You weren’t a cross dresser, you weren’t trans, you were identified as a gay man who did this for entertainment. “Drag was kind of defined as gay men wearing women’s clothing for entertainment purposes. “Certainly, in the early '90s New York East Village scene, where I started, it was gay men,” says Sherry Vine, an actress, musician, and legendary drag queen with over 30 years in the business. No matter how much a woman might worship the world of drag, they were largely content to remain fans, or labeled as burlesque performers or “club kids.” Twenty-plus years ago, drag was considered a sacred space where queer men played with gender norms. “If most of your audience, and most of the consumers, and most of the people showing up to purchase your album, and who are tuning in to see your show, or flying across the country to go to Drag Con and get your autograph are women, eventually, they’re going to start emulating the people they admire,” says Peppermint. Women have always revered and connected with drag, says Peppermint: “I remember working at Lips (a New York City drag-themed restaurant) and women were our main clientele.” She says it’s only natural for female-identifying fans of drag to imagine having a drag experience themselves. There’s only a few who can and I think most of those people are women.” “Every celebrity is not made to do all those things. “To do drag requires a willingness, or even a desire, to challenge gender norms, challenge the patriarchy, look like a fool in a dress and a wig, potentially fail, and embrace the LGBT community,” says Peppermint, an actress, singer, trans female drag performer, and former contestant on Drag Race, who went on to star in Head Over Heels on Broadway. After all, as RuPaul says on Secret Celebrity Drag Race, “Drag doesn’t change who you are, it actually reveals who you are.” I think that’s how we promote change, and change minds and hearts,” she says. “When they see black women like Vanessa Williams and Loni Love embrace drag culture, it speaks volumes. X Change says, in her experience, having women on the show helps promote tolerance among heteronormative people. Biological women are seeing that, it’s percolating their curiosity, and they’re diving into drag.” They’re seeing that drag is a viable, beautiful art form. “Because more people are seeing what it’s really about, and discovering that it’s not this scary thing that only happens after midnight in seedy clubs in New York City. “ RuPaul’s Drag Race has given access to people who don’t have a local drag bar or don’t know any queer people - now they’ve seen drag in their living room for three-and-a-half hours every Friday night,” says Monét X Change, a Drag Race alum, Drag Race All Stars winner, actor and singer.
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