Oh, Mary Cheney, what were you thinking when you wrote on your Facebook wall that you don’t understand why drag is OK and blackface isn’t? Did you really mean it, or were you just looking for news ways to troll, aside from fundraising for antigay politicians?
Whatever Cheney’s motivations were, she’s not the first person to suggest that drag and blackface are equivalent. If can be a little difficult to articulate a relevant reason why! You might say “drag has a long tradition,” but so does blackface. Tradition doesn’t make something good. You might say “drag doesn’t seek to denigrate anyone,” but that’s exactly how blackface supporters would defend it, by claiming that “it’s all in good fun.”
You might even try to dodge the question by pointing out that Mary Cheney sucks and is ugly. Well, if that’s your argument, then you suck and your soul is ugly. Ignoring someone’s question simply because you don’t like them is what conservatives do all the time. And criticizing an idea expressed by a woman by critiquing her physical appearance is just about the definition of misogyny, so knock it off.
Instead, how about you answer the question by watching the video below, in which multimedia idea-man Matt Baume explains the differences between drag and blackface. Then he gives Mary Cheney what-for, not because she asked a question about drag but because she’s supported some really truly terrible politicians.
How about we take this to the next level?
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sectbrawn
Mary Cheney has nothing better to worry about other than drag queens? She may want to focus on the stain on the family name caused by her war criminal father or her batshit crazy sister would would LOVE to see little sis be legally treated as a second class citizen. Sistergirl needs to make sure her house is in order before snooping in other people’s closets.
MarionPaige
In all seriousness, I have to ask … “exactly what are you smoking”? You must be on something to think that you are coming across as “believable” in your many videos. At this point, what actually comes out of your mouth is secondary to the movement of your head, since IT seems to be controlled by some “head movement algorithm” based on an analysis of old Jack Paar tapes.
I get that you think you are coming across as warm and human however, I’m here to tell you that what you’ve achieved is more like Replicant Nightly News.
Centuries of men dressing up as women (how you managed to do your expert analysis of “drag” without mentioning Milton Berle highlights your “limited” historical context), centuries of men dressing up as women and the world now has YOU AND RUPAUL for the definitive final word on “drag”.
MarionPaige
btw, there is in fact video of Milton Berle and RuPaul together – it didn’t go well
Bad Ass Biker
@sectbrawn: Right on target: I agree completely and find it ironic that Mary asks about drag while dressing like a man. At one point I think she could have been a positive force for the gay community, but given her hiding as a coward in her dysfunctional family, at this point she would be well advised to continue to keep her mouth shut as she has in the past. Mary, no one in the gay community gives a rat’s ass what you have to say about anything.
McShane
@MarionPaige: Are you talking about the one episode of The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour, when Mitlon Berle played a character, Auntie Mildred. That’s what’s upsetting you?
MarionPaige
can’t tell if you’re actually serious
McShane
As a heart attack. Milton Berle was not a Drag Queen, but he did wear black face.
MarionPaige
Eddie Murphy also wears “Black Face”
AxelDC
Very well stated. Drag is not intended to demean women, but to belittle gender barriers.
AxelDC
@McShane: Speaking of Lucille Ball, she used male drag several times for comedic effect, including her famous mirror scene with Harpo Marx.
spiffy
This is a much better response than World Of Wonder simply re-using a drag history lesson clip and called it a Message to Mary Cheney.
OzJosh
It’s ludicrous to say women are not the butt of the joke in drag in exactly the same way black people are the butt of the joke in minstrel shows. It’s also a stretch to say women are not offended. Many feminists have long objected to drag, for the very reasons raised by Mary Cheney. The outrage this has sparked among drag devotees is actually no different to the outrage attacks on blackface once caused. Many people – performers and fans – were just as invested in that tradition, and seeing it as wrong required a leap of consciousness. The same thing is needed now over drag. It’s practitioners will no doubt go kicking and screaming and protesting that everybody is missing the joke and mistaking their good intentions and pure hearts. So did all those well-meaning guys in blackface.
Clark35
@AxelDC: That might not be the original intent of drag but that’s what it does to women, as lots of Drag queens and Trans-women are misogynists, and Drag kings and Trans-men are misandrist.
@OzJosh: Very true. I agree with your post since it’s the truth. Drag stopped being relevant decades ago in the early 70s, and it’s very tiresome how people think it still matters or is important.
jar
@OzJosh: Just because you think it, doesn’t make it true. Produce the evidence for your claims. The only thing you’ve actually stated is that there are opponents and proponents for each. Supplant porn for drag and your statements are the same. But that doesn’t prove that blackface is the same as drag or porn.
jwtraveler
@OzJosh: Many drag performers perform as their favorite female celebrities as a tribute to them. I don’t think anyone ever performed in blackface as a tribute to a black person.
@MarionPaige: I like Matt’s response. That doesn’t mean it’s the definitive word.
Your comment, on the other hand, says absolutely nothing except bitch, bitch, bitch. You clearly have nothing to say, so why bother.
Fang
Bravo to Matt Baume. Always on point! What a guy!!
DarkZephyr
@MarionPaige: I think you are one of the most awful people I have ever encountered in any medium in all my life. Why are you so terrible?
DarkZephyr
There are a couple of self righteous men here attacking drag (and thus their own LGBT siblings like Cheney did)but I know a lot of women who LOVE drag. And as a man, I will say that I love drag kings. I do not feel like they are misandrist that they are “attacking” men or disrespecting men at all. I find what they do a celebration of masculinity in its various forms. Its not a bad thing. I see the work of Drag Queens to be for the most part, similar. I see drag as an art form. I just can’t agree with some of the gay men commenting above or with Ms. Cheney. I think a lot of the guys who are pretending to be oh so indignant on the behalf of women are actually using that as an excuse to lash out at those who are gender-non-conforming without coming across as bigots. That is my firm belief. Many radical feminists are just as bigoted so citing feminism here to sound more noble than they really are doesn’t cover for their own bigotry. There are feminists who have no issues with drag, don’t lump all feminists together.
@Clark35: Wow, you are trying to catch up to MarionPage in awfulness it seems, you Transphobic @$$.
@OzJosh: LOL Drag is NEVER going away, kicking or screaming or otherwise. Do you think Drag Kings are also wearing something akin to “Black Face” and as a man, do you SERIOUSLY feel insulted or threatened in any way by it?