Let's get our greetings & Salutations out of the way, so HIIIIIIiEEE
By: Aydan Harris
Today's Queens
In today's society, more than ever, drag queens are ever present. They model, make music, entertain, dance, perform and even make others' lives more fabulous. Whether we like it or not, they are here to stay and have become so resilient and stood the test of persecution in today's society, although that test is not yet over. Facebook has recently came up with a "legal name" policy preventing drag queens to be known by their drag name, although they go by that. This turn has raised some questions about what performers can do on social media. Is this policy limited to men performing expression through gender? Or will this apply to people like Lady Gaga and the stardom of Hollywood?
If subcultures have proven one thing, it is that their efforts to renounce popular culture, it is that most of what humans assume today as intrinsic, actually comes from societal condistioning. When certain subcultures, particularly the drag scene, interrupt societal conventions, people tend to reconsider things. Drag subculture does this succcessfully. The power of drag comes from the very disturbance that it is responsible for. Gender is essential today and its importance is often unrecognized.Gender assigning has become one of the most prominent social constructs. Gender determines so much more than just sexuality, it has come to have influence over power, acceptance and function in society. When gender representation goes against the norm, people become both fascinated and disturbed.
Clothing Takes A Gay Turn
Starting Sept. 29, Alaska, Courtney Act, and Willam Belli will appear on a line of ‘80s-inspired concert T-shirts for American Apparel.
The limited series of glam-rock tees — only 500 of each are being produced — are inspired by the “Support Artists, Support Ethical Manufacturing” campaign.
The t-shirt line is meant to celebrate each drag queen's allure and talent. Alaska, a mix of the late queen Divine and Marilyn Monroe; Courtney Act is channeling Debbie Gibson and some hard edge; and Willam Belli is a glam-rock whore.
Currently the line is limited to T-shirts, but there’s always room to expand the partnership. “I wanted to do a beach towel so people could lay on me,” Willam says. “Maybe if they buy enough shirts we’ll get the towel, too.”
Knocked Down, Dragged Out: Facebook's Attack on Performers
Facebook, the home of over 50 gender identity options, has taken a bigoted turn by reporting and suspending various profiles of drag queens whose accounts were under their performing stage names.
People on Facebook may choose from: Agender, Androgyne, Androgynous, Bigender, Cis, Cis Female, Cis Male, Cis Man, Cis Woman, Cisgender, Cisgender Female, Cisgender Male, Cisgender Man, Cisgender Woman, Female to Male, FTM, Gender Fluid, Gender Nonconforming, Gender Questioning, Gender Variant, Genderqueer, Intersex, Male to Female, MTF, Neither, Neutrois, Non-binary, Other, Pangender, Trans, Trans Female, Trans Male, Trans Man, Trans Person, Trans Woman, Trans*, Trans* Female, Trans* Male, Trans* Man, Trans* Person, Trans* Woman, Transfeminine, Transgender, Transgender Female, Transgender Male, Transgender Man, Transgender Person, Transgender Woman, Transmasculine, Transsexual, Transsexual Female, Transsexual Male, Transsexual Man, Transsexual Person, Transsexual Woman or Two-spirit
These artists have been provided instructions on changing their stage names to their legal names, in accordance with the new policy. Facebook says that this is an attempt to make the social network safer. However It's hard to understand how a human rights activist and artist poses some sort of threat simply by using her stage name.
It's especially hard to understand when Facebook has ignored their own rules plenty of times in the past, such as in May, when Daniel Rey Wolfe, a Marine veteran, documented his suicide on his profile. Much to the horror of family and friends who tried to intervene before it was too late, Facebook at first refused to remove the imagery after Wolfe's death. It took much wrangling from family, friends, and veterans groups before they finally did.
Going through my friends list on Facebook, I can see that many peoples' accounts are still active although their name on Facebook is not the same on their ID, credit card or student ID. Literally, one account is headed under the name Sunshinez N Happinezz.
Some think that this is a way to monetize the profiles of performers by making them adopt a fan page where stage names are allowed. This would force the performers to pay for sponsorship to get the same visibility on their friends' page as they have received before.
What is the difference between Trans and Drag?
Not all Drag Queens are Trans and not all Trans people are Drag Queens. So what is the difference?Well, a simple way to think about it is Trans is who people are and Drag is what they do. Performance vs. Identity. Trans is an identity and Drag is a profession. Can a Transperson still do drag? Of course, Drag is just a form of expression through exaggeration, humor, spoofing, costuming and makeup.
In this Life Ball campaign, a German effort to raise money for HIV/AIDS research and care, Carmen Carrera, a former man transitioning to a female demonstrates gender fluidity. I am Adam. I am Eve. I am myself. Recently, this former drag queen has been getting a lot of attention for her recent actions. Earlier this year, she was featured in a Marco Squared Fashion show, shown below.
After that performance, a petition to get her on the Victoria's Secret Angels Fashion Show circulated around the internet. The petition collected over 50,000 signatures yet she was not the first transgendered individual to be on the show. How can a corporation like Victoria's Secret ignore 50,000 people, the consumers? The market adapts to consumers' wants, right? Well discrimination is still alive and well.
As seen above, Carmen has been on hormones over the years and surgeries have given her the body that she has wanted. However the assumption that society is only concerned with the transitioning part of a transgendered individual's life shows objectification. As Laverne Cox says "The preoccupation with transition and surgery objectifies trans people. And then we don’t get to really deal with the real lived experiences."
It Takes a Big Man to do Drag: The Queens of today
When many people think of princesses, they think of the Disney stereotype, Aryan-looking royalty and then I think of a drag queen. Within Disney, there is a huge amount of discrimination! It took only 86 years for Disney to drop its Jim Crow laws and allow a black princess, Tiana, an invitation to the ball. But discrimination in the drag community? I am pretty sure the only requirement is to have a penis duct-taped between your legs and other than that, anything really goes. Secondly, how does the royalty of Disney get all those beautiful gowns and crowns? Only 1 of the 11 queens in the Disney franchise had a job. Apparently, Tiana was born with a socioeconomic disadvantage! Who would have thought it? And still arguably with all her hard work, she still did not achieve her dreams. However drag queens have a huge work ethic, if they are not shaking off their hip pads, then they are not turning the party and not getting any tips. Lastly, you will not find a drag queen without a sense of humor to laugh at their own plights. Disney princesses, their very nature is unrealistic, never laugh at their own ridiculous struggles. Drag lightens the world and reminds us not to take life so seriously because after all, we are just spiritual beings having a human experience, aren't we?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HqAIzNrhIDc
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