RuPaul's Drag Race

CKonetheonlyone wrote: »

jesus - leganja (sp?), the arse really fell out of your shtick. she was soo one dimensional at the end. that whole act was so limited!

i'm surprised at how much dela crème is stuggling

delighted bianca won another challenge

btw, most of my predictions have been wrong except - i did say at week one that Visage would castigate dela crème for not being herself. but i mean, for fuxxsake, she has built a CHARACTER!! for her now to go out in drag and act as plain old Paul (or whatever) makes no sense and it's an uttely pointless criticism.

WHY IN GOD'S NAME DO YOU WANT TO SEE THE 'REAL' PERSON? SHE'S A DRAG QUEEN YOU DUMB B*****D

SO F****D OFF RIGHT NOW, sorry for shouting though

Agreed, agreed, AGREED!

Paddy C wrote: »

Personally, I think Leganja peaked at her death drop in the opening of the first episode. If she was willing to do it then, and so well, there wasn't much else left for the viewers, as evidenced by her performance for the rest of her time on the show.

If you use up all your tricks too fast, you're putting yourself under immense pressure to keep wowing people. all the past winners were people who kept consistent and didn't pull out the stops until the second half of the season.

EDIT: After having talked to trans friends last night, I decided to take off this post. I was out of order in a sense and would rather people didn't read it and think that was my opinion now.

Cydoniac wrote: »

Also remember that the drag community is often a safe zone for transwomen

I wasn't going to comment here because I don't watch the show, but I do feel like I have to post because there is something I'd like you to understand. Words like 'tranny' and 'shemale' hurt. A lot. I don't know if I can sufficiently explain to you why these words hurt so much, but if you were ever in the position of having them roared at you from a passing car, or sneered at you in a bar by someone who wants to make sure you hear them and know you're not welcome, or overhear those words whispered or giggled and suddenly feel eyes on you because you wonder are people talking about you. These are words that cut to the bone for trans people, because they bring with them feelings of hatred, hostility, of derision and being ridiculed, feelings of being 'other' and unwelcome. To paraphrase a certain Irish LGBT icon...

They. Feel. Oppressive.

And you know, regardless of the context, those words still hurt, they are still nasty and they still serve to remind us what some parts of society think of us. When they are not used in reference to trans people, we still see that they are vicious terms, and here on boards we can see perfect examples of that when people call Linda Martin those words, precisely so they can be as hurtful as they can towards her. Those words are never nice, so when people come along and condescend to trans people that we shouldn't be so sensitive or that it's ok because it's in a certain context, or they shouldn't have to be considerate to people who those slurs directly affect, THAT feels oppressive.

So you say that the drag community is a safe space for trans people? I think that an awful lot of transgender people have articulated how and why these words are hurtful and hateful slurs, and among many other LGBT groups that highlight how negative these slurs are, GLAAD have stated how "These words only serve to dehumanize transgender people and should not be used." I really, really don't think that there is much ambiguity left with how trans people feel about these words, so how inclusive can a community really be when they prioritize using slurs over trans people? How inclusive is it, when the only other people who are so invested in using these slurs are people who vehemently hate and despise us. The drag community right now is coming across like Jim Walsh complaining that he can't call gay people 'fairies', and how do you think this feels to trans people?

I don't want this to get drawn into a debate, I don't want to discuss the validity of these words or if they're OK under certain circumstances, they're not. I just want to ask you to consider the impact these words have on the people they are usually directed towards. Go back to enjoying your show, and discussing the happenings of every episodes, it'll be far more interesting than my little interjection here. But I would like to leave you with the words of Carmen Carrera to consider also:

Although I am certain RuPaul’s Drag Race didn’t mean to be offensive, let this be a learning experience. I think the show has opened up and educated the minds of many people who were ignorant to the world of drag and has made equality and respect a possibility for those involved, not only as equal beings but as phenomenal artists. There has always been a huge presence of trans artists in the drag scene. “Shemale” is an incredibly offensive term, and this whole business about if you can tell whether a woman is biological or not is getting kind of old. We live in a new world where understanding and acceptance are on the rise. Drag Race should be a little smarter about the terms they use and comprehend the fight for respect trans people are facing every minute of today. They should use their platform to educate their viewers truthfully on all facets of drag performance art.

Cydoniac wrote: »

I just want you to know I didn't mean to be malicious about it

I didn't think it was malicious at all

eviltwin wrote: »

Its made me wonder, is drag itself not offensive then to trans women?

No, not at all.