Being a female drag queen, (or as some like to call it a female impersonator, impersonator) was never something I knew I could do. Let alone imagine I would do. At the time my view of drag was very much tied to a reality TV show we shall not name. So, when the host of the show came out publicly against female queens, stating that “Drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it’s not men doing it, because at its core it’s a social statement and a big f-you to male-dominated culture. So for men to do it, it’s really punk rock, because it’s a real rejection of masculinity. When it’s a woman doing it, it loses all that” that was me told.
But later on, when I was exposed to the kaleidoscope of drag, my world opened up.
Until recently so many people outside the queer scene didn’t have a knowledge of drag and that was okay. The queer scene was for queer people and that’s how we liked it. But drag becoming ‘mainstream’ has inevitably whitewashed it. Now many people who have never descended the sticky stairs into a drag venue believe (by no fault of their own) that their opinion on drag is definitive. That they can dictate what the zeitgeist of drag should look like.
Taking out all of the small idiosyncrasies and contradictions that make up our scene strips it of its irreverence. Drag as an art form was built on the backs of marginalised
people, trans queens and gender non conforming performers. These are the voices that should be amplified.
At its core drag is a metronome swinging between cynical rejection and satirical embrace of gender stereotypes and the belief that only men have the right to explore themselves and their own contradictions in this way is misogyny in its plainest form. Drag is reclaiming your gender expression, and exploring gender on your own terms. Drag kings, female queens, and drag entities are the beating heart of drag. Erasing us from the history and narrative of the art form pulls an important thread out of the rich tapestry that is queer culture.
So if you ever find yourself knowing the name of every queen off of reality TV, but having never been to a local show, you are only getting half the story. You deserve to be moved and changed by all the diversities of drag just as much as those performers deserve to be seen. So seek out a drag show near you (I suggest my play Life’s a Drag as an introduction). Because trust me darling, we’re just fabulous.
Buy tickets to Life’s A Drag!
Life’s a Drag! is on from Tuesday 15th November 2022 to Saturday 19th November 2022, at The Jack Studio Theatre, 410 Brockley Road, London, SE4 2DH.
