How I Became A Drag Queen

In Response to: “Drag shows aren’t free-for-alls for straight women letting loose” by Jaime Woo, published in the Globe & Mail. Perhaps the stage is a podium, an altar, and a sacred place for people to display their artistry to the audiences of the world, and has been for the duration of history; but if you alienate yourself from all audiences, to whom are you performing? The piece presented previously does exactly that, in an attempt to educate readers, the author alienates a large group of people important to the queer community. A drag show, like any other show, requires an audience to exist, and as a performer you want this audience to grow. Your goal is to spread your art, but if you restrict this growth to within the queer community you prevent yourself from reaching a potential audience of over 7 billion people. Yes, the goal of universal acceptance of the queer community is still a distant dream, but it is still a dream we should constantly pursue. Articles such ...

When I started doing drag I didn't give an inkling of thought towards how big it could become to me. It was something I wanted to pursue for the fun of it, for the artistry and for the escape. I still love it for all those reasons, but now it's become something even bigger. Drag is an art-form, but it's also more than that.  It is not reserved for men parading as women and women parading as men, nor is it reserved for the LGBTQA* community. Drag simply requires an openness and acceptance of all types of people, and acts as a medium for anyone wishing to put their heart and soul into an expression of themselves. It's this acceptance I've come to love and appreciate more than anything else. I couldn't help but feel from the beginning that what I was pursuing would be shunned or disregarded by many of my peers outside the community. What I was surprised to find, was that over time people are willing to accept drag as what it actually is: art, and move away from...

Drag is not a contact sport, but should it be a competition? RuPaul's Drag Race is a TV phenomenon, bringing an underground art-form to the forefront of pop culture. Ru herself just won an Emmy, and is nominated for multiple MTV awards. On the show, Ru drives her queens (almost exclusively men dressing up as women) to compete for an ultimate crown of America's Next Drag Superstar. It's a cutthroat, high stakes, sometimes literal race that drives these queens (because there have never been drag kings on it **hint hint Ru**) to their limits, and to the constant critique and ridicule of the judges to fit a certain bill. But RuPaul's drag race is reality TV. Promo art for RuPaul's Drag Race (RuPaul pictured) Meanwhile, in my current home of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, a similar competition is taking place: Alberta's Next Drag Superstar (ANDS), totally not bridging on a copyright violation. Drag performers, not just drag queens (yes folks, Alberta is more ...

So...enough about things that I really don't know much about. Let's talk about something I'm actually very knowledgeable in: fitness. Outside of the drag scene, I lead a very physical life. I work as a certified personal trainer and fitness instructor of many sorts, so I am constantly active, training clients, demonstrating exercises, and teaching classes.  I am also a competitive triathlete, which involves upwards of 10 hours of training per week to get race ready.  All of this takes a sizeable toll on my body. Throw in dropping it low on stage every few weeks, and at regular dance rehearsals, my knees, ankles, hips, back, feet...they all suffer the consequences. To help avoid injuries, there are a few things I do, and recommend others do as well. First: WARM THE FUCK UP!!! Most musculoskeletal injuries are, overall, not caused by an action itself, but by the body being unprepared for the action.  Pre-exercise or pre-performance stretching is not to loosen the mu...

This post is going to be short, but not-so sweet. I relish haters. If someone takes the time to comment, react, or make a huge presentation about my thoughts or ideas, it means that I have had the desired effect of making someone feel something, anything, deeply enough that they feel the need to respond. Sure, maybe I'm wrong sometimes, and maybe the haters are right, but that's really not the point. I'm writing a blog to inform people, because I was uninformed; to influence people, because I was influenced by others; and to instruct people in the best way I know how, the same way I instructed myself: researching the knowledge of people who know MUCH better than I do. Most, if not all of the information I present in this blog has been researched, and tested (by myself, and others), and is NEVER meant to mislead. I present the information I have deemed beneficial to myself, because I cannot speak about what is beneficial to others. Hence why my blog is called "How...