Panto dames aren’t homophobic, they’re hilarious

According to Epigram, we need to get rid of pantomime dames because they’re offensive. At the risk of sounding like the Daily Mail, it’s political correctness gone mad.

The argument goes that traditional pantomime dames are outdated, homophobic and transphobic.  For those of you who’ve never seen a pantomime before, the dame is a man dressed as an exaggerated woman, with huge fake breasts, lots of make-up and big knickers. The dame will flounce around, flirt outrageously with the male characters and occasionally slip into her “male” voice for a laugh.  It’s an age-old tradition which has been played by the likes of Christopher Biggins,  Barry Humphries and Paul O’Grady. Many famous dames are openly gay and some have drag characters, like Humphries’ Dame Edna Everage and O’Grady’s Lily Savage.

Christopher Biggins in his panto finest

I understand “tradition” on its own is not an excuse to keep dames going.  After all, it used to be “traditional” to put queer people in madhouses and own slaves. But are pantomime dames a harmful tradition?

Firstly, gender-bending is a popular aspect of pantomime, where strapping young lads are often played by slim, chirpy women in tights.  I watched many a panto growing up and have never felt the urge to slick my hair into a bun and put on a natty waistcoat. The Dame, on the other hand, is extreme. She’s a caricature. The only people who dress remotely like pantomime dames are, well, drag queens.

Most of Epigram’s outrage stems from the treatment of openly gay MP Chris Bryant, who has now been called a “pantomime dame” by both Ian Duncan Smith and George Osborne in cabinet.  Bryant said of the event: “I don’t think he would have said that phrase if I was not gay”. Osborne did not apologise.

Christopher Biggins said of Bryant after the incident: “The man is being ridiculous. It doesn’t matter that some of the great panto dames happen to be have been heterosexual, it’s just such an absurd thing to get upset about. If he can’t take that as a joke, then he doesn’t have any sense of humour and I’m really rather worried about him. Honestly, it’s nothing to get so overwrought about.”

I find it hard to believe “pantomime dame” is a common homophobic or transphobic slur. It’s probably an example of bad politician banter gone wrong. I might call David Cameron a pig, but it wouldn’t be logical to get rid of all the pigs.

Finally, I believe nobody in Britain is stupid enough to mistake a pantomime dame for a woman, a gay man or a trans woman.  A dame is a thing all of its own.  We know it’s a man in a dress.  Five-year-olds know it’s a man in a dress.  We’re all in on the joke, and looking at the list of our best-loved dames over the years it seems they’re in on the joke too.