So to keep it short, for one of my characters I intend to give them a spin off. Being that this character is close to this sort of thing, this spin off is going to have a lot of drag queen characters. That being said, I want to ask if anyone here the following. Especially if you are a Drag Queen or personally involved with it in some way. In fact I'm looking specifically for people involved for this question almost entirely. What would you want a writer to know about drag and the culture before they make a character in that sort of environment? I look forward to the responses!
I absolutely love drag as an art form, and have been to many shows from local amateur events to international touring productions. I would highly suggest watching at least a few seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race (Season 11 just started last week) to get a feel for the slang, terminology and different types of drag aesthetics/approaches (i.e. a comedy queen vs. a pageant queen). Some of my favorite drag queens are Violet Chachki, Bianca Del Rio and Bob the Drag Queen, all of whom have been RPDR winners, but are three completely different types of queen.
This is one I would suggest going straight to the source of you can. Is there a club where you live that does shows or a gay club with a drag night? If Drag Race is the only option, it's not a bad one, but it's like watching Cops and never meeting a police officer, except that if you end up with a cop stereotype, nobody boycotts. Drag queens are fun people. I can tell you a lot about hanging out with drag queens, but my info on the scene is ten years old at least, and I don't know what it's like to be one. I couldn't speak to character motivations and such. I can say that even out of drag and far away from shows, most are just a whole different kind of personality. It's worth talking to real drag queens. Make some friends if you can. You won't regret it. There's no party better than a drag queen party, you know, if party is your thing.
Oh my god I watch Rupauls Drag Race as well! I've been following season 11 and seen various episodes from other seasons! Not much of AllStars or Untucked though. Lots of Youtube videos on it though. I honestly really love it. I'm personally interested in it actually. My favorites at the moment are Farrah Moan, Sasha Velour and Coco Montrese off the top of my head. It's a shame Farrah didn't make it too far I really did love her. My top favorite. Soju and Plastique Tiara are pretty sweet as well my favorites this season! Yeahhh unfortunately I'm in a bit of a difficult position. I live in a more conservative area, surrounded more by those types of people. I'm not 21 yet so I can't even go to a bar yet and a few of the people I live with wouldn't approve. I definitely will when I'm in the position to sneak. Not that I should have too but...sigh sigh closed minded people am I right? I found one bar in my area that has that sort of thing available? But it is in kind of a dangerous area it seems? I would actually love to make a friend in the business of this sort of thing! I tried asking the same question on Twitter and Reddit on two different places for drag. It hasn't yielded any sort of response sadly. You're the only two I got a response out of.
I don't know where you are, but I'd recommend going to a bigger city, like St. Louis, or something, bring several friends, and don't leave your drink unattended. I'm not going to say 100%, because anything is possible, but I always found gay bars or drag bars to give off a far safer feel than most other bars I've been to in the States. If you're straight and female, you might get a bit of a "you don't belong" vibe until people get comfortable with you and realize you're not there to make fun or be judgemental. And if any of the friends you're planning on bringing are straight and male, it could cause a lot of tension, so make sure they're pretty open minded and know how to turn down unwanted advances without getting confrontational.
Not gonna reveal exactly where but it's a little more rural/suburban overall? So you can see why I'm having issues. Not close to any cities at all. I am actually a bisexual female! I've never been to any bar so idk how regular vs gay bar feels. I hang around people who are open minded like me for the most part, so it shouldn't be an issue when/if I have the opportunity. I honestly really want to go. It's just a little harder with the position I'm in I guess.
I don't know if it's easily accessible outside Australia, but the ABC have a series called 'You Can't Ask That' where they ask several people from a certain group blunt controversial questions and really open up on the issue in an intimate accessible way. They did an episode on Drag that might be helpful https://ios.tviview.abc.net.au/programs/you-cant-ask-that/LE1717H007S00#pageloaded
I went to a gay bar once with my girlfriend (not knowing it was a gay bar), and got tons of dirty looks. And the host even started talking trash about straight white men. Would never go again.
I've never done that to anyone if that's what you're implying. I'm just saying, gay clubs are often like Planet Fitness in that their judgement free zones are actually full of judgement.
Uhh guys not exactly like research helpful? This isn't supposed to be a debate on whether the left is actually the tolerant left or whatever. It's more about trying to find out how the drag community is and I don't think that reflects all of the community. Considering the fact quite a few straight men have also done cross-dressing.
It's been a while since I've actively been involved in these communities, but a few years ago there was some anti-straight sentiment in some of the communities. Attitudes ranged from some people thinking that straight people shouldn't be allowed, to arguing whether these guys were actually straight or just repressing. Mind you, that was only some places and in other places it wasn't a problem at all. Different people are different.
No that's true as well. Everyone is ultimately different. I just know I have heard of straight cross-dressers before and felt the need to bring it up.
Edited; nevermind. You might also try some sort of magazines? I wouldn't know any, or if there even are any. There's probably many blogs though. Maybe some YouTube channels as well. But yeah, your best bet is watching the aforementioned shows and actually going to some events if you're looking to learn more about it. "If somebody were to write a story about a drag queen and drag culture, what would you want that author to know?" would be a good question to ask the people face to face.
I feel I should clarify. When referring to cross-dressers and drag queens, cross-dressers are typically straight men who dress as a form of self expression, drag queens are generally gay men who dress for entertainment. There are a lot of fuzzy borders when it comes to the terminology and motivations, but please note that there can be a difference. Also, if you're old enough, check out Pink Flamingos, or John Waters' work in general. It's not something that should be used as direct research, per se, but you might be able to use it as cultural capital within the sub-culture
I get that. It's just hard to obtain at the moment so I'm looking on the internet for something. I have had some success. I understand some things, but not all. As evidenced by my little error just now. I'm genuinely trying here, I honestly really wanna get this right. Maybe I'll try and DM a few on Instagram about this? I don't have the greatest experience on there, tend to get ghosted a lot but I'll try anyway. Eventually I do intend to go, I am genuinely interested in it beyond a writing level. It really looks fun to do and maybe even perform. Ahhh my mistake. Yeah see, I know some stuff but not all of it. Prime example. Thank you I'll take a look!
Yeah, I haven't found social media to be all that social myself. But that's neither here nor there. Give it a shot anyway. Reach out to people. You have the right attitude and right idea. Best of luck to you; I'm sure you'll do fine.
Thank you! I just found someone on instagram and got one response on reddit actually! I think this may not be as hard as I thought!
