Clowns and Drag - Do they scare you ?

Are clowns one of society’s greatest paradoxes?

They were invented to be fun and jolly — to please and entertain us. It’s literally their only purpose in life. And yet so many of us can’t stand to be around them at all. A lot of us are utterly terrified of them.

Researchers sought to find out why clowns give us the heebie-jeebies in a first-of-its-kind survey. More than half of the participants admitted fearing clowns to some degree. When probed further ab out their feelings, the participants revealed some surprising reasons for shuddering at the sight of a man in a red wig and white face paint.

We often tend to assume that having an unpleasant experience with a clown in childhood could lead to feeling wigged out by them into adulthood but that was actually far from the case in this survey.

The more common reason given was the sense that clowns look sort of human but also not quite human at the same time. Another was — and this rings very true now you think about it — that their behaviour is somewhat unpredictable. Is it especially enjoyable to spend time in the company of a person who might humiliate you at any second ?

The most common reason given for coulrophobia, however, was the fact that a clown’s makeup makes it hard to read their emotions, which confuses and unsettles us.

READ MORE HERE - IT'S FASCINATING STUFF

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JB COMMENTS: I have never seen the sense in clowns.

As a child we had the yearly Big Top Circus come to town every season and it was an excitement the whole town felt, as TV was fairly new and people were still use to going out to see things rather than sit at home and watch telly 24/7 - and the circus was a big occasion.

The smell of the animals, grease paint, the thrill of the Big Tent and the whole ' on the road' atmosphere was so exciting to us as kids. At school it was all ' Have you been to the circus yet ? ' and I can still remember exactly where in Kings Park - Bournemouth , it use to go - and it has been decades since I saw a circus last and back then, it was a major occasion.

CLOWNS - Even as a kid I could never see the point in clowns and never saw them as funny or scary or anything, I just saw them as silly things running around between the acts - and I just wanted to see the acts, like the lions and tigers, bears and high wire acts, not silly men dressed up in wigs and far too much make-up messing around doing Keystone Cops impersonations with a car that falls to pieces...

YAWN.

But I do know people who are scared to death of clowns. One lady friend in New York decades ago admitted to freaking out, even as an adult, where clowns were concerned and she stated categorically that she would NEVER EVER go into a McDonalds because of the clown.

She was a Chief Buyer at Macey's New York and when I asked how she was around the mannequins in the store - there was a certain uneasiness about her but she knew they were harmless and while she would not wish to be in the store at night, she was okay during the day and while a little apprehensive, had it under control. She could not remember ever being frightened by a clown. She had no childhood horror story to share and as far as she was aware she had never had any bad interaction with anyone dressed as a clown.

I have known loads of people afraid of clowns and most - grown adult males who you would think would not be frightened of anything - HOWEVER -

DRAG.

Many consider a Drag Act to be the same as a clown. Many are afraid of drag acts - simply because they have the balls to dress as a women - kind of - and where they usually have an outrageous personality and have the microphone - and many are afraid of being picked on and embarrassed - in humour - by the drag artist and like a clown, many will pull away and be afraid.

Once you out the make up on. Once the outfit is in place.

Once you become someone else, the camp clowns name or the drag artists name, and once you become that outrageous personality needed for these acts, many will shy away as ' the real you' people can cope with, but as soon as the make up is on and the person in ' role' - many are afraid of what is to come and while always light hearted and amusing, it is considered by many to be anything BUT AMUSING.

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Is transvestite the same as drag?

Drag queens are sometimes called transvestites, although that term also has many other connotations than the term drag queen and is not much favored by many drag queens themselves.

What is it called when a guy dresses like a girl?

Cross-dresser This describes a person who wears the clothes usually associated with the "opposite "sex. This is seen as a form of gender expression. The word "transvestite" is not used much these days. And the expression "drag queen" is different, meaning a man who dresses "as a woman" for purposes of entertainment.

What is the opposite gender of drag?

A drag queen is someone (usually male) who performs femininity and a drag king is someone (usually female) who performs masculinity.

Is drag a queer art?

Drag is an art form with a rich history of challenging dominant norms and systems of oppression; building queer community; and cultivating experiences of queer joy in a hostile world; but drag has also been deployed in service of violent ideologies and can sometimes participate in harmful normative logics.

Are all drag queens gay ? Absolutely not. It is an art form like anything else. Pantomime makes great use of drag for the men and the women.

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