Are there drag kings9/14/2023 ![]() ![]() ![]() This was attended by 47 men, half of whom were dressed in women's clothing, all of whom gained access by whispering the code word "Sister". Then in 1880, a drag ball took place at the Temperance Hall in Hulme, a district of Manchester. Cooper is widely accepted to be the first drag queen in English history – sorry, herstory – or at least the first man for whom dressing up as a female alter ego was a key part of his identity. And there are some compelling real-life stories that have been all but forgotten – that would surely make for brilliant novels, films, plays or otherwise.įor example, there's John Cooper, the 18th-Century Englishman who dressed up as his drag alter ego Princess Seraphina and frequented London taverns known as "molly houses", flaunting himself through the streets with a remarkable degree of openness for a time when gay sex was punishable by execution. This bigotry has helped suppress from the mainstream historical record a whole queer subculture. "That's what my drag is about doing and being what you want rather than what we've been conditioned to do and be… That makes the world too complicated for some people to even contemplate so they dismiss and deride it." "Drag can work on a deeper level, challenging expectations, social constructs, gender norms and identities," continues de Campo. ![]() Drag pulls all art forms together – singing, dancing, acting, costuming, creation, writing, directing – but because it's so often funny it's seen as less somehow."ĭrag can also be subversive – and in particular can challenge gender stereotypes. So why haven't more writers been inspired? Divina de Campo, runner-up on the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK, argues that drag has been the victim of cultural snobbery: "Because drag is rooted in comedy it gets treated like much of the rest of comedy, in that the work isn't seen as serious or rather worthy. But drag can be so much more its transformative power presents writers with a unique opportunity on the level of both plot and characterisation. Other than the musical Everybody's Talking About Jamie and the TV series Pose (which, arguably, focused much more on the trans experience), you'd have to go back to 1990s films The Birdcage and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, and 2003's Kinky Boots (as well as its stage offshoot), to find high-profile stories that centre drag – and even then, it's predominantly used as fun window-dressing for stories about the gay experience and its clashes with straight culture, or merely as a comedic device. In particular, the art form has a rich history that is not as widely known as it should be – something that, as we enter LGBT+ History Month in the UK, feels particularly glaring.įor years, despite drag's ubiquity in popular culture, it has been poorly represented in the narrative arts. To use drag vernacular, if the library's open, there aren't many books to read. I've also put it at the heart of my first theatre project, which hasn't yet been announced but will open in Manchester in July.īut I'm shocked to discover that there are very few other drag-themed novels, plays or films scheduled to come out over the next year. ![]() For me, drag can be about self-discovery and self-fulfilment. It's a contemporary story about a 43-year-old man who's dumped by his husband but takes this as an opportunity to pursue his long-suppressed dream of becoming a drag queen – in the process discovering an inner strength he hadn't known existed. I'm a huge fan of drag, so much so that it has inspired my latest novel, Becoming Ted. – Has culture finally embraced LGBTQ+ people? In case you've been hiding under a wig block for the last 10 years, drag is the art of gendered impersonation, with performers exaggerating and heightening aspects of femininity or masculinity for the sake of entertainment.Īs it takes the world by storm, drag is changing our language, our ideas about gender, and even the way we see ourselves. From RuPaul's Drag Race to live cabaret and theatre shows, drag has never been more popular. ![]()
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