Essay: Explore History of Drag: Explore the Storied Past of Drag Queens and Kings

Jackson Long
Mr. Thane
English I/2
June 2019
On The History of Drag
Drag is a peculiar phenomenon in which a person of one gender dresses as and acts as though they are are a member of the other gender (DICTIONARY). It has long been a part of our culture, and has fallen in and out of favor multiple times throughout mankind’s existence. Due to inherent difficulties present in referring to drag kings and queens by gendered pronouns, they/them pronouns will be used to refer to queens in both plural and singular contexts. Drag queens and kings are interesting, peculiar people and the drag art form is a wonderful part of entertainment culture which people ought to be educated about.
Drag takes its roots in traditional religious rites, in which people would crossdress for spiritual or cultural reasons. A far cry from the drag of today, this form of drag had less to do with entertainment or self-expression and more with spiritualism and religion. It is, however, religion that brought drag to what it was today (POPSUGAR HISTORY). The Christian church hosted religious plays in order to better the average person’s understanding of the scripture. In these plays, women’s roles were played by boys. This early form of the art introduced the entertainment, musical, and elaborate crossdressing aspects to the amalgam of practices we now view as drag. After some time, the church gave over the majority of the performances to the guilds, relieving the church of some work and allowing the guilds to present their best work while acting. Those who made boats would perform plays like Noah’s Ark, while other groups would perform plays that required skills like goldsmithing. These plays would, over time, transition from the work of the guilds to the work of acting troupes. Such performances remained popular well into the late 1800’s, at which point the “female impersonator” emerged. These queens would perform satirical, mocking roles in which they would dramatize and poke fun at women. It was not until the 1930’s that drag would gain its association with homosexuality, an association that would, unfortunately, force the art underground.
It was at this time that a schism began to appear in the drag community. Female impersonators began to differentiate themselves from drag queens, who they viewed as lower quality performers. Female impersonators performed in clubs and with groups comprised entirely of female impersonators. Drag Queens performed in bars, and were thought of as ameteur. This division, along with the already underground nature of drag at the time resulted in limited growth of drag during this time.
Of course, as with any art form, drag could not be kept down forever. Modern drag continued to slowly develop in bars and clubs, while drag began to make appearances in film. Some Like it Hot, regarded as a classic by many, is one such example. With a Shakespearean plotline and two men performing in women’s clothing, it used drag for comedic effect. This view on drag, that it was something strange and comedic, remained common until the 1980’s. Around this time, drag was beginning to pick up speed in New York City. Queens like Divine and Lady Bunny, among others, became popular fixtures in both local pop culture and in the drag community as a whole. It was these brave queens, standing up for themselves and the art form as a whole that allowed drag to become what it is today.
In the 1990’s and early 2000’s, drag queens gained the acceptance they have today. With documentaries like Paris is Burning and films like The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, drag was brought into the eyes of the general public. When RuPaul, commonly regarded as one of the most influential drag queens of all time began acting in music videos, it only further added to the momentum behind drag (POPSUGAR HISTORY).
RuPaul, born RuPaul Andre Charles, was born November 17, 1960 in California (BIOGRAPHY.COM). Throughout their career, they acted in over 65 music videos, television shows, and films, a number that continues to grow with time (POPSUGAR). Arguably the biggest event in RuPaul’s career, and one of the biggest events for all of modern drag, RuPaul got a television show of their own in 2009. RuPaul had briefly been the host of a talk show, The RuPaul Show, from 1995 to 1998, but it lacked the popularity that RuPaul’s other media would soon gain. In 2009, RuPaul’s Drag Race was launched. A smash hit, it brought drag into the spotlight. It and its later iterations would help to bring queens together, and it would become the face of drag for years to come. The show still runs today, providing an easy way for ordinary people to become familiar with drag (BIOGRAPHY).
Recent years have not been entirely without difficulty for the drag community, however. As stated by Kalissa Alexeyeff in their Contemporary Pacific article, Globalizing Drag in the Cook Islands: Friction, Repulsion, and Abjection, the globalization of drag is a struggle. Drag has long been a part of local culture in the Cook Islands, and drag shows there are not uncommon. It was not until the 1998 show, however, that Western styles of drag made a significant appearance. Due to the significant differences between local and global styles, many of the performances were found to be unappealing by the audience, with the judges finding them to be lacking in entertainment value and generally distasteful (COOK ISLANDS).
Many places view drag as sinful or inappropriate. An event taking place in an Alpharetta, Georgia library was cancelled this April for no apparent reason. In this event, a local drag queen was to give a family-friendly performance in which they read a book to children and talked about their career. Despite the fact that the performance was intended to be suitable for children and that the drag queen chosen had never performed in clubs, the library chose to cancel it without stating reason why. The drag queen involved, who performs under the name Miss Terra Cotta Sugarbaker, stated in an interview with AJC that “Not being provided an answer, it feels like discrimination […] [it] feels like homophobia” (AJC ATLANTA).
Many drag queens even face obstacles within the home. Raja, a well-known modern drag queen and winner on RuPaul’s drag race, had to contend with a serious lack of finances while attempting to form their persona. They also had to come out to their highly religious father, who was a minister. Raja’s father accepted them, thankfully, and he was proud to see them win on RuPaul’s Drag Race shortly before he passed away. Raja stated in an interview with ALIVE Magazine that, while their family had never expressed any sort of distaste or homophobia, their being well-known in the drag community certainly aided in their family coming to accept them (RAJA INTERVIEW). Many drag performers have to contend with homophobia, regardless of their sexuality. Not all drag performers are LGBTQ+, and the assumption that they are can change how drag performers are viewed by the people they come out to (SAGEPUB).
Thankfully, both drag performers and LGBTQ+ people are gaining acceptance throughout the world. In an interview with the Billings Gazette, Anita Bamalamatangtang, a long time drag queen and co-director of Magic City Glamour, Billing’s first drag group, talked about the recent acceptance that drag is gaining in Montana. As recently as 30 years ago, drag “wasn’t something that was advertised, it was like an underground railroad. It was spread through word of mouth”, but in recent years it has become more generally accepted (BILLINGS GAZETTE). In fact, drag has gained so much acceptance in Montana recently that some local organizations are beginning to spread to towns outside their own. The Countship of the Imperial Sovereign Court of the State of Montana, a drag organization located in Bozeman, Montana has begun to spread to Billings, and acts in both a collaborative and competitive way with the Glamour. The Countship regularly makes appearances at venues throughout Bozeman, including MSU (BILLINGS GAZETTE).
-SOMETHING ABOUT ACCEPTANCE AROUND THE WORLD
-CONCLUSION.