What is it with Drag?

[JamesSavik]

OK. I have to admit to my ignorance.

 

I just don't get drag.

 

I don't understand it. I must admit that I find it somewhat frighting, uncomfortable and even embarrassed to be near.

 

I've been to drag shows and thought them to be more pathetic than funny.

 

I can't imagine anything less arousing.

 

Could someone please fill me in on the mysteries of drag?

 

WTF is it all about anyway? I'm sorry but I just don't get it.

 

 

[in all fairness I am atypical. I don't like shopping, musicals and I wouldn't be caught dead with track lighting]

[MikeL]

Could someone please fill me in on the mysteries of drag?

I would guess (and it is a guess) that some gay men think that the essence of being gay is the feminine aspect. If you are gay, then you are not a man and should not pretend to be one. Effeminate behavior plays directly to the stereotype that most straights - especially the bashers and haters - have of gays. The majority of gays are masculine and have no doubts about their masculinity. For what it's worth, straights are more likely to accept masculine gays.

 

For the flashy, flamboyant, effeminate gays who wear dresses, the word drag really is appropriate...they are a drag on the gay movement.

 

Please don't misunderstand me. Effeminate gays must be accepted by "straight acting" gays. Otherwise we have no right to expect acceptance for anyone.

[C James]

OK. I have to admit to my ignorance.

 

I just don't get drag.

 

I don't understand it. I must admit that I find it somewhat frighting, uncomfortable and even embarrassed to be near.

 

I've been to drag shows and thought them to be more pathetic than funny.

 

I can't imagine anything less arousing.

 

Could someone please fill me in on the mysteries of drag?

 

WTF is it all about anyway? I'm sorry but I just don't get it.

 

 

[in all fairness I am atypical. I don't like shopping, musicals and I wouldn't be caught dead with track lighting]

 

Okay, my take on this is just a personal opinion; I don't get drag either. To me, a large part of being gay means not being attracted to women, so to me the logical extension of that is not being attracted to feminine behavior such as drag. But, as I often say; to each, their own.

 

As for your "don't like" list, I'm with you on everything except track lighting; I installed track lighting in my workshop, garage, and utility room because I very much like the ability to reposition the spotlights on what I'm working on (I do a lot of woodwork, and some mechanical and metalworking.) For example, if I need to move my drill press to the end of one of my workbenches, I very much like being able to spotlight the thing with one of the track lighting cans. Mainly, I like my workshop workspaces lit by bare-bulb fluorescent overheads, with the track lighting (all high-power spots) on a separate switch to intensely light areas where I'm doing precision work, such as punching holes in steel plating with my drill press, or using a jig to make dovetailing. It's also ideal for engine work on my SUV: I aim a few cans at it from different angles, and that gets rid of any shadows while I work.

[Tiger]

I think some guys like to stand out in a crowd, and this is certainly the case of drag queens. It also fulfills a need, a need to look beautiful. It is worth noting that in actual numbers, there are more straight men who like cross dressing. As for the gay community and drag queens, it's all about fun, femininity, and a certain sense of pride. It's definitely not my thing, but I find no reason to be a drag queen. To me, it just seems like too much work.

[Bondwriter]

A biopic did shed some light on this issue for me. It's called The Einstein of Sex

[JamesSavik]

I met a guy when I was in my early 20s who was into drag. He was really "pretty" and had the facial shape and the body that could make it work.

 

When I talked to him about it, he said that it made him feel sexy and desired.

 

To me he was more desirable in jean and a shirt as a guy.

 

I think that a lot of str8s have the idea that they dress in drag to "fool people" and have access to str8 men. I know this has happened but I know that its uncommon.

 

They busted a drag queen who was working as a hooker. Men would pick her (really him) up, they would go some place remote and he would rob them. A lot of her victims would not file a complaint.

 

In another funny case locally, two rich high school jocks when down town to pick up a hooker (and got one that was packing more than they thought) . They went out in the woods and she blew them but they want to do something else but she refused. They grabbed him and were goin to rape "her" but were so shocked when they found out her dick was bigger than their, "she" kicked both of their asses. This story is told to all the high school boys to get them to stay away from hookers (as if STDs weren't enough). It had its origins in the eighties and the drag queen is something of a local legend herself.

[Nephylim]

Drag is just part of life's rich tappestry. People are unique, every single one of them. I have never been able to understand why lesbians go for women who look more like men than men do... if you want a man have a man. Similar thing. Me, I like men who look and feel like men and women who look and feel like women. On the other hand I do understand that people's tastes vary enormously. Some men like to dress and look like women, some women like to dress and look like men. I like to dye my hair green and wear black lipstick... to each their own.

[Rigel]

There's a Chinese restaurant in my town. It's name is "DRAGON CITY" but the "O" and the "N" have been burned out for the past couple of weeks. I wondered what would happen if I put on a dress and showed up at "DRAG CITY" and then expressed confusion about what they were advertising... (It's either that or a place for car racing...)

 

On a more serious level, if you see the movie "Taking Woodstock," the character of the ex-Marine security guard who wears dresses played by Liev Schreiber casts some light on the possibilities of drag. The movie has flaws, but the main character is exploring his sexuality in the physical domain of his parents' world. The memoir the film is based on is more explciit--Eliot Tiber (nee Teichberg) had just been present at the Stonewall Riots in New York City a few weeks before returning to the Borscht-Belt part of the Catskills to help his parents out with their almost-bankrupt seedy motel and bringing the Woodstock Festival to White Lake and Yasgur's farm. The Woodstock Festival plays a background role in this story, although the film both pays homage to and works off of Michael Wadleigh's 1972 music/documentary Woodstock.

 

--Rigel

[Excuse]

From what I understand about drag is that it's existed for centuries, in different forms, for different reasons - from the female characters in shakespeares plays, to the male prostitutes in the molly houses of London. I personally find the allure of drag in its comedy - the bitchy snipes, diva moments and the caberet scene is damned funny. Granted they can be over the top sometimes and even I (I'm quite open-minded) feel a little unsettled.

 

However I think that most men that dress in drag feel it allows them a glimpse at being feminine, donning a wig and some over teh top make-up lets them feel "special" and "beautified" because men "aren't supposed to preen infront of the mirror" The idea that men can't be feminine, I should think, causes them to almost create an alter ego:

 

"Hi my names Gloria, Gloria Holes"

(sans the wig)

"Hi I'm Matt"

 

That kinda thing, (I actually know someone with an alter ego called that) anyway so-

1) They get to feel feminine without doing it in Male character (if you will)

2) They get a shed loada attention doing so - you can go from quiet to loud and brassy. (guy from Boston Legal par example)

3) It's pretty funny

4) It puts you in the mind set of the opposite sex - which is an interesting if not complex place to be.

 

I don't necc. think that drag is a sexualised thing... of all the men I've met that do drag not one of them goes out to hook up dress that way.

 

In my experience it's either been as a dare - between straight guys (probably to emasculate each other - although they all laughed about it) been done whilst hammered (I donned a mini-skirt after a litre of whisky - we all got a laugh at how ridiculous I looked)or at a costume party - (my very straight masculine mate dressed as a cheerleader)

 

anyway all of that is just my thoughts on it, and I dunno how or why men do it but hey each to there own.

 

oh also, you don't have to be a screaming queen to do it either - they do probably make the best ones though. Like I said I've donned a skirt once or twice and I'm comfortable in who I am, and I don't think I'm either masculine nor feminine, I'm a bit of both, which I think everyone should be - the whole yin yan philosophy.

[Krista]

Drag to me, I've only seen it like twice for real.. and that's at a gay club. We don't have gay pride parades and the like here, but to me its just a showy way of showing that you're comfortable enough in your own skin and your own sexuality to push these boundaries. Some drag queens do it just for singing shows, dressing up as say Cher, Liza, Dolly, etc...

 

So to me it doesn't involve any need/desire/sexuality but more or less an entertainment factor and receiving attention.

 

Oh and straight men dressing up as women for Halloween parties is like an every year thing here... its hilarious really.

[Tiger]

I think we also need to remember the difference between drag queens and transgendered people (along with the transition). Drag is only an occasional thing, whereas those who are transgendered live as women (or a man if it is a woman who wants to be a man). Drag is for entertainment. The transition from one gender to the other is a need to be who you are. Transgendered people will dress as the gender they wish to be and still seek members of the gender in which they are attracted, sometimes at great peril. Thus, we should remember that a drag queen is unlikely looking for a date while dressed that way while someone who is transgendered is.

[Nephylim]

My daughter has a lot of gay friends, both male and female. Some of her male gay friends are very flamboyant. One in particular would think nothing of going to a party.. and has done... in fishnet black tights and red sequinned hotpants and tail coat. That wasn't drag it was just an expression of his personality... he wasn't dressing like a woman he was dressing like him. Another is a professional drag artist and he only dresses like a woman (and has far better legs than I do) when he is getting paid for it. I suppose it's a case of.... whatever floats your boat.

[Ashi]

Watch "Breakfast on Pluto." Cillian Murphy played a drag. It's not always how it looks on the outside and it's not always glamorous.

 

Working in the fashion retail before, so I was exposed to the subject first handed. A co-worker had a second job as a drag. I didn't make any judgment when he acted flamboyant, but it does turn me off (when some of us tried not to, they deliberately do the act). But you know, I don't think that makes him weird. That's just him, being him (or being her, I am confused). It's a persona. He's a decent guy really. I sometimes feel he was more insecure than anything. The aforementioned movie is a good study for the subject. It is very depressing, however (life is a drag?). Hedwig and the Angry Inch is another good one.

 

Like Tiger and other mentioned, it's just for entertainment. And drag is a straight thing too. Some men just love to wear women's clothes. It still awes me that there is a section when Holden Caulfield (sp?) saw (voyeur?) a businessman secretly dressed in drag in The Catcher in the Rye. I don't think that guy is gay, you know. It's just some stuff people do.

 

Do you consider guys who wear skinny jeans gay? Before they made skinny jeans for guys, some people buy women's jeans you know. They're not gay, just scrawny. They buy kids clothes, too. (kid's clothes are a lot of fun)