{"version": "1.0", "type": "rich", "title": "Broke: Public library drag queen storytime hours feel a bit off \u2018cause of how they valorize transgression to young children \n...", "author_name": "kontextmaschine", "author_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "provider_name": "kontextmaschine", "provider_url": "https://kontextmaschine.com", "url": "https://kontextmaschine.com/post/167317759203/", "html": "

kontextmaschine:

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clawsofpropinquity:

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kontextmaschine:

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Broke: Public library drag queen storytime hours feel a bit off \u2018cause of how they valorize transgression to young children

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Woke: Public library drag queen storytime hours feel a bit off \u2018cause of how clearly they locate drag in the clowning tradition

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I\u2019m confused as to what\u2019s off here - the performer in question is very explicit about drag being a type of clowning and taking influences from other clowning traditions.\u00a0

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More broadly part of the subtext of Ru Paul\u2019s Drag Race is that it\u2019s reclaiming drag as a pure performance tradition with no conceptual connection to transgenderism - as against the idea of a drag/full-time-crossdresser/trans continuum that you could see taking shape in the 90s/00s. Hence why all the\u00a0\u201cgender critical\u201d radfems on here love it.

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Well, as I grew up a lot of analytical attention was dedicated to \u201crediscovering a useful queer history and tradition\u201d and drag was a major focus, presented as fun community-building but also a semantically complex tradition making statements about the nature of identity and lived experience to a sophisticated audience

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So I guess that\u2019s how I mentally filed it, and pitched-at-preschool-level \u201chaha we\u2019re a bunch of sillies in ridiculous makeup and outfits\u201d feels\u2026 off

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I guess it\u2019s like the opposite of the hipster cirqus \u201clook, we\u2019re juggling fire and swinging from trapezes, but it\u2019s meaningful and transgressive\u201d

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