Addressing Misogyny In Drag


Drag performance originates from Western cis gay male subculture and is an overt expression of contempt for women in general and trans* women in particular. In both means and motive, it is a close parallel to the blackface and yellowface performances which were once a common element in minstrel shows: members of a privileged group dress up as members of an oppressed group and play out their own bigoted stereotypes about that group for the amusement of people who share that bigotry. Drag performance is a public playground for the rampant sexism and cissexism of the gay male community, gleefully reiterating and reinforcing every sort of prejudice against women.

Like the cis gay male subculture which spawned it, drag culture is especially contemptuous of trans women. This is illustrated by the way prominent drag queens such as RuPaul and Sharon Needles go out of their way to use their positions as popular media figures to spread dangerous misinformation about trans* people, to encourage the use of transmisogynistic slurs such as “t**nny”, and even to attack those who are respectful towards trans people. Drag queens are so rabidly transmisogynistic that they can’t stand it when others aren’t transmisogynistic.

To be crystal clear, this criticism does not extend to cross-dressing as an expression of nonbinary, genderqueer, and/or genderfluid identities or even cross-dressing as a sexual fetish. It is specifically about drag, as in public showbiz performances built around grossly exaggerated, exhibitionistic cross-dressing as an grotesque parody of women and/or trans women.

Drag is not fabulous. Drag is fucking offensive to all women, and especially to trans women.

Source: Freedom In Wickedness