Editor's note: This is the first in a series about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Athens.
Like any performer, Penelope C. spends hours preparing for her show. She carefully applies layers of makeup and slides into a shiny costume, adding high heels and sparkly jewelry for a final touch. She sprays generous amounts of hairspray to the three curly wigs that frame her face. Foam pads under pantyhose give her feminine curves.
Penelope is a drag queen.
Penelope, a stage name, performed with two other drag queens at last night's Two Jacks, Three Queens casino night in the Baker University Center Ballroom, the kickoff event for this year's Pride Week. The drag queens preformed musical numbers to a cheering crowd.
Drag queens and drag kings work to create an illusion as a form of entertainment. Drag shows and drag performers are a popular aspect of LGBT culture, Penelope said.
As a culture
we kind of look for something that unifies us. We've taken this art of performing and made it our own she said. (Drag queens) showed the world it's not bad to be feminine.
From Shakespeare to Sity Hall
Drag culture has been around for centuries, Penelope said. In Shakespeare's plays, men played all the female roles. These male actors were called drags in scripts. As time went on, the term evolved into drag queen she said.
Performers such as RuPaul and Lady Bunny also have helped make drag a legitimate form of entertainment in the last 15 years, said Susan Burgess, a professor of political science and women's studies at OU.
Penelope was introduced to drag culture at 16 when she performed in an amateur drag show. Two years later, she began performing at Club Masque in Dayton. From there, her career escalated, and she began performing in Akron, Cincinnati and Indiana. Penelope is the reigning Miss Ohio Miss and Miss Dayton Third Coast.
Penelope is an extension of who I am
she said. (She's) how I would act if I didn't care what people thought of me.
For drag performers, creating a character is important and having a stage name reflecting that character is crucial.
Some drag performers get their names from friends or play-on words. Sity Hall, a performer at last night's show, chose her name to reflect her personality. Her goal is to run for public office, so she became Sity Hall, the mistress of dirty politics.
Hall, who has been performing drag for four months, said she learned how to do drag by watching female entertainers and other drag queens. She said she mentally prepares for performances after she puts on her makeup.
Maquaila Jaa, the third drag queen in the performance, said drag makeup is more ornate because it is used to shade and lighten the face to make it appear more feminine.
Drag makeup isn't anything like girl makeup
she said.
Hail to the kings
Drag queens are a very visible part of gay culture, but drag kings are much more underground, said Kendra Thomas, a sophomore political science major at OU in the process of creating a drag king group on campus.
Thomas said she hopes to have the group performing by May so drag kings can gain more exposure.
Drag kings have a performance style similar to drag queens except they create their illusion by binding their chest, packing their pants and using false facial hair.
Thomas first performed drag last spring at an amateur drag show to benefit the Athens AIDS Task Force, the most fun she ever had on stage, she said.
You can be as crazy and as vulgar as you want and someone else is doing it
not you
she said.
Creating an illusion
While drag culture is meant to be entertaining, it is also controversial. Some people believe drag performers create negative stereotypes toward the gay movement. But Burgess, who teaches a Women, Gender and Rock & Roll course that looks into drag culture, said it is important to have people who are pushing the envelope on sexual liberation.
It undermines the notion of the rigidity of sex and gender
she said. You can see it's constructed. It does so with humor ' it pokes fun at the seriousness of sex and gender.
Being a drag performer comes with stereotypes and misconceptions, Penelope said.
People think that drag queens are crazy
drug-addicted boys who like to put on wigs and make up
she said. There are some performers who fit this stereotype, but most people make it their hobby or career, she added.
People also confuse drag performers with cross dressers or transgender people, Hall said.
I don't want to be a woman
Hall said. I'm a drag queen. I do this for entertainment. Drag for me is about creating an illusion.
