I don’t really care who takes part in Celebrity MasterChef, partly because I was put off commenting on such matters when one of the judges, an eminent food critic sent me some fairly strongly worded emails in response to me having a laugh – in print – about how seriously said judge took the process. After all, it is only an amateur cooking competition and not a televised race to cure cancer. But I am taking notice of the fact that Luke Underwood-Bleach, a drag queen who calls himself Cheryl Hole (geddit?) will compete in the new series.
I am so sick of misogyny in the form of drag being treated as though it’s just family entertainment
Let him present the hosts with as many pound shop plates of nosh as he can possibly manage, but will the BBC put a curb on any sexist behaviour? If he parades around the studio perpetuating harmful and offensive stereotypes about women, will this be dealt with? Women already have enough misogyny to contend with, and that’s exactly what I consider Underwood-Bleach’s performances to be. It is not a sign of affection when men decide that they are going to parody their own fantasy of ‘working class slags’ – which is the blueprint used for the majority of drag characters. They are having a laugh at our expense, and it is far from harmless fun.
Let’s take this joker’s stage name: Hole. We all know what it means. Men have orifices too but tend not to be defined by them. Several prostituted women have told me over the years that they feel as though punters treat them as though they are just a ‘hole’. Something for men to use as though there is no human attached. This name is taken straight out of porn culture.
As a young lesbian back in the 1980s I would occasionally enjoy the odd drag act at a gay club. Many gay men would exaggerate their camp tendencies by, for instance, calling each other ‘she’ and making up female names for their friends.
The occasional exception aside, these acts were not offensive to women, but clearly parodied strong, forceful, working-class broads – often inspired by real-life characters such as the performer’s older female relative. In that context, where a vibrant feminist movement sat alongside gay liberation campaigns, we would be sure to pick up on any homophobic stereotypes or misogynistic representations. In those days, gay men would, in response to the usual questions (‘What are you, a boy or a girl?’), often use drag to make a bold statement about not conforming to macho stereotypes. Back then, most drag was good, clean fun as well as edgy and challenging to heterosexuals and conformists.
Today, however, drag is part of porn culture and its messages are deeply misogynistic and regressive. Through drag, we are presented with the very clear message that women are obsolete when it comes to entertainment – especially within LGBT culture. Men make better women than women do. Feminists who dare to criticise this culture are labelled homophobic – as though drag itself were a sexual identity, rather than a deeply offensive parody of femaleness.
Drag has been in the news a lot recently because of the kerfuffle about Drag Queen Story Hour. Some bigots and homophobes have indeed capitalised on the disquiet about Story Hour being hypersexualised and misogynistic by turning up at events and accusing performers of being ‘paedophiles’ and ‘groomers’ – and feminists such as myself are being lumped in with these protesters. Yet our concerns are very different. We are worried about kids being fed offensive stereotypes that are based on pornographic imagery. MasterChef is screened before the watershed, and is marketed as ‘family entertainment’. A contradiction perhaps?
As I say, let Underwood-Bleach take part in celebrity MasterChef, but I would hope his misogyny is kept in check. After all, if a contestant were to spout racist or violent rhetoric they would be given short shrift.
I am so sick of misogyny in the form of drag being treated as though it’s just family entertainment. The fact that the BBC has responded to criticism from feminists with ‘LGBTQ+ representation is important’ confirms for me that they have no idea what such representation should be. This is about women being misrepresented. Women have a right to criticise it, and men have no right to defend it, let alone perform it.
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