rose-owl:

kompanie-mutter:

kompanie-mutter:

why’s it socially acceptable to be scared of clowns but not of drag queens

I’m not even kidding here, I was looking at some article about the psychological reasons people are scared of clowns and drag queens check just about all of the same boxes. something that’s recognizable but looks “off” automatically sets off alarm bells since human beings have really good senses for pattern recognition, and are pretty good at picking up on when they’re being lied to – even if you know you’re not intentionally being deceived, that you’re not actually expected to believe that a man in pancake makeup and fake breasts is a woman, or someone in clown makeup and oversized shoes isn’t just playing a part. There’s the “uncanny valley” effect, where people are instinctively uncomfortable about something that looks almost like what they’d expect, but isn’t quite realistic enough to be entirely convincing. people are unsettled by someone who’s obviously playing a part around them, even if that role is ridiculous and over the top. heavy makeup/face paint makes it much harder to read someone’s face and understand them and that unsettles people, who are naturally good at picking up most of their social cues about someone from facial expression and tone; heavy makeup and an affected, fake voice take both those options away.

So glad this post exists because ever since I was a kid both drag queens and some Barbie dolls have unsettled me.