Mary Cheney says men who dress in drag are as bad as whites doing blackface

[davidn3600]

Conservative icon Mary Cheney seems to believe drag and blackface are one in the same, according to a Facebook post of hers viewed by CNN.

"Why is it socially acceptable — as a form of entertainment — for men to put on dresses, make-up and high heels and act out every offensive stereotype of women (bitchy, catty, dumb, slutty, etc.) — but it is not socially acceptable — as a form of entertainment — for a white person to put on blackface and act out offensive stereotypes of African Americans?" she asked. "Shouldn't both be OK or neither?"

Cheney made sure to draw a difference between transgender women and men who dress in women's clothing, according to CNN (the Facebook post is private).

http://www.advocate.com/politics/media/2015/01/30/mary-cheney-compares-drag-blackface

http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/30/politics/mary-cheney-facebook-post/index.html

[TheBlackAdder]

1. Is she related to Darth Cheney?

[Downwinder]

2. Does she wear pants?

[chillfactor]

3. Mary Cheney is....

as much a nutcase as her father....

[Major Hogwash]

4. She's talking about her dad.

I really wish she would keep this sort of stuff private and behind closed doors instead of broadcasting to the world about how weird her childhood was.

[Ed Suspicious]

5. Poor racist feels it's unfair she can't paint her racism on her face without being called a racist.

[4now]

6. I was thinking that I agreed with her

When I think about people like Milton Berle(not trying to pick on uncle Miltie but I am old and he is just the first example I could think of) that did it in such a crude, low class way. Then there are examples where the drag is done in such a way as to uplift the viewer, like Robin Williams in Mrs. Doubtfire or Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie.
And what about actors that dress like crossdressers. Like Patrick Swayze and John Leguizamo in "To Wong Foo Thanks for Everything"
I don't know if blackface comedy could ever be funny, or touching or thought provoking but I guess in the right hands it could.
I thought this would be a simple topic but it is over my head. I would like to hear other peoples opinions though.

[Behind the Aegis]

7. Idiot.

First, drag is not monolithic. Second, many performers are not "drag queens" but female impersonators; and the two are often confused with one another. Finally, many performers do it because it was an "acceptable" way to express one's creative side without being ridiculed within our own community.

This is nothing more than an attack on the gay community.

[Tom Ripley]

15. +1000

[MADem]

8. Unless Mary Cheney is a man who dresses in drag--and I don't think she is--I think I'll just

"consider the source" when it comes to her opinions on this topic.

Unless she's walked a mile in that other guy's dress, it's not really for her, or me, or anyone to say.

And her equating of drag and blackface is just as convoluted a comparison as I've seen in awhile.

What ever happened to Live And Let Live? What a judgmental little shit! Her personal story, with its challenges owing to her father and his party, certainly hasn't amped up her compassion meter one whit, has it?

[JI7]

9. she sounds like a fucking idiot

[ChosenUnWisely]

10. Minstrel Shows are White People in black face making fun of African Americans

and enforcing white supremacy in society.

Drag Shows are people WITHIN an already marginalized/discriminated group, the LGBT community, making fun of THEMSELVES

She truly is a blooming idiot.

[LuvNewcastle]

11. I'm going to do a drag show and

be Mary Cheney. It would be great, because I'd make a hideous woman. Fuck her. I guess she'd better talk to Ellen Degeneres and lots of other women about their attire. Let's all dress like the Amish.

[cheyanne]

12. Let's not fall into Cheney's false equivalence of drag and black-face performances.

The equivalent of black-face performances is what I call "man in a dress" performances. In both cases, a man dons the attributes of a lower-caste person while making no effort to totally disguise his white maleness. The humor rests on the societal assumption that a man can never lose his caste while appearing to emulate a lower-caste person.This paradox creates a frisson of humor. It is basically an affirmation of a man's status and a demeaning of lower-caste people. It bolsters the status quo.

In drag performances a man totally disguises his maleness and plays a strong talented woman. His female persona may have any and all of the stereotypic behavior of a woman as well a many positive human qualities.

[R B Garr]

20. Excellent. To add that blacks weren't permitted to work in entertainment,

so they were portrayed by white males. Nothing funny about that. Her whole premise neglects the reason for the black face to begin with.

[libodem]

13. Typical False Equilivancy

If you ask me, rather like the b-word = the n-word.

Get back to me when you hear the n-word, from soap operas to sitcoms to dramas, all day and night on network tv.

[Orrex]

14. Question about that

Is she talking about actual transvestites, or about straight men portraying transvestites onscreen for comic effect?

If the former, then she's a typical bigoted asshole.

If the latter, then I'm not sure that she's entirely wrong.

[tenderfoot]

16. Mary Cheney is an evil fuck just like her parents.

eom

[Tom Ripley]

17. Why is she talking about this?

It seems to be an off-the-wall topic for a political pundit of "her caliber"
Has she become drinking buddies with Peggy Noonan?

[QC]

18. She's not the first to make that argument, and it makes a superficial

kind of sense, I guess.

But I have to say that I can't remember ever going to a drag show where I didn't see a group of lesbians down front clapping and tipping the performers, and I don't think I've ever known a drag queen who didn't admire women.

Mary Cheney's mileage may vary, of course.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

19. Take it up with Giuliani...