentatious which kids also find fun and silly. No different than a magician or clown show or a Disney parade—it’s a kid-friendly performance in costume.

All drag shows are put on by musical theatre professionals?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is pretty interesting that in this thread, posters have respectfully and (largely) without name-calling, discussed their thoughts on misogyny and sexism in drag, but the responses to those posts have (largely) just been people name-calling and unwilling to address the substance.

It isn’t very persuasive to sound like you are having a temper tantrum when a member of a historically deeply oppressed group says “hey, I perceive this as entertainment based in deep and historic oppression.”

There were blistering articles written about the right to blackface back in the day. There is nothing like the entitlement of the powerful to provoke rage when questioned.

Why do you think we're trying to "persuade" you of anything? You make disgusting comments then people will call you out for it.

Saying that drag is rooted in a history of misogyny and sexism is “disgusting”?

In fifty years, articles about the history of sexism will be written about people like you, and drag will have entered the history books for the sexist minstrelry that it is at heart. But keep having your temper tantrum in the mean time.

Manufacturing "history" to support your bigoted narrative is disgusting.

It’s too bad you are clearly incapable of rational discussion.

You are being left behind.

Who do you think I am?

A person who thinks sexism and misogyny is the pinnacle of entertainment.

Drag will be regarded years from now the way that blackface is rightly regarded now. It is sexist minstrelry based on harmful stereotypes.

I mean I think we can agree to disagree on this. To me it helps deconstruct those harmful stereotypes. I don’t think it’s the same as a blackface performance at all.

Curious, how and why are exagerating skin tone of different races different than appropriating the body parts of different sexes?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Minstrelsy blackface, it is sometimes claimed, was one of the first uniquely – and uniquely awful – American forms of artistic expression.

For decades and decades, on stages and then in movies, white Americans darkened their faces with burnt cork or shoe polish, exaggerated their features and mannerisms, and pretended to be black Americans – lazy, oafish, superstitious, sexually rapacious, illiterate, stupid, inferior black Americans.

It was a direct outgrowth of the nation’s history of slavery and racism, a white-supremacist reflection of a majority culture ridiculing the very people it was oppressing. It flourished in the years after slavery was abolished – a knee-jerk cultural reaction by white Americans who were clearly uncomfortable with the social ramifications of free black Americans.

That is why blackface remains so offensive today. It’s not just the burnt cork. It’s the history and context.

So when people try to co-opt blackface for their own unrelated political aims – by, say, comparing drag queens to blackface performers – it cynically reduces the historical crime of blackface to little more than a selfish, opportunistic political strategy. It’s like comparing a hangnail to the Holocaust.

If drag queens freak you out, you should at least not pretend it’s because you’re so dang woke.”


https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/12/dont-compare-drag-queens-to-blackfaced-minstrels/

Right. A white male author is invested in telling women that objecting to the exaggerated physical, emotional, and language features that drag queens use to mimic women is just “selfish” and “opportunistic.”

For historic reference, there were many, many white people over the years who were invested in telling Black people that blackface was “just entertainment” and they should “get a sense of humor” and blackface was just fine.

Women should just get a sense of humor, right? Why are they so dang uptight? I, a white man, need the right to mock them as I please!

As a woman, I love a drag show. To me it proves that glamour doesn’t come from your taco and that gender roles can be challenged and adjusted. I’ve never met/seen a drag queen that didn’t seem like a feminist ally to me at least in terms of her performance/persona. But I’m sure there are bad drag queens out there doing bad things.

I’m open to arguments about it but for now, for me, there’s nothing about drag that conflicts with my values and they put on a great show which is what makes a great story hour.

What I’m less open to arguments about is the right they have to do those performances and the right we have to go watch them, which doesn’t inflict on your right to be mad about it.

Thank you.

[Anonymous]

On the one hand I think there's too much pearl clutching about the men in dresses, and I'm on the conservative side. It's not too different from Halloween or a Shakespeare play. But I do understand the concerns raised because they were traditionally adult entertainers, and it's an odd crossover from adult entertainment to the toddler circuit - though I believe that most of the DQSH's aren't sexual. The reality is that a toddler won't even remember the drag queen or the story being read. But your toddler will absorb your values, whatever they are. This is all just a way for adults from both sides to get their culture wars on.

[Anonymous]

Kids dig bright colors and sparkles. Any story time reader is going to be dialed in to age appropriate content and engagement. I see this as no different than the bands that play at Jammin Java for or the Kennedy Center for their kid series. I’m glad there is another safe kid event in DC. I also really appreciate the community support in regards to standing up to the bully PB.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:On the one hand I think there's too much pearl clutching about the men in dresses, and I'm on the conservative side. It's not too different from Halloween or a Shakespeare play. But I do understand the concerns raised because they were traditionally adult entertainers, and it's an odd crossover from adult entertainment to the toddler circuit - though I believe that most of the DQSH's aren't sexual. The reality is that a toddler won't even remember the drag queen or the story being read. But your toddler will absorb your values, whatever they are. This is all just a way for adults from both sides to get their culture wars on.

This is what annoys me about the Drag Queen story time…it’s all performative, and I’m not talking about the drag queens.

[Anonymous]

The Olney story hour was in part promoting a show called Kinky Boots which is rated PG-13.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:“Minstrelsy blackface, it is sometimes claimed, was one of the first uniquely – and uniquely awful – American forms of artistic expression.

For decades and decades, on stages and then in movies, white Americans darkened their faces with burnt cork or shoe polish, exaggerated their features and mannerisms, and pretended to be black Americans – lazy, oafish, superstitious, sexually rapacious, illiterate, stupid, inferior black Americans.

It was a direct outgrowth of the nation’s history of slavery and racism, a white-supremacist reflection of a majority culture ridiculing the very people it was oppressing. It flourished in the years after slavery was abolished – a knee-jerk cultural reaction by white Americans who were clearly uncomfortable with the social ramifications of free black Americans.

That is why blackface remains so offensive today. It’s not just the burnt cork. It’s the history and context.

So when people try to co-opt blackface for their own unrelated political aims – by, say, comparing drag queens to blackface performers – it cynically reduces the historical crime of blackface to little more than a selfish, opportunistic political strategy. It’s like comparing a hangnail to the Holocaust.

If drag queens freak you out, you should at least not pretend it’s because you’re so dang woke.”


https://www.spokesman.com/stories/2019/jun/12/dont-compare-drag-queens-to-blackfaced-minstrels/

Right. A white male author is invested in telling women that objecting to the exaggerated physical, emotional, and language features that drag queens use to mimic women is just “selfish” and “opportunistic.”

For historic reference, there were many, many white people over the years who were invested in telling Black people that blackface was “just entertainment” and they should “get a sense of humor” and blackface was just fine.

Women should just get a sense of humor, right? Why are they so dang uptight? I, a white man, need the right to mock them as I please!

As a woman, I love a drag show. To me it proves that glamour doesn’t come from your taco and that gender roles can be challenged and adjusted. I’ve never met/seen a drag queen that didn’t seem like a feminist ally to me at least in terms of her performance/persona. But I’m sure there are bad drag queens out there doing bad things.

I’m open to arguments about it but for now, for me, there’s nothing about drag that conflicts with my values and they put on a great show which is what makes a great story hour.

What I’m less open to arguments about is the right they have to do those performances and the right we have to go watch them, which doesn’t inflict on your right to be mad about it.

I’m not arguing the performances should be banned. I am arguing that they are sexist minstrelry and that the people defending them sound like the entitled white people who defended blackface performances in the past.

But if you want to go see one and take your kids, that is your call.

[Anonymous]

Im very consistent. I'm against all drag. Drag racing, drag queens, being dragged by someone else.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It is pretty interesting that in this thread, posters have respectfully and (largely) without name-calling, discussed their thoughts on misogyny and sexism in drag, but the responses to those posts have (largely) just been people name-calling and unwilling to address the substance.

It isn’t very persuasive to sound like you are having a temper tantrum when a member of a historically deeply oppressed group says “hey, I perceive this as entertainment based in deep and historic oppression.”

There were blistering articles written about the right to blackface back in the day. There is nothing like the entitlement of the powerful to provoke rage when questioned.

Why do you think we're trying to "persuade" you of anything? You make disgusting comments then people will call you out for it.

Saying that drag is rooted in a history of misogyny and sexism is “disgusting”?

In fifty years, articles about the history of sexism will be written about people like you, and drag will have entered the history books for the sexist minstrelry that it is at heart. But keep having your temper tantrum in the mean time.

Manufacturing "history" to support your bigoted narrative is disgusting.

It’s too bad you are clearly incapable of rational discussion.

You are being left behind.

Who do you think I am?

A person who thinks sexism and misogyny is the pinnacle of entertainment.

Drag will be regarded years from now the way that blackface is rightly regarded now. It is sexist minstrelry based on harmful stereotypes.

I mean I think we can agree to disagree on this. To me it helps deconstruct those harmful stereotypes. I don’t think it’s the same as a blackface performance at all.

Yes, we will have to disagree.

I think the odds of drag being socially acceptable entertainment in fifty years is slim unless the US falls even deeper into its open warfare against women, which of course seems scarily possible given what is going on with respect to women’s rights. I think — with an optimistic view towards women’s progress — that it is much more likely to be looked at with the revulsion that blackface is now. I will be curious to see what actually happens if I hopefully live that long.

To be clear, I am not advocating for banning drag, and I also do not think the Proud Boys are doing the right thing with their threats of violence and intimidation. But that doesn’t mean I can’t see the open misogyny in drag and comment or have opinions on it.