Femulate post. Old style female impersonators v current day drag queens

Great link Caty thanks for sharing

Hi Caty

Personally I’m with you, love the old glam look in the photos.

I am not a fan however of the insulting overtones of the article.

Yes drag queens are all about exhibitionism, and often incorporate comedy into their persona.

Yes uninformed parts of the mass media and society may link them with those of us letting our natural femininity shine through. But that link is not the fault of drag queens.

Just like the old ‘all cross dressers must be gay’ misconception, the only answer is calling out misrepresentation in the media and educating those with preconceptions that we are the same as drag queens.

We are all about ‘live and let live’, and drag queens, like us, are just expressing themselves, and doing others no harm.

If I ever get to attend a pride event or similar I would have no problem walking beside a drag queen.

❤️Bianca

Caty,

Thanks for sharing that link!

I’m with Stana in terms of preferring the imagery of an impersonator versus a queen, and I most definitely agree regarding the tension that is caused for crossdressers when the public translates the motivations/goals/attitudes of queens with crossdressers as a whole…not particularly helpful for us in most cases.

That said, I love most drag queens and am enjoyably entertained by the flamboyance of it all!   I actually think one of the commenters in that article has it spot on when they said that the difference is that ‘female impersonators’ (most crossdressers IMO - at least in terms of their presentation) are like ‘portrait artists,’ whilst ‘drag queens’ are more like ‘caricaturists.’  That really resonated with me anyway - because I love a great portrait and get a kick out of a good caricature, and at the same time I recognize the differences between the two - and I think many others would too if they thought about it in that way….

Thanks again Caty - fun way to start my morning!

Marcellette

I've recently seen the photos from the pride in Copenhagen and I fully agree with Stana, the drag queens presenting there absolutely looks like clowns in gowns

Those 60's ladies were gorgeous!

For me, there have always been ‘drag’ personas dating back into history. In the UK we have pantomime dames and in Japan Kabuki, neither of these are seen as anything but entertainment. The same with modern drag.

The drag queen is an artist and has their own creative focus on a specific area of entertainment, and this has progressed and developed over the last few years into what seems to be a product which entertains. In the 50’s and 60’s these were still there but more underground in gay clubs and only came to the fore with the likes of Sylvester and the disco explosion in the 70’s. In the UK we had Peter Burns from Dead or Alive, Tasty Tim and Marilyn in the early 80’s, who  took their androgynous images in a new direction away from the likes of Danny La-Rue, Stanly Baxter and the other female impersonators of the day.

Pop music also moved to high energy and garage punk, the dances have became more raunchy and so have the outfits - the stars show more flesh and the dance routines have become more erotic ... gone are the days of Bing Crosby, Barry Manalow and Mat Sinatra ,  now we have Britney Spears, Beyoncé and the Pussy Cat Dolls etc., whose influence has helped change the whole entertainment industry. Drag has only followed the trend for more elaborate and outrageous to mimic the developments in the pop culture.

I am inclined to look at Drag in a totally different form of entertainment, and keep it separate from our community. However, there are many drag queens who have transitioned and many are also straight, but the art form is just that - an art form.

For the less outrageous professional female impersonator, nowadays they are seen as they are looking to/are transitioning and this tends to muddy the water even more than the Drag queens. Their art form is to imitate a genetic woman, with looks, stye, mannerisms and poise. But at the same time be known as an impersonator. Grae Phillips is one of the best in my opinion, along with Jimmy James, who both present as believable females with extreme skill while not having any additional help in their portrayal.

it seems that we are now more mainstream and the more publicised the transgender/CD community is the more questions arrises.

I love to see  passable female impersonators and also like to see good Drag Queens, but to me these are 2 different art forms - like pop and country music - same but different !

just my thoughts (lots of them!)

Dawn x

Old style for sure. Danny LaRue was typical of the breed. No offence intended, but modern queens seem to me to be not much different from pantomime dames (Puzzled? It's a Brit thing) with some exceptions, like the amazingly femme Courtney Act.

Another thing - current queens seem to be SO LOUD. I understand the whole flamboyant ultra-female thing is the current fashion (blame Ru Paul?) but I'd much rather see an elegant gown, restrained makeup and nicely coiffed hair.

That's not to say that I wouldn't give it try...................just call me Honey. Honey Suckle.

Conn

A lot of us are not gay ,we just love dressing but the media has a "one size fits all" style to their stories. Case in point,when I came out to my Wife the first thing that she asked me was if I was gay [not that gay is bad,it is just not who I am].

debbie w

And today's Femulate article says more on the topic.  My response to it --

Amen Sister! As I have said before, when MOST of the Make Up Tutorials on You Tube are for over the top Drag Queen styles, it says that the general public is either not aware of or doesn't care about those of us who are crossdressers or trans.  And it's not limited to the "regular people" either.  I have received some world class shaming from within the community.

"Why aren't you transitioning?"

"Are you not being true to yourself?"

"If you're ONLY dressing then you're living a lie."

Why do you think Baskin-Robbins has 31 flavors? Ours is NOT a "One Size Fits All" situation.  Support shouldn't be limited to our pantyhose, Sweeties!

I agree. The drag scene is uninteresting to me. Over-the-top personalities of any type exhaust me and aesthetics and dignity are important to me. Of course, these things are in the eyes of the beholder...

Hi Caty

I completely agree old style glamour is far better than modern drag, I think one of the best female impersonator's ever is Christopher Morley. Always looked the part and very convincing, he was in lots of drama's and soaps. My own opinion is the drag race hasn't done female impersonation any favours, its very loud and ott.

Love Sarah

xx