I鈥檝e noticed an influx of new social drag queens on the scene. Over the years you see a handful float in and out, some are happy to stay in the social arena, dancing up a storm from the bar or the corner of the club.
These girls are happy to venture out in a fully sequined dress, satin gloves, glittered lips and dripping in diamante jewellery, but they never step on stage.聽 Wearing three pairs of 70 denier stockings and fishnets, these girls are out for the long run.
They were once common, but now they have dwindled to a handful and have been replaced by, it would seem, real 鈥榰nreal鈥� girls.
As I walked down the street on Friday night, I saw a tide of social queens. Some I had seen before, others were new. They all looked like oversized real girls 鈥� not women, but teenage girls. They all had the same makeup, which made me think either they had paid someone to do it or one of them learned all the tricks and now was teaching them. Their makeup was good 鈥� super-soft, feminine and not a speck of glitter to be seen.
They all sported the latest in hairline wigs, so they looked like they had their own hair sweeping their shoulders. They marched down the street in off-the-rack outfits and stripper heels.
Do we call this drag?聽 Or have we transitioned to 鈥榙ress-up鈥�?聽 Like everything, drag has changed. It鈥檚 about evolving and learning from what we have done and where we have come from. If we stood a Cap鈥檚 girl next to one of these 鈥榰nreal鈥� real girls back in the 鈥�70s, we would have put the general public into a tailspin.
So is this a good thing? I see our community being able to let their hair down a lot more with these young boys venturing out in this form of drag. They feel comfortable to express themselves anyway they want to, rather than be too scared to do anything.
Should we be supporting these dress-up nights? Why not! The outfits have changed, the makeup has definitely changed but the having fun hasn鈥檛. The giggly girls night out is still the same.
Maybe more of us should get dressed up and let our hair down. However you see drag or getting dressed up, if the fun is taken out of it, maybe that鈥檚 when it shouldn鈥檛 be called drag.
