{"id":401,"date":"2018-11-30T15:52:11","date_gmt":"2018-11-30T20:52:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/?p=401"},"modified":"2018-11-30T16:15:21","modified_gmt":"2018-11-30T21:15:21","slug":"erica-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/2018\/11\/30\/erica-draft\/","title":{"rendered":"An unintended intrusion: Not enough space for drag culture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"otw-sc-dropcap otw-no-background large otw-no-border-color square dropen\" style=\"color: #a920b2 !important;\">F<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">lirting as a drag queen \u201cmakes a lot of straight men very, very insecure,\u201d said Sky Gilbert, a professor at Guelph University and an award-winning author and playwright. \u201cAnd I do it for fun because it\u2019s fun to watch them squirm.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_410\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-410\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-410\" src=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.59.12-AM-300x198.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"198\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.59.12-AM-300x198.png 300w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.59.12-AM-768x507.png 768w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.59.12-AM-207x136.png 207w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.59.12-AM-430x283.png 430w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.59.12-AM.png 986w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-410\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Harley Queene, a faux queen, performed two songs at Swizzles on Thursday evening.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gilbert has been performing as a drag queen since the 1980s and has seen the scene change since the early days, when gay culture was about being flamboyant, visible and loud in public places. Drag performances traditionally involve homosexual men dressing as women and lip syncing on stage as their female personas. This includes drag kings who are lesbian women who portray male personas. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The culture has become much more inclusive, drawing people who identify as straight, referred to as faux kings and queens, as well as trans-gender and non-binary people to the stage to perform. At the same time, drag has gone more mainstream, drawing audiences that include heterosexual bachelorette parties and fans of the popular reality TV show RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/timeline3\/latest\/embed\/index.html?source=1q8neQKdAi4eQ2TlTijh5rw3WY6zl9U0pAZISRHK5ZJ4&amp;font=Default&amp;lang=en&amp;initial_zoom=2&amp;height=650\" width=\"100%\" height=\"650\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIf you look at the history of drag, as soon as guys put on dresses and sing and dance, straight people want to come and see it,\u201d Gilbert said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Some in the community see it as an intrusion. While they acknowledge a lot of patrons are respectful, others are not.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Max Winsor, a trans-man who performs with the drag king troupe, Canada\u2019s Capital Kings, does his weekly drag performance at Swizzles, a gay bar in downtown Ottawa. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">When Winsor first started going to Swizzles ten years ago, he remembers the crowd being thin. Today, a typical karaoke night is so packed he can\u2019t even sing two songs in four hours. <\/span><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_406\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-406\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-406\" src=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.49.18-AM-300x201.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"201\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.49.18-AM-300x201.png 300w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.49.18-AM-768x514.png 768w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.49.18-AM-321x214.png 321w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.49.18-AM-140x94.png 140w, https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/Screen-Shot-2018-11-30-at-10.49.18-AM.png 987w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-406\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Max Winsor (a.k.a. Max Power) performing at Swizzles on Thursday evening.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt is mostly straight people filling that up,\u201d he said, estimating they likely make up 70 percent of the crowd on a given night. \u201cIt feels like progress but it also does feel like loss.\u201d <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The loss of space also comes with a loss of personal space. Winsor reports being touched inappropriately at least once a show. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">He describes an encounter he had with an audience member while waiting to begin his second performance. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cThis guy was shoving me in the back with his forearm, this older straight man,\u201d Winsor recalls. By the fifth time Winsor was shoved, he knew the aggression was deliberate. \u201cI was like \u2018Can I help you? Do you need something?\u2019\u201d which was followed by abrasive remarks made right over Winsor\u2019s shoulder. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cI was like \u2018Leave me alone. You need to leave me alone. That\u2019s enough,\u2019\u201d Winsor said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Fans enthusiasm is mixed with voyeuristic excitement.\u00a0According to both Winsor and Gilbert, these incidents primarily come from groups of straight women, mainly those attending particularly . Even more specifically, from bachelorettes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/go0L_al8kkE\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><b>The Bachelorette<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cOh god, please save us from the bachelorette parties,\u201d Gilbert groaned. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">According to Gilbert, the women attending drag shows for bachelorette parties are typically middle-class and have a sense of entitlement. Gilbert said their behaviour is often inappropriate, ranging from unwanted touching to jumping up on stage uninvited during performances. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gilbert and Winsor both report being touched inappropriately while performing. \u201cI\u2019ve been molested a couple times by women,\u201d Gilbert said. \u201cThey think they have a right to touch you, it\u2019s all crazy.\u201d Winsor said that at least once a show, someone touches him without his consent. This has included pinching and slapping his backside during and after his performances. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a relatively new issue, Gilbert notes. According to a 2018 study conducted by the Association for Psychological Science, a non-for profit psychological research organization, straight women tend to have more open and friendly relationships with gay men than with straight men. An increase in these friendships has Gilbert remarking that more and more young middle-class gay men bring straight women with them to gay bars.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gilbert explained that straight women wanting to hug and touch performers feels like ownership. \u201cIt\u2019s a real entitlement thing,\u201d he said.\u201cThey\u2019re voyeurs, and they\u2019re tourists, in our place, and we don\u2019t have many places, and they have a tendency to take over and dominate the situation,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race: Commercialized drag<\/b><\/p>\n<div class=\"perfect-pullquote vcard pullquote-align-left pullquote-border-placement-right\"><blockquote><p>\u201cIt\u2019s like \u2018What\u2019s the weirdest thing we can go out and see tonight, so let\u2019s go to the drag bar.\u2019\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">David Dorey, another performer with Canada\u2019s Capital Kings who identifies as non-binary, is quick to assert that they think the misbehaviour has less to do with malice and more to do with ignorance.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But they also admitted that \u201cthe bachelorette parties <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2014<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> it\u2019s almost like the side-show,\u201d they said. \u201cIt\u2019s like \u2018What\u2019s the weirdest thing we can go out and see tonight, so let\u2019s go to the drag bar.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dorey credits \u201ca certain Ru Paul\u201d for turning the gay bar into a wild form of entertainment for straight women.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race is an American reality television show where drag queens compete to win the title of \u201cAmerica\u2019s Next Drag Superstar.\u201d Now 10 seasons in, the show now airs on Netflix, and the host, RuPaul Andre Charles, a drag queen and television personality, has won three Emmy awards for the show. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cHow does anyone learn anything these days? It\u2019s through popular media, which is ridiculous,\u201d Winsor commented. \u201cEspecially with RuPaul being on Netflix, and it being so accessible now, I don\u2019t want to say it\u2019s a trend, but I feel like drag is trending.\u201d Still, Winsor remains hopeful that the show could still promote openness among a heterosexual audience. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>A loss of space <\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Gilbert is adamant that the problem is not that straight people aren\u2019t welcome. The problem is a loss of space for a community that is still fragile. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This is a balancing act that Winsor is familiar with. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to be made to feel that way if I went to a straight bar with all my queer friends,\u201d Winsor said, noting that this does happen to him a lot. \u201cI would never want to make someone feel that way. I want everyone to be welcome everywhere.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Winsor smiled, resignedly. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cIt\u2019s not on us queer folk to educate everyone, but we try to do it anyway,\u201d he said. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Entertainment and party culture are intruding on traditionally safe spaces for Ottawa&#8217;s LGBTQ community. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":404,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60,2,1],"tags":[68,67,64,66,65],"class_list":["post-401","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-features","category-uncategorized","tag-drag-king","tag-drag-queen","tag-drag-show","tag-faux-queen","tag-lgbtq"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":478,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401\/revisions\/478"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mosaic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}