Drag story hour in communities
“We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.” — Rupaul Charles
Each one of us is in drag.
All the time. Far more than just clothes or makeup, drag is how we “dress” ourselves in beliefs, actions, likes and dislikes, etc. to navigate the world and other people. We can choose good drag, which reveals truths, subverts falsehoods and creatively imagines a better and more inclusive world for all. Or we can choose bad drag, which obscures truth, promotes falsehoods and sows division and anger. The drag each of us paints on every day varies over our lives, but its relative “beauty” or “ugliness” is always a direct reflection of the kind of person each of us chooses to be.
So why the recent drag kerfuffle? Drag opponents are obscuring what they are really upset about. In their statements they conflate a lot of things, including gender attraction, gender identity, sexuality and traditional drag. They distract us by claiming that drag is doing terrible things to kids. But their self-righteous huffing is fundamentally aimed at replacing a celebration of the rainbow spectrum of biological reality with the suffocating gloom of their humorless theocratic moral certainties.
In short, they get it entirely wrong. Worse, they offer an alternate form of bad drag that is just ugly.
Granted, there is a wide range of drag-based expressions, some of which aren’t for kids. Among the best times I had when living in New York was the annual drag show called “Wigstock.” It was funny, celebratory, raunchy, truthful and inclusive. More recently, Rupaul’s Drag Race is also alternately touching, bitchy, funny, profound and even edges into “blue.” But, like Wigstock,
Drag Race has fundamental truth and kindness at its core. I wouldn’t recommend either for young children (for the jokes, not the dress). But the honest heart of this good drag expression is far preferable to the pinched nastiness of the bad drag personae of its opponents. Furthermore, the honest heart of good drag is ALL that is presented at story hours.
Good drag in all its forms is based on truthful authenticity, which in turn reflects the reality of complex humanity. Those who refuse to see and celebrate the color spectrum of life have chosen instead their tiny black-and-white mental prisons. Worse, they insist that everyone must join them there. I think that kind of dour bad drag is truly destructive, and the expression of which should be denounced.
Fintan Steele, fsteele1@me.com
As someone who grew up in a religious household, I can’t help but come to the conclusion that many of the Drag Story Hour protestors are probably conservative Christians. Returntoorder.org says, “Accepting that men present themselves as women is tantamount to accepting that God, author of human nature and therefore of the male and female sexes, be offended.” So, the problem boils down to going against God’s intent.
However, I don’t think kids understand the nuance of the drag queen, nor do they understand the sexual connotations. All they see is a dude in a cool outfit and a wig. To me, that’s no different than an adult dressing up as a superhero (think about it: modern superheroes are hyper-sexualized … Black Widow, Captain America, etc.). The “problem” here is a man dressing up as a woman. It’s adults that project their biases about drag to the perception of their kids. Would I take my son to drag story hour?
Sure. I’d be curious to see what he thinks about it. I’m not the most progressive guy on the block, and I have the downvotes on Reddit to prove it — but I do think it’s important to portray self-expression as a positive thing. I want my kids to see adults who choose to embrace who they are rather than giving in to the pressure of conformity.
As someone who grew up being told exactly what to think, I hope that my kids question everything. I believe that through events like Drag Story Hour, children can learn that it’s good to express your creativity and be unapologetic about who you are. Furthermore, Colorado isn’t known for being the most diverse place, so events like this can help prepare our kids for the “real world.” May Drag Story Hour continue!
Hernán Villanueva, chvillanuevap@gmail.com
What was the media thinking? Why did the reporters covering Drag Queen Storytime at Niwot’s The Wandering Jellyfish center the twelve protesters when more than 100 counter-protesters showed up to drown out the hate and hypocrisy? These counter-protesters ranged from grandparents to kids, and as the Parasol Patrol, they accompanied kids and their parents into the bookstore and also stayed outside to ensure that there was a counternarrative to the hateful rhetoric spewed by some members of the Boulder County Republicans and others. And yet, local headlines, images and news stories all led with the protesters. Why? Given that the protesters were outnumbered by more than a factor of 10, the press ought to have focused instead on human rights, the compassion shown by the bookstore’s supporters, and the fact that a vocal minority was met with an outpouring of opposition. This vigorous response deserved the headline, “Boulder County residents stand up to hate, empower all to feel safe and secure while attending a private event at a bookstore.”
When the media amplifies a specific narrative — true or not — that narrative takes hold. (See: Trump’s Big Lie and Fox News for a particularly obvious example.) In this case, the impact of the protesters was greatly exaggerated. The media has a responsibility to challenge idealogues instead of offering them a big platform. In the example of the drag queen story time, the media should have highlighted the hypocrisy of the handful of Republicans who ostensibly stand for individual freedom, but feel compelled to tell a private business what it can or cannot do on its premises — a stance so antithetical to stated Republican values that it would be funny if it weren’t so dangerous. Given the recent establishment of a Boulder chapter of the far-right group “Moms for Liberty” and the likelihood that there will be more hard-right attempts to push a Christian Nationalist agenda into our schools, government and, yes, private businesses, the media must do better. Otherwise, a very loud and obnoxious minority is going to feel empowered to push their hate-based agendas into the everyday lives of those around them. If they don’t like drag queen story times, they should not attend them. These story times are fun and harmless, and twelve people arguing otherwise won’t change that.
Rachel Walker, rodellwalker@gmail.com