Dr. Neal Lester, highly respected for his work on racism and sexism, defined “cultural appropriation is profiting off something that is not materially or culturally your own. Like plagiarizing an idea or paper, admitting it’s not yours, but getting credit anyhow.”
He further defined it as abusing or misusing elements of the culture to perpetuate stereotypes and using it as a “costume” or “performance” for amusement, edginess, coolness, trendiness, or some other purpose lacking in understanding and authenticity. He rightly noted that cultural appropriation is about power and dominant versus subordinate cultures rooted in white, supremacist practices that manifest and perpetuate systemic racism.
Men dressed as women have been around since Roman and Greek times when women were not allowed to perform on stage. But in the 19th century, “drag” was associated with minstrel shows where women and African Americans were mocked as “wenches.”
Bean, Annemarie (2001), Female Impersonation in Nineteenth-Century American Blackface Minstrelsy, New York University, ProQuest 304709304.
Men in drag adorn themselves with exaggerated make-up, wigs, and garments. They dress in stereotypical clothing that was meant to and does constrain and harm women – large breasts, corsets, stockings, high heels. Corsets prevent women from breathing that leads to fainting. Large breasts harm your back, shoulders, and posture. High heels seriously damage women’s feet, legs, and back. Women fought and still fight against such restraining and harmful clothing. In 2019, Japanese women protested the required wearing of high heels at work. “Glamorizing” such clothing perpetuates patriarchal and offensive stereotypes of women.
Kirsten Anderberg points out in a 2006 paper, “Imitating Others as Control: Is Drag Sexist/Racist?” that not only do the men dress in stereotypical costumes, but they act in stereotypical ways i.e. giddy, stupid, shallow, bitchy, catty, dumb, slutty. They also refer to women in the most insulting and disparaging manner i.e. bitch, ho, fish. The “fish” slur is highlighted in a Huff Post article by Ashley Clark on March 3, 2014. I’ve heard it myself many a time.
A 2014 article by Meghan Murphy in Feminist Current reported that in the 2013 Toronto Pride event, a drag queen named “Daytona Bitch” was fired for appearing as a white person in blackface. If a man mocking the hand gestures and voice inflection of Black women is racist, how is a man mocking a stereotype of women not sexist? African Americans don’t tolerate ridicule, why should women? Of course it’s wrong for a white person to appear in blackface; but it is just as wrong for a man to appear as a caricature of a woman.
The former president was rightly criticized when he mocked a disabled reporter. Progressives support the movement to change the names and symbols of sports teams that belittle Native Americans, e.g. “Red Skins” and “Tomahawk Chop.” Generally, progressives understand that members of the dominant/oppressor class should not mock the marginalized group. (Is Drag Misogynistic, M.K. Fain, 7 October 2019). Yet many people pay to see and laugh and clap when men mock women.
Males have privilege whether they want it or not just as whites have privilege whether they want it or not. A man can pretend to be a female in drag, but he can abandon that costume and return to his male privilege at any time just as whites who pretend to be Black can abandon their paint and return to their white privilege anytime. Blacks and women cannot. Whites in blackface is not just offensive because one group is imitating a stereotype of another, it’s offensive because of centuries of oppression by whites against Blacks. Likewise, men imitating a stereotype of women is offensive not just because of the glamorizing of stereotypes but also because men have been oppressing women for centuries. Using another’s oppression for entertainment is the height of privilege.
The “drag” presentation of femininity is not real any more than gender is real. Both are constructed by society as a set of behaviors, attitudes, and looks that were created to confine women in a subservient position as defined by males. The definition of femininity and gender change over time and from one culture to another. Glorifying stereotypes is glorifying oppression.
“Drag” is rooted in white, male supremacy that manifests and perpetuates systemic sexism. A flashy performance like Ru Paul does not make it any more acceptable. I have never liked drag shows and never understood why women went to them. I have asked but got a blank stare or “it’s fun.” It may be “fun” to joke about myself with other women; but it’s not fun when men ridicule me – ever.
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