IS DRAG TO WOMEN WHAT BLACK FACE IS TO AFRICAN AMERICANS?

(This post originally occured on Fbook, from which it incited alot of intense reactions. I reposted my response to the reactions below)


So when I posted the question that had been posed to me "Is female "drag" impersonations to women what white men in black face is to African Americans" I didn’t expect it to quite get as in intense as it did. Alot of you, posted in this note, gave some very honest, real interpretations, all evolving from your particular standpoint and worldview. I wanted to respond to some of the comments made on the status as well as offer some brief talking points for further consideration.

I wanted to preface this with something also" EVERYONE"S INTREPRETATION OF REALITY IS VALID" You feel it, it is true for you. Is it the absolute truth? Not necessarily. In fact, is their even an absolute truth is another question in of itself.

What we have here is an opportunity to hear from each other about the ways in which we view and or have been impacted by these realities in order to learn something about ourselves. I do not encourage fighting to define someone else's reality. I encourage sharing our own truths, understanding they are just that: our own truths.

I value all of you as friends and colleagues; and I also, even in disagreement, respect your views and ideas. I ask that you please extend that respect to eachother.

So now: Here's a little bit of my truth ( for now, until you offer me something new to learn!! Yay!)

1) Is their anything similar?) Hmm-my first instinct is to say yes, there is a similarity, but they Are not the same thing. Each phenomenon has a different history and legacy rooted in diverse and complicated dynamics. However like all performances of a privileged population of a marginalized group, there are definitely similarities.

First off-I have to say that I’m not always so certain that drag is in admiration of women. In fact I’m pretty certain that sometimes it isn’t. If anything, it’s a celebration of a certain kind of feminine performance; some might even say stereotypical feminine performance more so than a celebration of "women."

I believe that their is a difference. The kind of performance we see often in drag shows often validates and reinforces a certain kind of feminine expression (via women) to be the most desirable and recognizable vestiges of womanhood. That in itself is problematic because people who identify as women embody a spectrum of expression that isn’t necessarily as polarized as the performance art we witness in drag. Do I think that the intention is to offend? No. Does it change the fact that sometimes drag performance can be offensive?

The fact that a man felt entitled to tell Kenyetta, he’s more woman than she will ever be is instructive. Cause in that statement he Is saying "I
can embody and perform this expression better than you ever will be able to; and because that expression is womanhood itself; I will always be more woman than you." Problem? Id like to think so.

Because that performance is not "woman". "Woman" is not synomous with "femininity." Femininity and the range of characteristics associated with it, exist within each of us and I don’t believe should be minimized to high heel pumps and lipstick-not that those are not great things but that they in of themselves do not
define nor principally posses "womanhood", if anything at all does. Just as masculinity is not man, nor cannot be minimized ordefined principally as aggression, lack of emotion or propensity to commit violence.

2) So what’s similar about the two?
A demographic performing caricatures of another demographic for entertainment pleasure by using stereotypes, parody, and in both cases a privileged population (men/whites) performing another (blacks/women).

Just as we can say that drag is an art form, there are many, many, who will say the same about blackface.

All art is educational and instructive. What we create reflects who we are and where we are. "Blackface" and the portrayal of African Americans reflects whites perceptions and beliefs about authentic blackness
and drag performance, like blackface, reflects gay men’s perceptions and beliefs about authentic "womanhood." Could we find a lot of funk in both of these?Oh yeah. I think so.

3) Lastly I want to be intentional herein saying this because I think too often the idea of gay men being buddies to women comes up subtly. But lets be honest: ALL GAY MEN DO NOT LIKE WOMEN. Gay culture is seething with disgust and disdain for women’s bodies, women themselves, and "feminine" characteristics that are seen to be synonymous with "women."
Even the most "feminine" of men often have deep internalized sexism and self hate of their own "feminine" expression running through their veins. You can hear this in the language. "Fish" definitely being the operative term, a word used in a myriad of ways but Mostly connotes the scent of a woman's vagina, and used to express disdain, disgust about a man who embodies characteristics associated with women."

Anywho, this is a complicated conversation to have. But something to think about.
And in thinking about it, maybe not so much about whether it is “WRONG” or “RIGHT” but maybe more so, what are the consequences of this art? What does it validate? What does it help to foster, nurture, or create? What does it say about us who consume it? What is our relationship and understanding of it? Does it help liberate? Oppress? A little of Both? Always, for me, good questions for life.