The Indie Rock Fag: Kind of a Drag
Original illustration by Ryan Blomberg
Before I start grousing on another subject I wanted to let everyone know that Ryan Blomberg, who has been nice enough to illustrate my column for the last 4 months, was just featured in Butt Magazine. Way to go, Ryan!
Though I originally started this column to cover music, it has shifted steadily into a barrage of culture criticism that, frankly, you are all very polite to keep reading. But today, before I start shooting arrows at sacred cows, I wanted to ask everyone out there in TNG-ville: What does Drag mean to you?
I’ve written thorough articles before on the state of drag in DC and interviewed numerous drag queens during my tenure at the Washington Blade. I’m sure of several things: Drag performers tend to be very big-hearted and are always the first to volunteer their talents when gay rights are on the line. This was the case at stonewall and in the early days of the AIDS crisis. Drag is an essential part of gay history and its older performers have done more than their share to pave the way for our current visibility.
However, none of that changes the fact that watching drag queens perform tends to make me sad. At last Saturday’s Seizure party at Town, I hung around before the TNG takeover of the venerable “danceboutique” to watch their in-house drag troupe do their thing. And lemme tell you: the ladies of town have talent. In terms of sheer stage presence, and dancing ability, and high kicks and twirls and seamless lip-synching they deserved every member of the huge audience they have accrued for themselves.
But I can’t imagine that anyone there wouldn’t call the whole spectacle an anachronism. It reminded me of how I would picture the only gay bar in Terre Haute Indiana in 1985. 7 foot tall women in spangles and shoulder pads did high kicks to songs by Whitney Houston and Liza Minnelli. In their own context these women would have been simply resplendent. And I would have nothing to write about. But these women are forever out of time. Look at their audience. It is jarring to see a sea of amber-zombies in backwards caps and polos looking backward in time at the ghosts of gay past.
I can’t help but wonder why these men flock to the drag show. Is it in solidarity with their own gay history? Is it because of the overt gender-bending and it’s resonance with their own queerness? Or are they just their to giggle at the silly men in dresses? It almost reminds me of an updated version of that old middle school standby of mocking the gay kid. No matter how much you move your wrist while you speak, or how big a bottom you are, there’s relief to be taken in the man that is more effeminate than you.
Or have these men found the world’s perfect fag hag? Women who are tall and skinny, have long hair and killer dancing skills, and none of those pesky vulvas or hormones that would mark a real woman?
If I sound harsh here, its for one specific reason: The crowd at Town watched the drag queens with unbridled glee, but did not turn the same respect over to the DC Drag Kings. Though most of the crowd was into their performances, two men standing behind me did not agree. When the performer Mick Swagger kicked off a hysterical interpretation of Rupert Holmes’ “Escape (The Pina Colada Song),” featuring two kings pretending to be a hyper-sensitive gay couple, a real gay couple behind me got mean. I heard one of them sneer, in a sarcastic falsetto, “Oh my god, this is like, so funny!” and then trot off to the bar.
I wonder why these guys reacted so adversely. The kings’ show didn’t have the sequins or the high-kicks that make the town drag queens so exciting (and I mean that sincerely) but the basic recipe was the same: people performing the opposite gender for the enjoyment of an audience. Are they the kind of gay guys who don’t like lesbians? Were they genuinely bored? Or was it too much of a shock to see the drag mirror turned back on themselves?
Every drag king I’ve talked to has mentioned a purpose behind their drag. To perform, of course, but also to raise social issues and make statements and generally move drag forward by challenging the genre. TNG’s own Summer Camp has long been my favorite drag queen for the same reason. Beside her propensity for Peaches’ songs and the occasional butt-flash, she also isn’t afraid to make herself appealing. Far from the perfect hair and makeup persona I see in many queens, Summer has no compunctions about coming onstage with a giant afro wig, smeared makeup or a fake red bush. She performs in skits whose biggest jokes involve sitting on a toilet or pulling things out of her ass. Its a far cry from “I Wanna Dance with Somebody” and I think that’s why her audience is so loyal.
Drag is a way of life. It is a gay institution. It is a safe harbor for trans men and women, on and offstage. But it also tends to be the most palatable way for straight men to take in gay people. I guarantee that if restaurants like Perry’s featured stage shows involving sixty year-old men expressing their affection through kissing, or a looped video of a dick going in an ass, it would not be packed with heteros looking to be entertained. But put a drag queen on stage and they’ll line up the door. It’s not accident that so many people still think all gay men are supposed to act like Ru Paul.
So here’s the question: Do you think that modern audiences are cheering at the performers, or laughing at them?
I’m honestly asking. TNG readers, what do you think of drag? Is it an outdated spectacle or a species to be saved? What will have to happen to the institution to keep it from fading into the same cultural graveyard as Liberace?
If any drag performers are reading this, I’d especially like to hear from them.
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drag queens=”Women who are tall and skinny, have long hair and killer dancing skills, and none of those pesky vulvas or hormones that would mark a real woman?”
WOW. “Real women?” What do you think pre-op transwomen are, then (or pre-op transmen)?
I usually like reading your column, but that seems like a weird thing to say. I do see what you mean about drag queens being an acceptable (because entertaining and outrageous) face of gayness to show to straight people, or gay men with internalized homophobia or misogyny. I think drag queens are pretty cool though, partly because it’s impressive to see someone reaching a point where they can so wholly reject the way they were socialized to present themselves, just because they want to, and also because I find the drag/camp type of humor very funny. (I haven’t seen many drag kings, but I’m wondering if they might be less popular with people who like drag queens just because the type of humor is different. Are drag kings arch and melodramatic in the same way as the stereotypical drag queen, or does their type of humor involve stereotypical masculine boasting, or something? I can see that I wouldn’t like that as much.)
I usually refrain from commenting on my own posts, but I want to sincerely apologize for suggesting that it takes a vulva or a certain set of hormones to mark a “real” woman. I should have used the term cisgendered there and I apologize.
Here’s your problem with drag as I see it. In New York drag queens are performance artists. That means there’s more to it than dressing up and lip synching. They are tremendous comedians and monologuists with relevant social commentary who write their own original material that actually relates to our lives and what it is like to be Gay in 2009. Anyone can put on a dress but there is only one Hedda Lettuce, Joey Arias, Dueling Bankheads, and Mistress Formika. More than just parodies of women several of their characters are ironic portrayals of the old-style “female impersonators”, the type we only see in DC.
In DC (and a lot of other cities) drag queens are literal: they put on a dress and lip synch. In other words the whole joke, the whole act is dressing as a woman…that is it. No matter how heavy the make-up, no matter how wild the dress the whole entire thing is nothing more than a man in a dress. Wow.
The drag queens I’ve seen in DC are scary looking precisely because they are trying so hard to be “real”. Drag is supposed to be ironic, the opposite of the very serious “female impersonation” which is what I see a lot of here. They look like frustrated pre-ops instead of men doing drag. There is a difference. Here is the extent of what they do: lip synching (very 1960s “female impersonation”). Yawn.
The reason you (and I) like Summer Camp is because she is ironic and intelligent. She’s got a point. There is something more to watching her act than the “shock” of a man in a dress.
PS: and for all you PC Gaytards out there is nothing wrong with being a “frustrated pre-op”. It just isn’t “drag”. It is insulting to equate a pre-op with a drag queen.
it’s a pretty confusing issue, isn’t it? i’m inclined to think that stage performances represent femininity, no matter whether they’re a play or drag or what.
it’s a man’s world. normal social interaction privileges men, traditionally. the consecration of a space for performance — dimming the lights of a movie theater, raising the stage curtains, tapping your glass with your fork, etc. — is functionally a request to the audience to sit down and shut up. new, formal rules apply during a show, ones that strictly dictate the audience’s role, as well as the performer’s.
at first glance, the performer’s role seems more powerful than the audience’s; really, the show is for the audience’s pleasure. that is, the audience is expected to make private, meaningful judgments about the performance’s merits. that’s why it’s so startling when a movie audience gasps — it’s a violation of the contract they entered when they bought popcorn and turned off their cellphones, which states that they may have interior lives but must keep them hidden. by contrast, the performer has no interior life. she fails when she keeps something hidden, when she doesn’t “go all out.”
here’s what bends my mind a little. the performative space is special. it’s framed by consecratory rituals and can’t extend into real life (it shouldn’t; much misery comes from forgetting its role). this is because norms are broken during performance. some are broken by a performance’s content (e.g. a man becomes a woman on stage), and some are broken simply by its nature (i.e. the audience is feminized by being given an interior, and the performer is made masculine by hiding nothing.) finally, the fact that the performance space is out of the ordinary means that it’s a polarization of normal, unconsecrated space. that is: who is it who needs a spotlight and a script to ‘act natural’? women! and who is it who needs the anonymity of dimmed lights and a crowd to form private opinions? men!
consider that most of a drag queen’s act consists of prancing between audience members, collecting tips. here are the men in the audience — money-makers by day — rewarding the lady on stage with money, the most impersonal sort of gratitude. and there’s the drag queen, making a show of accepting these tips with exaggerated grace.
through an impenetrable string of double-negatives, drag queens don’t feel like women because they look like women onstage; they feel like women because the impulse to perform is feminine. that’s why drag queens dress and act so outrageously — they are hinting (in a very subtle way, unexpectedly) at the meek, victimized woman for whom a stage is a chance at freedom. the more outrageously the stage persona radiates its id, the more terrified and abused the woman behind it. i think that’s what breaks your heart about it, zack.
incidentally, this also explains why drag kings fall flat. they’re already ladies; any stage in the world offers them the opportunity to be subversive. they don’t need an extra layer of irony. it’s telling, what you say about how the drag kings you talked to all cited a desire to enact social change. that doesn’t jive with the image of a meek woman who wants to be on stage to be admired. it’s not that their heart isn’t in the right place, it’s just that drag is the wrong medium for their message.
this is all based on a strong male/female gender duality, of course. as that blurs, drag’s power fades, or at least shifts. i reluctantly admit that isn’t a bad thing.
this may all be bullshit, but it feels right to me.
@ Mark:
‘old-style female impersonators’ were, and are, already an ironic portrayal of women. despite your obnoxious, presumptuous attack on ‘PC Gaytards,’ they are not just ‘pre-op.’ if they were, why would they be on stage?
on drag queens vs. kings – i think the reason people see drag kings as less funny is because we often see women wearing pants, blazers and even ties and whatnot. seeing a man in a dress is more “outrageous” than seeing a woman in a suit. i mean, plus, in most forms of comedy men get more laughs when they act like a woman than a woman gets for acting like a man; i think it’s just part of american humor.
but whatever, according to the blowup over at missed connections, it seems like snark is just the name of the town-patron (and angry non-patrons) game.
I can’t really speak to how drag was performed (and interpreted by the audience) in the past, but I think that the entire concept represents something worthwhile inasmuch as it examines the performativity of gender. I think genderf*ck in general is pretty fun =)
I think drag kinging (verbing!) might be held in lower esteem for two reasons. Firstly, it has much shorter history, less to draw on, and most of the performers I’ve seen were fairly amateur – which is not to say bad, merely unpolished. It’s just a less developed type of performance. (Although I did see some pretty impressive pieces at the int’l drag king expo a few years back.)
Secondly, I think the sexism of our culture factors heavily – masculinity is valued over femininity. A man presenting as a woman and giving up his masculinity is funny because it’s incongruous, but a woman doing the opposite… well, I mean, that’s only natural – who wouldn’t want to be a man? (I’m being flippant, if that wasn’t clear, but I do think that valuation is alive and well in our culture.)
this article is fantastic. thought provoking and utterly sincere. i admire the fact that you wrote this.
I’ve seen my share of both amazing and dull drag, both kings and queens. For me in 2009, what makes a drag show amazing has very little to do with the fact that someone is cross-dressing. For me, it’s the performance itself, what is conveyed. Whether it be a king or a queen, watching someone on stage interpret the opposite gender’s role, trying to be sexy, and collecting dollars from people who generally aren’t attracted to that opposite gender is a total yawn fest. I want to see clever social commentary, or at least commentary on a song or concept conveyed in a song. Or I want to be grossed out, or shocked, or challenged in some way. Simply impersonating the opposite gender on stage to music is kinda insulting and totally boring.
For me, the highlight of the drag show at Town this past Saturday was when one of the performers, as part of her dance performance, jumped off the stage and landed in a split. I was amazed at her ability to not only do a split, but to land in one from 4 feet in the air. (For example, check out this video of Tandi Iman Dupree at 0:26! Amazing!)
To all the kings and queens out there, keep up the good work, and try to challenge us!
Oh, and to qualify, “the highlight of the traditional (men in dresses) part of the drag show at Town”. I wasn’t able to see the first kings skit, but Natty Boom was amazing as Rick James.
@ Zack & Mark
Thanks for saying you like what I do. That means there are at least three of us! Hopefully you’ll come see my next CRACK show at TOWN called Suburbia: There Goes the Neighborhood on Saturday, June 27…more info available at CRACKdc.com. I know that’s a shameless plug, but I’m SHAMELESS!
To me, drag is still fascinating and viable–wherever it falls on the spectrum from hyper-intellectual social queer commentary to pure entertainment for the sake of entertainment.
I’ve been doing drag for 15 years and have heard a lot of criticism. Some people don’t like performers who skew toward glamor or impersonation; or performers who lip sync instead of sing; or performers who are campy; or kings versus queens. Everyone has an opinion. I don’t think the guys at TOWN that reacted “adversely” to the drag kings were wrong in their feelings.
Each of us has personal tastes. I think critics are justified in their criticisms. But I also think that each type of drag has a purpose and merit…and audience. I think the gay community is too diverse to collectively appreciate all types of drag.
Me on the other hand…I LOVE IT ALL. I get a kick out of outrageous and campy drag; celebrity impersonation drag; lip-syncing and live singing; drag queens and drag kings; lip-quivering, hand-waving diva drag; drag for dollars; mime drag; puppet drag…any kind of drag. I can watch any performance and find something that’s appealing, useful, or thought-provoking. Even if the thought that it provokes is, “What the fuck??”
From an actor’s perspective, I enjoy creating campy and shocking drag. I’ll be the first to admit that I rely (heavily) on sophomoric gags and shock value for a lot my performances. Sitting on a toilet and playing with shit to Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” is not very sophisticated or clever. I also like pulling things out of my ass, sexual deviance, mocking religion, eating garbage, or anything else that would make a 5-year old titter. But that’s what gets me excited about getting on stage.
My biggest hero is Divine. What he and John Waters created in the early 1970s is amazing and inspirational. I loved it when Divine ate dog shit at the end of Pink Flamingos. Others found that scene repulsive. Different strokes for different folks. My other heroes are Everett Quinton & Charles Ludlum (The Ridiculous Theater Company), Bette Bourne & Paul Shaw (Bloolips), Peggy Shaw & Lois Weaver (Split Britches), and more contemporary performers like Dina Martina, Ryan Landry, Kiki & Herb, Tabboo, RuPaul, Martha Graham Cracker, John Cameron Mitchell…the list goes on and on.
I have an appreciation for every type of drag, even something as straightforward as cross-dressing, lip-syncing, and collecting dollar bills from appreciative audience members. What I don’t appreciate is when members of the GLBT community get freaked out or feel uncomfortable by gender-fuck situations. Or when people say, “I’d NEVER do drag.” Really?? C’mon…it’s time to get over yourself. Watching a drag performance, seeing drag queens or kings in a pride parade, or putting on a costume are pretty value-neutral situations. That type of homophobia is really ridiculous.
If anyone is interested in reading more about drag theater, there’s a great site on NYU’s website.
Oh, and go see Hedwig and the Angry Inch at The Warehouse. It’s playing Thursday, Friday, and Sunday this week.
And I hope to see you at CRACK on June 27 at TOWN.
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