zwitter, zwitter

An Entertaining Introduction to Drag

There seems to be a lot of misunderstanding about the relationship between trans and drag. 

Some say that drag artists are not trans, they are “only” performers. 

Others argues strongly that drag is a clear expression of gender variance, and since transgender is an umbrella term for all kinds of  gender variance, all drag artists must be trans.

To me this disagreement is proof of our language being to poor and restrictive to capture the totality of gender.

Yes, many drag artists identify as their assigned gender, and that is fine.

Yes, many drag artists want to express another side of their gender identity and think of themselves as some shade of nonbinary.

And yes, many drag artists are identifying or will identify as their target gender and might even transition. That is also OK.

So drag is not an identity in the same way as cis or trans. It is a way of expressing and exploring gender through performance.

This video is from blairimani on Instagram, who writes:

Gather round kids while I explain this manipulation tactic that men perpetually try to use and why it’s bullshit.

If someone is openly showing interest in you by making disparaging or disappointed comments about your age, they’re trying to put you on the defensive. This guy wants me to try to quell his discomfort, to bring up that I’m only a month shy of 20, etc. - he wants me to try to prove myself to him, that I’m mature and adult enough for a man like him.

His goal is to establish a power imbalance right off the bat. If we were to date, I would constantly be on the defensive, constantly striving to be an equal, constantly trying to prove my “adult” credentials. Anything he says or does or wants from this point on that I object to would just be seen as a strike against my age, proof that he was right and that I’m not mature enough for him. This is how SO MANY men pressure younger individuals (primarily women and girls) into situations and relationships they aren’t comfortable with. If he truly thought I was too young for him, he wouldn’t have messaged me. This is a very calculated move, and it’s fucking gross.

So here’s a true story: my father, sometime in the 70s was looking for his first job. He went to the local McDonalds and told the staff, [manager’s name] said I was supposed to start today. They took his word for it and started training him and by the time the manager saw him and asked who he was, people just said “oh that’s the new guy.”

Somehow this actually worked. My dad worked there for a couple of years as a cook. He even won an award plaque which he had on the wall until the day he died.