← Autodidact Archive · Original Dissent · confederate_commando
Thread ID: 13711 | Posts: 2 | Started: 2004-05-15
2004-05-15 05:37 | User Profile
ALL THE MORE REASON TO GET RID OF GUBMINT (MIS)EDUCATION CENTERS, AND GIVE/SELL KALIFORNIA BACK TO THE MEXICANS...
KINGS, Queens Hold Audience at MCC Daily Nexus - USA ... Gugi said she, Sushi and Kylie use words such as "spic," "nigger," "faggot" and "dyke" not to express hate, but instead as ways to strengthen each other. ... http://www.ucsbdailynexus.com/news/2004/7545.html
Kings, Queens Hold Audience at MCC By Jessica Gonzalez - Reporter Friday May 14, 2004
Jeff Howell / Daily Nexus
Sushi, a drag queen from Key West, Fla., talks about her experience growing up in a small town as part of the "Absolutely Fabulous" panel discussion, which addressed issues in drag culture, Thursday evening at the MCC.
Sex is sex regardless of your sex, members of a MultiCultural Center discussion panel said.
A panel of drag queens and kings and UCSB professors met at the MultiCultural Center Theater on Thursday night to discuss such issues as self-identity, self-_expression and public image. The panel, titled "Absolutely Fabulous: Race, Gender, Class and Drag King and Queen Culture," was sponsored by the MCC, Sociology Dept., Women's Center, Women's Studies Program, Queer Student Union and the Resource Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity. The MCC Theater was filled almost to capacity when the panel began its question-and-answer session.
Sociology Professor Verta Taylor; Women's Studies Professor Leila Rupp; former UCSB student and drag king Max Madrigal; member of the local performance group Disposable Boy Toys and current UCSB student Eve Shapiro; and other members of the panel began their discussion with the conflict between self-identity and public image when dressing in drag.
Most of the panelists agreed that when dressed as drag queens or kings they attract public attention, but retain their anonymity if dressed in regular clothing. Kylie Jean Lucille, a drag queen on the panel, said dressing in drag is a form of empowerment, because subjecting oneself to public scrutiny is a good test of one's self-identity and sexuality.
"You cannot test people, but test yourself and how strongly you feel about yourself and what you're doing," drag queen Gugi Gomez said.
Sushi, another drag queen on the panel, said she believed issues of gender, sexuality and terminology should not be taken so seriously. People either have a sexual preference for men or women, and that is as distinctive as sexual terms should get, she said.
"You suck * or you lick ***," Sushi said. "Who cares? We're all the same."
People should not be so afraid of words or so careful in their terminology, Sushi said. Raised in the small town of Kaiser, Ore., she was often spit on and pushed around as a high school drag queen. As a Japanese American, Sushi said she used to cry when called "gook" or "jap." But a word is just a word, she said.
Gugi said she, Sushi and Kylie use words such as "spic," "nigger," "faggot" and "dyke" not to express hate, but instead as ways to strengthen each other. That way, she said, when someone on the street calls out in an attempt to be offensive, the drag queens are prepared to handle the criticism in a humorous and lighthearted fashion.
Drag kings Max and Eve, who were less flamboyant than their fellow panelists, said the negative reaction they commonly receive from the public is different from the drag queens, who are occasionally accepted as humorous entertainment. Gugi said drag kings are a relatively new phenomenon, and anything new always causes some form of extreme and negative reaction from society.
When one audience member asked why straight men occasionally react to drag queens with positive enthusiasm, Sushi said men cheer on drag queens because they want straight women to act and dress in the same sexual and flamboyant manner as drag queens do.
"Basically, it's not about being a man in a dress," Gugi said. "It's about femininity. Femininity is not gender-related."
Though all panelists dressed in drag as a form of self-_expression, they agreed that each had his or her own reasons for doing so. Kylie said the panelists are not trying to communicate a particular message to their audience - instead, they simply urge people to think.
Max said an audience at a drag king show should leave the event thinking about their own sexuality, society and desires. Eve said queer audience members should explore current issues such as war and politics, while straight audience members should contemplate gender and sexuality.
Junior law & society and women's studies major Nadia Mu–oz said she enjoyed the way most of the panelists answered the audience members' questions.
"I liked the way they took it light-hearted, and that's how I feel about a lot of issues," Mu–oz said.
Pablo Martinez, a sophomore French and Spanish major, said he thought the panel was entertaining, but that some discussions call for a more serious approach.
"It depends where and when you are looking into the subject," Martinez said. "As for this panel, it seemed less formal, but if it's for a class, then it should be informative."
All of the drag queens on the panel appear in the book, Drag Queens at the 801, written by Taylor and Rupp. Sushi and Kylie are current performers at 801 Cabaret in Key West, Fla. Gugi currently works at Aqua, a club also located in Key West. They can all be seen performing as the "801 Cabaret" in a sold-out show tonight in the MCC Theater. Shapiro is currently writing her dissertation on the Disposable Boy Toys and Madrigal is a current member of the drag king East Los Angeles-based performance group called the Lost Boys.
The drag queens also appeared Thursday as guests in a Sociology 1 class, where they performed a show for students.
Danny Lewis / Daily Nexus Drag queen Kylie Jean Lucille crawls across the Campbell Hall stage before baring it all as part of a performance with two other drag queens for a Sociology 1 class Thursday.
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===== "And this apparently is the destiny which our conquerers have in view. If indeed they can mix the blood of the heroes of Manassas with this vile stream from the fens of Africa, then they will never again have occasion to tremble before the righteous resistance of Virginia freeman; but will have a race supple and vile enough to fill that position of political subjection, which they desire to fix on the South."
from RL Dabney's A Defense of Virginia and the South, p353
2004-05-15 07:39 | User Profile
...of course, this has been part of your mainstream culture in the US for years. I can remember hearing about Drag Racing back when I was a kid.
Got me ****ed how they can run in those high heels, though.......