I'm going to start with a disclaimer: I know only a few members of this blog in person, and don't know the full scope of who all reads this and what views there are of sexuality in our readership. I myself am not opposed to homosexuality/bisexuality/transgenderism/transexuality/pansexuality and the like; if you have a problem with non-heterosexual related posts, you may want to skip this one. (Also, if you can let me know in the future whether or not these disclaimers are necessary.) While I'm heterosexual, or at least 98% heterosexual, I am an Ally, and in particular, I love doing things, like drag, that challenge gender norms.
This post is about an art form that I'm only okay at but love doing/trying anyway: drag.
My alma mater (incidentally the same as Ms. Tehreem's) has a drag show each semester, usually part of Pride Week. The school hires a couple pros and accepts student acts of all sorts. I find it great fun--it's as many strobe lights, loud pop songs, and clouds of glitter as you can imagine, and just MAD pride. The men usually make beautiful queens, sometimes more beautiful than us real women IMO (it helps that a lot of the guys who do drag at this school are very tall and so look like goddesses). Being a king is a little more difficult, and that's what I have to do, seeing as I'm a very femme woman. I'm...so-so at it.
If you don't know what onstage drag is, basically, participants dress up as the opposite gender in the most flashy way possible--often inspired by a real-life pop or rock star, such as Lady Gaga or Madonna--and lip-sync a song by an artist of the opposite gender.
I had been a longtime spectator of the drag show, but only once did I ever sign up to perform. I decided to do two songs: "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley (with the intent of Rickrolling the entire audience) and "If You Were Gay" from Avenue Q (a duet with a friend; I was Rod). This was my outfit, cobbled together from thrift stores:
Pretty effeminate still, but it was the best I could do. I just don't look very masculine in general. My drag name was Rocky Lane, which is an inside joke among my family involving what my name could have been if I was born male. Anyway, it was some of the most fun I'd had at school.
After graduating, I kinda stuck around in the same area as my school, and I went to the fall semester drag show to watch some friends perform. It was absolutely beautiful and my heart broke that I couldn't be a part of it.
But then along came this semester, and a miracle occurred! They ran short on participants...AND THEY WANTED ALUMNI TO SIGN UP!
Of course I jumped at the chance to be Rocky Lane again. I hope to be able to do two songs. This is my main choice:
And this is my second:
Gee, I wonder if there's a theme there. Yeah, I'm kind of in love with Muse. But that's a story for a different post.
I'm hoping to build one outfit around a yellow polo I own and that is near and dear to my heart because it covers my bust line REALLY well and is also kind of a shout-out to one of my favorite fictional characters. If I get a second song, I want to build something that's blue, gold, and black as a shout-out to another fictional character. I would totally tell you who they are, but that also feels like a story for another post, because each of my Dragspirations is also an inspiration to me in general and I'd like to post about them and their origin work each separately.
Anyway, the show is this upcoming Friday. I will try my very best to have pics for you and everyone else of my finished outfits, which I'm going to mall-crawl for on Thursday. In the meantime, I must research how guys who aren't Rick Astley dance!
If this sounds like fun, I would definitely recommend that you try drag sometime. I just think it's a blast, especially if you're into switching gender stereotypes and doing performance art. Just remember to pick a good name, don't be afraid to go over the top, and have fun!
This post is about an art form that I'm only okay at but love doing/trying anyway: drag.
My alma mater (incidentally the same as Ms. Tehreem's) has a drag show each semester, usually part of Pride Week. The school hires a couple pros and accepts student acts of all sorts. I find it great fun--it's as many strobe lights, loud pop songs, and clouds of glitter as you can imagine, and just MAD pride. The men usually make beautiful queens, sometimes more beautiful than us real women IMO (it helps that a lot of the guys who do drag at this school are very tall and so look like goddesses). Being a king is a little more difficult, and that's what I have to do, seeing as I'm a very femme woman. I'm...so-so at it.
If you don't know what onstage drag is, basically, participants dress up as the opposite gender in the most flashy way possible--often inspired by a real-life pop or rock star, such as Lady Gaga or Madonna--and lip-sync a song by an artist of the opposite gender.
I had been a longtime spectator of the drag show, but only once did I ever sign up to perform. I decided to do two songs: "Never Gonna Give You Up" by Rick Astley (with the intent of Rickrolling the entire audience) and "If You Were Gay" from Avenue Q (a duet with a friend; I was Rod). This was my outfit, cobbled together from thrift stores:
After graduating, I kinda stuck around in the same area as my school, and I went to the fall semester drag show to watch some friends perform. It was absolutely beautiful and my heart broke that I couldn't be a part of it.
But then along came this semester, and a miracle occurred! They ran short on participants...AND THEY WANTED ALUMNI TO SIGN UP!
Of course I jumped at the chance to be Rocky Lane again. I hope to be able to do two songs. This is my main choice:
I'm hoping to build one outfit around a yellow polo I own and that is near and dear to my heart because it covers my bust line REALLY well and is also kind of a shout-out to one of my favorite fictional characters. If I get a second song, I want to build something that's blue, gold, and black as a shout-out to another fictional character. I would totally tell you who they are, but that also feels like a story for another post, because each of my Dragspirations is also an inspiration to me in general and I'd like to post about them and their origin work each separately.
Anyway, the show is this upcoming Friday. I will try my very best to have pics for you and everyone else of my finished outfits, which I'm going to mall-crawl for on Thursday. In the meantime, I must research how guys who aren't Rick Astley dance!
If this sounds like fun, I would definitely recommend that you try drag sometime. I just think it's a blast, especially if you're into switching gender stereotypes and doing performance art. Just remember to pick a good name, don't be afraid to go over the top, and have fun!
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