“Who do you think you are?
Who do you think you are?
I’m telling the truth now
We’re all born naked
And the rest is drag”
As today is the last Friday of June, I couldn’t let the month end without posting about why it’s one of my favorite months of the year– it’s Pride month! Pride is celebrated every June in honor of the New York Stonewall Riots in 1969, which marked the beginning of the Gay Liberation Movement. Different events like marches, workshops, concerts, parties, and shows attract millions of participants in the world to celebrate the impact that members of the LGBTQ+ community have had on world history. Last June, while I was living and working at Wellesley for the summer, I was fortunate enough to be able to go to New York City for the 50th anniversary of Stonewall, the weekend officially being named “World Pride.” Over five million people attended World Pride while I was there with three of my close friends from Wellesley, and it’s an experience I will never forget.
Me at World Pride in 2019!
Being a member of the LGBTQ+ community is a big part of my identity, and in turn, fuels a lot of my research interests. While at Wellesley, I’ve been able to conduct my own original research every year so far, and my biggest projects during my Junior year revolved around my alignment with and passion for my community. During Fall 2019, I took a seminar called “Sex in Politics” taught by Professor Paul Martorelli (I think it’s been my favorite class so far at Wellesley!) and he encouraged all of us to choose research topics in some way related to gender and all of its nuances. Using this broad scope, I ended up choosing to research the art of drag, and at the end of the semester, I wrote the paper I am most proud of to date: “We’re All Born Naked, and the Rest is Drag”: The Role of Drag in Advancing Gender Theory.” In about 20 pages, my paper reflects on what drag has become in its modernity—because although it has always been contingent upon the gender binaries, drag has grown over time to completely counter the idea of gender as normative and fixed. To prove this, I establish the difference between sex and gender, review a brief history of drag, summarize the impact of the TV show “Rupaul’s Drag Race,” and then discuss same gender and gender nonconforming drag before concluding. Here’s the last paragraph of my paper:
“I argue that this is what drag has become in its modernity: the exploration, the rebellion, the shape-shifting, the self expression, the protest, the reclamation, the freedom, and the fluid. As an ever-changing art, it will continue to evolve as the gender matrices that drag engages with change as well. Drag offers both a window and a mirror image for which to examine the way gender operates off the stage and in our lives, deep within our understandings of each other and of ourselves.”
As I wrap up this blog post, it’s about 8pm EST, and therefore time for this week’s new episode of “Rupaul’s Drag Race All Stars!” Although the show and Rupaul have their fair share of valid critiques (that I discuss at length in my paper), there is no doubt that they are largely responsible for putting the art of drag on the mainstream map. Reaching millions of viewers every season, the show has introduced drag to a new generation of young people who may not have been otherwise exposed to it.
Ultimately, drag has been integral to the Pride movement for its entire history, since drag queens fought alongside brave trans women and gays in Stonewall 51 years ago for equality. Because of them, we are far freer now to explore ourselves, express ourselves, and reimagine ourselves. Here’s to that growth, this month and always.
Happy Pride,
Tatiana ‘21