Wouldn't you rather have a nice cup of tea?
I walked by a sign advertising a drag-show this afternoon, and I was wondering about the politics of it. On one hand, I guess it's a liberating expression of the fluidity of gender identity, while on the other there seems to be something almost exploitative about putting bodies on display as part of a 'show' whose attraction is its 'queerness' (in all senses of the word). So, I wondered what the LGB-and-particularly-T community thought about these shows. Just curious.
Don't believe everything that you read.
I know there has been some friction between the transgender community and the drag community. Don't know all the details, but I think RuPaul or some other well known drag queen said or did something that was interpreted as anti-trans. There's also a certain amount of "You're not real. No, you're not real." dynamic that I've seen. However, I belong to neither community, though I know some trans folks, so I can't say I'm fully up to date on these things.
I see no harm in it. I can see that some trans people might see it as a superficial mockery of a real struggle with personal identity but if you have been through so much to come to terms with who you are I can't imagine something so petty being of that big of a concern. Personally I see it as a relief that I can exist in the public image without standing out as something I should hide and be ashamed of.
