Drag, or female impersonation at its earliest stage, is something that has rapidly been inching its way into mainstream media with each passing year. Lately, younger members of the LGBTQA+ have taken an interest in drag as a form of self-expression. Although, initially, drag was a way of female impersonation, what can a man do to look and perform his best as a female caricature, it has slowly molded into an art form, just a blank canvas to be filled, which is one of many reasons I love being a drag queen.
As the most publicly praised drag queen RuPaul Charles has coined in his latest interviews, "We are all born naked, and the rest is drag." This statement changes the definition of drag completely. For Charles as well as a majority of the younger generation, drag has become a way of expressing gender identity and creativity through costumes and makeup. I had asked some fellow queens the question, "Why do you do drag?" The answer to this question was almost always exactly alike in all scenarios, and rings true for me as a drag performer. Drag allows us to take our passions (i.e. fashion, makeup, performing, costume designing, etc.) and lets us combine all of these art forms into one medium. I had asked fellow queen, and a role model of mine, Anastasia Heroine, why she continues to do drag, and she noted, "I get a sense of empowerment! It makes me feel in charge." We, as queens, get to be these glamorous figures of strength and confidence, with countless years of pride and history behind us and driving us.
A fellow queen and friend of mine, Wydow, is a hard working queen by night and he works long, hard hours on a farm by day. He explained how masculine men are all he works with and he is surrounded by people without the creative capacity to understand his drag. It is examples such as this that show how drag can be a creative outlet. Picture one's creative thoughts and ideas as energy, and that it must be released, but without an outlet, it will just continue to build up and up without a proper medium to flow through. Drag is a way to let our creativity flow.
In addition to these, there is a strong sense of community among queens. In a world so quick to judge and so willing to label with harsh words, the drag community accepts all forms of art and we appreciate and celebrate individuality, which is a quality a majority of groups are lacking at the moment. In a previous noted interview, Anastasia added, "There is no right way to do drag. Do what makes you happy even when others will tell you it's wrong." This way of thinking, a tight bond, is another reason I gravitated toward the drag community.
