Nothing exists today that didn’t exist thousands of years ago when we are referring to human nature and human behavior. Women were not allowed to be actresses throughout most of history going all the way back to Greek society. Play writes as well as actors were all men. Men dressed as women on stage in order to perform women’s roles. Throughout parts of history, women were not allowed to even view theater performances.
Shakespeare is most often pinpointed as the true start of Drag Queens. Shakespeare was both an actor and a writer himself. All parts in plays during that time period were played by men. Women were not allowed on stage. Since he wrote his plays, they have been performed on stage. They have been taught in public schools. I am not sure when schools stopped teaching history along with Shakespeare as the two definitely go hand in hand. When I was in school, we discussed the fact that only men were allowed to be actors. It’s a part of human history for centuries.
In the early 20th century, vaudeville became popular in the US. Drag Queens were front and center on vaudeville. Julian Eltinge arose in vaudeville as the first well known drag queen. He was also supposedly the highest paid actor in the world during that time period earning more than even Charlie Chaplain.
During prohibition in the US, we had the speakeasies with “the pansy craze” and underground clubs where drag queens continued to flourish. Many of these underground gay bars operated into the 1950s and 1960s. In 1966, a member of the mafia family, Genovese, purchased The Stonewall in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. It was an epicenter for gay culture and helped move it into mainstream America. In 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show was made which further introduced gay culture and gender bending into mainstream culture. During the 1980s, we had Boy George. RuPaul entered the stage in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
Now we have transgenders, Drag Queens, gays, lesbians, and bisexuals (as well as other groups), being introduced into mainstream laws, culture, and education. Social media has played a large role in this movement.
These groups of people have existed since people have existed. They aren’t going anywhere. The only thing new is that they are no longer hidden in plane sight on stage where women and children couldn’t go or counseled by churches to become nuns, monks, and priests and abstain from sex entirely. Throughout history, they have found places to hide. They aren’t hiding anymore.
To me, the real problem lies in the sexualization of our children. I don’t care what adults choose to do as long as they are not harming others. That is between them and whatever God they choose or choose not to worship. I’m not here to judge someone else’s lifestyle. I’ve been to drag shows. They are very entertaining. For adults. There is a difference between a Drag Queen being on stage performing and trying to be sexual and a cross dresser or transgender trying to live a normal life as a gender other than one matching the sex in which they were born. I completely disagree with Drag Queens interacting in schools with grade school children. The Drag Queen is part of a sexual culture. Children should not be sexualized. We have forgotten as a culture that what is appropriate for adults is not necessarily appropriate for children. Children are having things thrown at them with which they are not emotionally or intellectually equipped to understand and process. We need to find a way as a culture to protect children and vulnerable adults from being sexualized and sometimes groomed for the sex industry. It’s our responsibility as adults to protect those two groups of people. We are failing miserably.
Middle of the Muddy Road 