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BY LINC LUKE

Have you ever been to a drag show and wondered to yourself “wow, that seems like a lot of work, but surely it’s not so bad”? Asking this question is sort of like going to a football game and asking, “is that quarterback doing any work?” Creating a drag makeup look is alone a hefty amount of work, not to mention the costumes, showmanship, and the dancing. In fact, if you’ve ever thought this, I implore you to try it for yourself so you can eat your words. Let’s break down every aspect of being a drag queen.

First off, what is a drag queen? Drag queens are by no means a foreign concept in our modern society but what is the definition of a drag queen? “A drag queen is a person, usually male, who uses costuming and makeup to imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles for entertainment purposes.”

(Screaming Queens). The term ‘drag queen’ was originally established in

The Art Of Drag

Britain to refer to a man in women’s clothing, now it is commonly associated with gay culture and the LGBTQ+ community. However, a drag queen can be anyone of any gender or sexuality. Now, what makes a drag queen? While there are so many elements that make a drag queen, let’s focus on the makeup to start. Drag queen Rani Kohenur (AKA Sushant Divgikr) talks about how long it takes to do his makeup. He says that it typically takes much longer than other makeup artists, averaging about 2-3 hours. It’s a full face of makeup including blocking out eyebrows, color correcting, eyelashes, foundation, highlight, contour, blush, lipstick, just absolutely everything that could go on a face. That is significantly more time than it would usually take someone to do their makeup and that’s even before costumes and wigs. Not to mention the amount of money that is spent on the products.

A lot of the time, drag queens will wear wigs on stage. They style and create these wigs themselves to add on to their costumes and the theme of their look. In fact, drag queens mostly take inspiration from celebrities, time periods, even genres of movie and styles that range from punk to pastel. A lot of these wigs start at 100 dollars and can raise to prices in the 1000’s.

And of course, it’s not all about just slipping on a dress. For AMAB drag queens, they first have to tuck. Now if you’re wondering what that entails, look it up for more detail but all I will say is that it requires taping the manly bits back. Then come the hip pads, corsets, waist cinchers, false breasts, and other undergarments. That’s when the outward appearance finally comes in with feminine clothing and typically high, high heels.

Now, after that Olympic marathon, drag queens perform live on stage to a crowd with choreographed lip syncing and dancing. It’s gotta be planned, everything has to be planned, you can’t just do impromptu. “But you can’t only be prepared. You need to be flexible when it comes to the different scenarios. So you’ve got to know the old songs, the new songs, the trends, what the younger drag queens are doing, you need to be flexible, you need to improvise.” Says drag queen Lady Gagita. Drag queens choregraph huge dance numbers and stunts to create their perfect performance that match their drag personality.

Now as we get excited to see our own beautiful queens perform live for us at Hendrix, notice all the hard work that went into performing even a three minute show for you. Drag queens prepare for months to dance and perform. So for the question, is drag a sport? The answer is absolutely. It’s dance and movement in ten pounds of makeup and heavy clothing. It’s like running with weights. And the winner gets paid the most.

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