GG's can be DRAG Queens, one of our local Queens is AFAB and she performs as a Queen, not a Drag King like most GG's do.Originally Posted by Di
I remind people not to get hung up on some old "textbook definition" of DRAG because you would be ignoring a large group of DRAG performers.
I had to forget everything that I thought I knew about DRAG to truly enjoy it.
Last edited by Robertacd; 02-01-2021 at 03:12 PM.
Drag is a great form of self expression. I think it may be a way to find out who you are down the road. In a way drag make up tips are good but don?t take it all the way.I grew up across the street from a gay bar in the 80?s so I?ve seen all crosses of the LGBT spectrum. IMO just be who you are..
So some of these comments bring another thought to my ditzy crossdresser head:
I find it really interesting that "drag" seems so different than "crossdressing".
It seems that the higher percentage of many Drag Queens are gay men that really enjoy the performance side and talent of that entertainment.
While, the higher percentage of many Crossdressers are mostly straight men that enjoy the clothes and presentation of being a more natural female.
I know its a bit of generalization, but that's been my exposure and understanding of enjoying the different forms of expressing "femaleness"
The generally accepted term within the community is ?BioQueen?
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This is the essential difference between Drag and Crossdressing. Drag, by nature, is performance, whereas CDing is more personal expression.
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I see that the most common aversion to drag is that it’s “OTT”. So my follow up question to those people is this: Do you have the same feelings about say J-Lo, Lady Gaga, Diana Ross, Madonna, etc when they perform? How about things like Runway fashion (haute couture) or the Met Gala? Is it that you find this sort of outfits distasteful in general or just on men?
I haven't been to a live show, only bits and pieces on the internet. I think like most art forms it depends on the talent and professionalism of the performers. I love it when it's good.
4 for me.
I've seen a few shows and love them. The performers, in many cases, may be lip syncing but they do put on a show. Entertaining and at times a little raunchy, but then isn't that why we're there?
I might consider it but I'm not much of a performer. Something for charity or an organization perhaps, but not as part of a professional show. Mainly because they all wear such high heels and I can't anymore
I don't wear women's clothes, I wear MY clothes !
I like to post my thoughts before reading others comments. I have a strong opinion on drag because I take this Seriously. I'm not trying to pretend to be a woman or Act like a caricature of a woman . While I don't fee I was supposed to be a woman or maybe I was born a woman in the wrong body I do feel that I want to be a woman And I take that seriously . Drag creates a caricature of a woman often a mockery to the extent that Many drag shows poke fun at women and all the Effort it takes to look Appropriate as a Woman based on today's norms . When they make fun of it all I feel it makes people take me less seriously . With all that's going on With the LGBT community fighting for rights and everything else I believe The average citizen is so Over loaded with information they are confused More than ever and not because they don't know because they know too much . Then they see someone in drag poking fun at it all And I feel that carries over to me . All I want is to be taken seriously and this is what I have to contend with.
I am a 5 to 6. I professionally take photos of the DQs while they are performing. I have been on stage just 4 times as a DQ. I have over 6,000 DQ photos and some of the DQs come to me to get a few of my photos of them for promos.
When I did my DQ things the first time I was all shaky kneed. Not any more. I did my makeup at home and drove to and from the location in my DQ outfit. Even once stopped at a gas station and fast food place on my way home. but I do not do the max over the top make-up and wig thing.
Answering the follow-up question.
Well yes and no. I can't say that I am a fan of any of the parformers you mentioned. I mean I don't hate their music but I doubt I could name one of their songs or if I heard one name the artist, except for maybe Diana Ross.
I guess I would fall between 0 and 1.
Never watched any of it -- my impression is that it is a bit over the top. That points to that I don't really know anything about the scene, probably because it doesn't interest me. I look on dressing up as just trying to look natural and/or pretty. I'm still intrigued on the concept of leaving the house and being seen dressed -- and, to a reasonable level, passing.
I'm neither for it or against it. I simply have no interest one way or the other. On the other hand, if you put on the dress, we're sisters. Your motivations for doing so are your own.
Surely you’ve caught a performance at a Super Bowl halftime show, or something recorded for television. How about Dolly Parton? The point I’m getting at is that the outfits and costumes those performers wear is essentially drag. I see lots of girls criticize the drag aesthetic, but I don’t ever see anyone complaining about female performers that are essentially wearing drag outfits. In this case it sounds more like a lack of familiarity, but I have to wonder if there’s a deeper underlying reason for others...
Thanks, Genifer Teal. I think you made a stronger, better point of basically what i was trying to get at.
It's like Drag shows could be kind of offensive, feminine gender-based "Minstrel Shows" if you will.
Still interesting to me that the uber hyper-female drag performers tend to be gay men.
And more simple cross dressers tend to be hetero guys mostly. It an interesting comparison
yet we are all free to be who we feel along the silly rainbow spectrum.
And on OTT performers. OTT is great if the performers have talent to back up such a large persona.
Lady Gaga for instance, yeah over the top but with a killer voice to back it up! (her duets with Tony Bennet are amazing)
And then Katy Perry? well not so much. - my two cents
And good Point Micki Finn - I love Dolly Parton but you are right she is one chromosome short of being a Drag Performer,
So I gotta give that one some thought, but she does, as I said above, have the talent to back up her Large Persona (no pun)
Last edited by AnnieMac; 02-01-2021 at 07:52 PM.
Mimi your follow up question is well aimed. I persoaly see the key difference being how entertaining we each find any artist. For what ever reason I love some of lady gaga songs and the others you mentioned. But then I also used to enjoy Jimmy Osmond and Val Donagan. Dany la Rue Yup great entertainer too. Rue Paul and freinds just don't, entertain me in any way though. I tried to watch a few shows but no, not for me. It"s not a cultural thing just that at present I find those portraying the drag scene on main steam view, to be too OTT for me personally and not the least bit entertaining. I guess that scews my view of drag at this moment in time.
I'd have to place myself as a 1. Not my cup of tea, but whatever floats your boat.
However, Genifer so eloquently stated my concerns with drag. I fear that many think of drag when they hear transgender, because they are more aware of drag than the reality of the ladies here. That ups the challenge for me to describe who I am to the general public.
Right, but a GG can get a way with a lot more than we can. Yes it's a double standard, I didn't put it there but it does exist.
But to clarify my early distaste in the OTT was because I saw it as parody and disrespect.
Last edited by Robertacd; 02-01-2021 at 09:36 PM. Reason: I have the hardest time expressing myself in words :(
somewhere between 1 and 2 for me. Most of the drag shows I have encountered have bored me and I have no interest in seeing them but to each their own
Please correct me if I am wrong but wasn't the term "drag" originally something written as a cue or a directive in a play such as: performer x enters dressed as a girl?
Last edited by Princess29; 02-02-2021 at 10:19 PM.
I think you're onto something...Dolly Parton has famously been quoted as saying "It's a good thing I was born a girl, otherwise I'd be a drag queen".
She also once confessed to losing a Dolly Parton look-alike contest with the following observation: "They had a bunch of Chers and Dollys that year, so I just over-exaggerated?made my beauty mark bigger, the eyes bigger, the hair bigger, everything. All these beautiful drag queens had worked for weeks and months getting their clothes. So I just got in the line and I just walked across, and they just thought I was some little short gay guy? but I got the least applause."
Gotta love Dolly...
This answer is going to be all over the place...
First, I have watched very little of Drag Race, but the popularity of the show I think has helped the general public differentiate between drag queens and crossdressers, much like Caitlyn Jenner has allowed differentiation between those who choose to transition vis-a-vis crossdressers.
Second, I never have really wanted to previously see a drag show, but my GG friend Michelle likes them, and we have talked about going out to one (post-pandemic, naturally), and doing anything with her I'm all for.
Third, about three months ago I was at Michelle's favorite bar and met another of the patrons, Patty, whose gay son was engaged to a (occasional) drag queen. Patty showed the fianc?e's pictures on her phone and I realized then I would love to get a drag makeover to see how I would look.
I'm not sure this answers fits any of the categories but it's my current thinking.
I have never been to a drag show. I have watched RuPaul on TV before
honestly it really has no attraction to me a all.
Before COVID there was drag shows in this town, I was considering going just to
give Raychel a chance to get out and maybe for a network of friends in the area.
But that was the only real reason to go,
my sister's reply when I told her how I prefer to dress
"Everyone has there thing, all that matters is that you are happy, love what you do and who you do it with"
#1 Never been to a Drag Show. Some day I would to go for the experience.
Wow!!! I am really surprised by the answers of everyone else, cuz I am most definitely a (6).
I am gonna hold my tongue and just say that I am disappointed with the way many here have characterized drag queens - they are a bit catty with ginormous egos (kinda what it takes to get on stage), but most seem to big hearts and take seriously their position as being the most visible members of the LGBT community.
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I'd say I'm a 4.5?
I've watched every episode of every season of
RuPaul's Drag Race as it has aired, and have
been to a handful of drag shows.
I appreciate drag as an art form and would
consider getting on stage if I had "something
to say" (aesthetically, politically, etc.) and
could execute my vision (I'm not a seamstress
and have two left feet, so I have my werk
cut out for me).
Great topic! Very interesting the wide range of answers in a subject very close to crossdressing.
After telling my girlfriend about my crossdressing we started to go almost weekly to many drag venues - monthly contests involving singing, lipsync or just dancing performance.
Fortunately in Sao Paulo, the drag scene is very colorful.
All that said, I think 5 would be my choice. It would be a dream come through for my girlfriend to watch me perform in any stage as a drag queen. She is always teasing me about that.
My favorite performance at one singing contest - Cassandra
Not quite certain where I fit into this. I've never watched Rue Paul but have seen some of the personalitys on other programmes. Some I find way too OTT, bit like the pantomime dames, sorry for the UK bias, but I have found some to be very likeable characters.
I have also been to a few drag shows. One in particular Funny Girls, at Blackpool, I have found very entertaining, and will certainly go again when the theatres reopen. Most of the bar staff and waiting staff are also in drag, and many of them are , dare I say it, beautiful. Would I get on stage, yes in the right circumstances.
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