It's a Drag...

So in the news this week is the matter of a gay teenager in Mississippi who has been told she cannot attend her prom wearing a tux and with her date.  I could go into a billion reason why this angers me on so many levels - not the least of which is that she is gay - so what?  I am sure her classmates already know this and aren't going to be corrupted by her presence with her date.  I will go even further and say that she is probably not even the only gay person planning to attend prom - she is just the only one that sought to clarify the "conduct rules" issued about prom attendence beforehand.

But there is another thing about this that annoys me.  The part where the school apparently equates the ideal of a woman wearing at tux as dressing in drag.  Seriously?  Isn't a tux basically a suit jacket and pants?  And don't women wear jackets and pants every day in this country?  Are we really THAT narrow minded as a society? 

Give me a break!  Women have been rocking tuxedos since the tuxedo began.  Thier suggestion that a woman in pants and a jacket is wearing drag is ridiculous beyond all reason!  This is a small point when you consider the much bigger issue at play here - I am praying that Constance McMillan gets to attend her senior prom with the date of her choice in the attire of her choice.  And as a mom, I am thrilled that her parents support her in what she is going through here.

But in the meantime, I give you....Women in Tuxedos:



Film Legend Marlene Dietritch





America's Sweetheart, Meg Ryan





"Not that innocent" Britney Spears





Not sure who she is, but she rocks it...







And perhaps the most famous use of tux on a woman in modern times...What a Feelin...Jennifer Beals

So what are your thoughts?  Is a tux really "drag"?  Seriously?  Is the perfectly nice pants suit hanging in my closet "drag"?