So. . . I went to a drag queen race this past Tuesday. Yeah. Before people start thinking that cars raced down DC, stop that thought. I mean a drag race as in men dressed up as women (and ridiculously high stilettos) and ran down 17th St. in Dupont (in their ridiculously high stilettos). Though it was a rainy night, the event was still awesome and I can say that it was one of the best events I have attended so far in DC. I must admit that people can get really creative in this city, from the Rainbow Brite drag queen to the person dressed up as the Washington Monument complete with red shining lights, all the costumes were amazing.
The queens first paraded down 17th. They strutted their stuff, posed for pictures, blew kisses to the crowd, you know, the usual queenly stuff. I was part of the cheering crowd that marveled at the creativity of the costumes and I was also one of the ones that cringed with some awkwardness when I saw some of the "edgy" costumes that some guys tried to pull off (like a guy who wore cowboy chaps and showed a LOT of skin, I'll leave the rest to your imagination). Anyway, I hate to think like Goffman, but for this event I must. You see, every single drag queen created a sort of persona that played with the receiving audience. Therefore, they controlled what impressions they left upon the audience. The Marylin Monroe drag queen strutted down the street (with a guy wearing a JKF mask holding up an umbrella for her) and acted in a regal way, meanwhile people in the audience cheered her on and yelled "Go Marilyn". People actually played and acted as if this man was actually Marilyn Monroe. It was pretty funny.
However, I also fell victim to the belief that the characters being portrayed were real. When the race was over and we were heading back, I ran into Rachel Maddow. . . drag queen Rachel Maddow. If you don't know, Rachel Maddow is an MSNBC news anchor. My encounter with Rachel Maddow went something like this:
"Oh my gosh! Guys, it's Rachel Maddow."
Rachel (remember, this is the drag queen we're talking about) responded like this:
"Sweetie come here and take a picture with me!"
She then grabbed me by the arm and we took a picture which hopefully I have posted correctly. I will admit that at the moment I met "Rachel" I seriously thought I was talking to the actual Rachel Maddow. To add to my embarrassment, I seriously considered asking for an autograph (I am so lame). Except that I forgot one thing, Rachel Maddow is a woman, and a woman that does not wear that ridiculous amount of makeup. Still, I fell victim to the theatrics.
Wow, I just realized how long this post is.
Posts
4 comments:
Aaaahhhhh! I was there!! haha
I was one of those people who didn't know who Rachel Maddow is. :)
It was quite an experience! ... really reminded me of Carnival back home ... well except for the cross-dressing part of it.
oh and I took that picture :)
It's amazing how people assume a different personality ... they become the costume. You always think about this happening with actors in a play - not so much drag queens for a high heel race. Actually what is amazing is that a good bit of the contestants aren't authentic drag queens, some guys just do the race for the fun of it. I met some guys in Payless the night before the race shopping for high heels. haha
I admire this culture ... I don't think straight guys would take part if we had a race like this back home ... actually I don't think there would ever be a drag queen race in Trinidad. Our cultures differ a lot along these terms.
Sometimes you wonder why these countries are so different with what they accept and deny.
I think that you just hit on one of the reasons I love Halloween. Halloween gives me the perfect excuse to dress up and be who ever I want to be. I love Halloween because it is so liberating. I really love dressing up and being someone else, just like the drag queens. Halloween is amazing plus there also is all that stuff about witches, ghosts, and vampires!! I feel so at home :)!
Post a Comment