Drag: more than just a fun party

The annual gala is in a week's time and this year's theme is... drag!
Therefore, in this article, we will discuss exactly what drag is and why it is so important, but
we also look at why some people believe drag is a negative influence
has on women's emancipation. In addition, we look at how drag queens and -kings are still
continue to be discriminated against in our society, how we can counter this and
we highlight an often overlooked aspect of drag festivals: the enormous waste of clothes
involved.

What is drag?
In recent years, it has become increasingly popular: drag or cross-dressing, formerly also
known as transvestism. Someone in drag dressed as a person of the
other gender; a woman dressed as a man, or a man dressed as a woman.

Transvestism has been around for thousands of years and has long been very popular within the LGBT community. Since the emergence of TV series such as RuPaul's Drag Race, a talent show
for drag queens (men dressed as women), there is more focus on drag and
is becoming increasingly popular in the Netherlands. Although RuPaul has been transphobic in the past
has made statements that we as DWARS obviously do not support, we cannot
around the fact that his show has contributed a lot to the acceptance of drag.
In everyday life, both men and women are expected to put themselves on a
dress and behave in certain ways. Drag is used to step outside these frameworks,
to let go of those expectations for a while. It is therefore seen as liberating. In
drag culture, people are accepted and can be who they want to be.

Controversy
Not everyone is a fan of drag culture. Drag queens in particular get a lot of
criticism. For example, some people feel that drag queens portray female stereotypes in
sustain. If men imitate a woman by wearing fake breasts and make-up, let
they thereby show that in their eyes women should have big breasts and makeup
wear. Even when drag queens act very emotional or act dependent on men,
does not always paint a positive picture of women.
The people who criticise drag see putting on drag shows as a show
in which men play female caricatures. This in a society where women are very
disadvantaged against the man. Drag is even compared to blackface in America. So
is called when white people paint themselves black to play a caricature of an African-American person. This also happened in a society where African-Americans were very disadvantaged against whites and even heavily oppressed.

The big and herein overlooked difference is that blackface was performed by people
without respect for the group they caricature.
Drag queens, in general, have the utmost respect for women. They understand how
it is to join society at a 2-0 disadvantage, due to the large-scale
lack of understanding about drag and the discrimination they experience.
If a man shows feminine behaviour, it breaks the very expectations that people
have of men and women. As a result, drag provides more freedom for everyone to
Be whoever you want.

Discrimination against drag queens
The LGBT community is becoming increasingly accepted in the Netherlands. Drag queens and -
kings lag behind in this, however. Last year in Amsterdam, drag queen Monique de la
Fressange assaulted by three men. Just this year, a drag queen was rejected by
an Uber. Drag queens are also still regularly scolded on the streets. Many
drag queens report they cannot walk the streets alone with a safe feeling.

In all these cases, people are discriminated against for being themselves, for feeling free
want to feel. This is why drag is so important: it symbolises the freedom to
be yourself.
Some people cannot, or rather will not, accept that. To make a counter
offer to these people, we should instead create more focus on drag.
We are doing this by dedicating our gala this year to drag. With this, we also want to
celebrate our freedom to be ourselves. Therefore, we encourage everyone who comes to
the gala arrives in drag. However, if you don't feel comfortable with that, it need not be
of course not. Because that's what drag is ultimately about: being able to express yourself in a
way you feel comfortable with.

Waste
Nowadays, there are more and more parties and galas themed around drag,
including our own gala this year. Many of the people attending this feel themselves
not the urge to dress like the opposite sex, but only do it for one party.
The many clothes bought for these parties are therefore often bought after the party
discarded, or hung in a wardrobe never to be worn again. That is
a huge waste, of course. A simple solution to this is to buy second-hand clothes from thrift shops, for example. You can resell or return these after the party for the next person to use. Of course, you can also borrow clothes from a
friend! It's better for the climate, as well as for your wallet!

Want to read more about the waste and pollution of the garment industry? Then click here for
An article by DWARS in Debate on this.

More than just a fun party
All in all, drag is about more than just a fun party. It's about the freedom to be yourself
to be able to be, regardless of the role society imposes on you because of your gender.
We hope that in the future drag will become more accepted in our society and that
everyone can always be themselves.