Just Be A Queen

I've noticed something: there are a lot of straight people who watch (supposedly) gay-oriented programming. They do.

I know that it's probably politically incorrect somehow to say that I am a fan (and I am by no means the only one) of Logo's RuPaul's Drag Race, but I really enjoy watching 12 drag queens duke it out for the title of America's next top drag queen. I think that a part of the appeal (for me) has to do with being a fan of John Waters' Pink Flamingos, and that in some way, the pursuit for the top drag queen title reminds me of Waters' cinematic competition for the title "the filthiest person alive". I once heard a person say that the programming on Logo was no more than the gay equivalent of a minstrel show. He said that it's nothing more than a confirmation of the worst stereotypes of gays and lesbians served up as entertainment.

I know what the guy was saying. And I can imagine that someone who may not know any gays or lesbians may see the programs on Logo and walk away thinking that all gays are "like that". But, really I think that the kind of people who watch Logo's programming aren't the type to think negatively of gays, lesbians, bisexuals, or transgendered people.

But then, that's another discussion for another day.

What I've been thinking about is Drag Race. In particular, I've been thinking about the on-going argument over what a drag queen is. Now, for starters, I'm not gay. And secondly, I'm not a drag queen. I enter the discussion as a complete outsider. Ok, so for anyone who hasn't seen the show, much of the to-do is centered on a contestant who goes by the name of Raja. Some folks have taken to referring to Raja as a "boy in a dress". (I think that this is a reference to the the character Chi Chi in the movie To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything, Julie Newmar, who is described as a "boy in a dress").

Anyway, some people don't think that Raja is drag enough to consider herself a true "drag queen" (I suppose nevermind that she's been doing drag for over ten years). Her look, some claim isn't drag but club kid. I'm no expert on what drag is, nor do I claim to be, but I think that what Raja does is exactly what drag is all about. If the idea of drag is the idea of "genderfuck", then Raja is exactly what the term is about. He doesn't look like a "man" (because he's not dressed according to the masculine ideal), but he doesn't look like a woman, either. He's is neither and both. He's fucking with gender.

I remember watching an interview with the late Van Smith, the man behind the look of the late drag icon Divine, and he said that the idea behind Divine's look (which included scars and celebrating fatness) was confrontational. Divine challenged to conventional ideal of what a drag queen is supposed to be. The idea wasn't to pass as a woman or to look like a pretty girl, it was to create a character that was a "drag terrorist", to create crimes against the conventionality of drag.

That's why, I think, some of Raja's fans so militantly defend her. They understand that every-so-often, the standards need to be challenged. To think that Raja has to toe some official this-is-what-drag-is line is ridiculous. If a drag queen is all about style, we should appreciate that styles change, and that really, there is no way to find one drag queen that truly represents every style of drag (this would make as much sense as picking out one person to represent every African-American in America. saying "all black people are like this person" of course neglects everyone who is not like that person. for instance, if someone were to pick me as the representative of all African Americans, they'd think that every black American listens to goth music and watches TV shows about drag queens, which clearly is not the case).

I might not be on Team Raja, but I appreciate the fact that she does her own thing. If every queen on the show looked the same, we'd be complaining that there was no one on the show who looks different. That's the reason why there are many of us that are glad that all music doesn't sound like Mozart. Sure, Mozart is great, but there's other stuff out there to listen to. And really, not everyone will like everything. Some people like The Cure, some people think that it's the worst crap they've ever heard. But the thing is, it even though The Cure doesn't sound like Mozart, that doesn't mean that it's not music.

Same goes for drag queens.... I think.