Drag Queens Those who wear drag clothing and makeup to embrace, imitate and often exaggerate female gender signifiers and gender roles
for entertainment purposes. Typically participating in performances that consist of lip-synching, live singing and dancing. Doing drag has evolved into a major form of self-expression. The first drag queen noted in history is William Dorsey Swann, a former slave known as The Queen. In the 1880's he hosted underground drag balls often raided by police. Resulting in arrests for being "suspicious characters". Today, thanks to the massively popular shows like RuPaul's Drag Race, drag has become one of the most significant ways to challenge the boundaries of gender and sexuality. My name's Anthony Padilla, And today I'm gonna be sitting down with famous drag queens to learn the truth behind this unique and culturally significant phenomenon. Is performing a drag simply a way for these Queens to publicly live their truest lives? Or is it just another fleeting fad that will dissipate the moment a new niche culture becomes more relevant? Is the drag community on encouraging and inclusive environment serving as a safe haven for those who prefer unconventional forms of self-expression? Or is it actually a drama centric community of
money-hungry Queens who aggressively conspire to steal the spotlight for themselves? Hello~ Laganja Estranja! Hi~ Honey Davenport yeah, nice to meet you Gigi Goode, hello! I was not expecting company Thank you so much for coming out and teaching me about the wondrous world of drag queens. Absolutely. Thank you for having me. What do you consider yourself? A drag queen, a performer...? I consider myself a recording artist who does drag. I guess if we're talking career wise,
you can call me a drag queen...but yeah I consider myself an artist. I feel like I'm a Jack or a Jackie of all trades. Before we learn more about the wondrous world of famous drag queens, I want to take a quick moment to mention that
'Adam and Eve' is sponsoring this video. I'm really thankful for sponsors helping to support this series so we can continue to make these videos during these uncertain times. Especially when many of my videos have been demonetised which causes them to be blacklisted Which prevents them from being recommended to new audiences who may be impacted by these topics. So adamandeve.com in case you don't already know, because you live under a rock, is an online retailer for erotic gifts and They donate 20% of their profits to help fight the spread of HIV around the world Which I think is really cool. Use code "Padildo" on adamandeve.com
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free shipping in the US and Canada. Please go support the **** out of them for making this episode possible. So I could pay my wonderful crew for the hundreds upon hundreds of hours that goes into making each one of these episodes. That's all I wanted to say. Now back to learning about the wondrous world of famous drag queens. What does being a drag queen entail? Using your body as the canvas. So anybody who really use their body to transform themselves until they are in my opinion. That's what drag is. How long have you done drag? The first time I've ever performed in drag was around eight years ago on my 15th-14th birthday. I've been doing drag since 2011. I started experimenting at Halloween times around college. I have been doing drag for almost 12 years.
420 will be my twelve year- four twenty... Your Celebra- Celebration! I wonder was I stoned when I got in drag
for the first time... Why did I think this was a good idea?? To put my balls here... What pronouns do you prefer to use and
does that change when you're in or out of drag? For me, as someone who identifies as non-binary, I don't really have a specific.. Gender pronoun, that I you know need to hear I always say, as long as you're addressing me with kindness It doesn't really matter. You can call me "he".
You can call me "she". All my friends call me Gigi and refer to me is "she/her" but..I mean? Honestly, like I just don't care. I think it's really a concept. It's really not something that
I relate to you at all. So I'm kind of like always the same person whether
I've glued like a piece of synthetic hair to my head or not.. So you don't care if people say "he or she" or anything. You prefer just they I prefer like Your Majesty I know most drag queens have an alter ego.
Is that true for yourself? I've really tried to be myself when I'm in drag because
I found that myself is Over-the-top as it is. I don't really need to add extras.
I'm already extra enough. So my whole persona is based off creating the kind of music that we listen to in here in our career spaces. Not just lip-sync performing to it. Not that there's anything wrong with that! Cause that is how I
have paid my **** bills! "Gigi is like the dumbest girl" "on the base of the planet" Like I have well, I as well as Gigi I feel like we're very similar in and out of drag got zero concept of direction or basic math So much about doing drag is about confidence. Have you always had confidence ?
Or is that something that You developed more with your drag persona? When I first started I wasn't as confident.
I did grow up in musical theater So I did have that natural Showboat ability, but truly putting on the wig
and all the gigs it allowed me to take it to that next level. it's hard for me to get up on stage in front of people
out of drag And not be shaky and-and scared But as soon as I have put on a wig and outfit and some heels and a full face of makeup Somehow I transform into somebody who's not my normal self so I can just do anything Do you remember the first time you dressed in drag with the intention of a being drag? I thought I look so **** Cool. I wanted to be like a glamorous version of
an orc from Lord of the Rings. I like, painted my face and then like
I put like white stripe down. I want to look like I was created from a tree cuz that definitely smoked some today That's right! Yeah! I was 14 years old and I had just ordered my first lace front wig and it was platinum blonde and very very very long and again I was trying to look at a picture of Iggy Azalea and paint my face like hers and just stare at myself in the mirror and then I took it off, went to bed, went to school and then did the same thing every single night. And that's how you kind of built confidence is just looking at yourself in the mirror, doing this for yourself and only yourself? I just remember this like light inside of me turning on and being like wow, This is just the most incredible feeling. What's been your most Awkward performance? I had a little..um.. "tuck malfunction"... And that was put on a highly gossip site
in West Hollywood at the time. Was it like a red carpet rolling out? Um, I think it's more like bubble gum. It wasn't the full enchilada. It was just a spicy side treat, if you know about it.. God a little bit of chewed bubble gum. From my understanding there's a hot debate amongst the the drag community about making your own Outfits versus buying your outfit Is there one way that you skew or
how do you- how do you see that debate? Does Beyonce make her own costumes? -I don't know. Okay, good. That's all I gotta say. Should I know?? RuPaul don't do her own makeup, but she's the most notable drag queen in the whole entire world. So while I do celebrate girls who sew, let me tell you.
That is some hard sh** I am not trying to do that but you know, I don't see them like producing their own tracks or directing their own music videos. I'm just sayin'.. So you channel your energy house? Right, exactly! Learning how to make something for yourself is
so much more rewarding Than just buying something and putting it on your body because it looks pretty You know, like if you can put something pretty
on your body that you made and then nobody else in the world owns... It is just like the best feeling in the world. I've never experienced that personally and
I didn't realize that would probably feel so.. Rewarding I think it's like a drug. It just gets you high It's it's like, you know, we'll get you behind the sewing machine and you can go down a nap saying.. Today you're gonna teach me at some point
later off-camera. Alright, let's bring out the sewing machine
Ladies and Gentlemen! How do you feel about the way drag queens are represented in pop culture? Nowadays It's kind of like
really awesome to be a drag queen Like they kind of know want to know are you like more of a Trixie Mattel or Sharon Needles? Like they have different kinds of Queens to associate with and Different kinds of representation. It's- it's pretty dope being a drag queen in pop culture now You are seen as a celebrity of some sort
rather than someone to be concerned about? Strange that like I'm famous for putting my junk
behind my body. And tucking them up and where they came from How has your experience as a drag queen.. Changed since entering the spotlight on
RuPaul's Drag Race? Somehow, in a way, it doesn't feel any different
because again I've never ever in my life done drag for anybody else besides myself. and I don't intend on changing that Everything about this like random rush into reality celebrity is a dream come true and the biggest part of it that I love the most Is that you know, I'm from a very disenfranchised community I grew up very poor in West Philadelphia and I never imagined I could do things like Direct my own music videos or Create my own perfume That is awesome thing that I've been very privileged
to do since this experience You know being in the spotlight definitely came with its difficulties. In the beginning of my career. I was not necessarily the most celebrated Queen from my season. It really depressed me In fact, I went through a very dark time of, You know, alcoholism Because unfortunately I didn't have the skills that I do now to turn to. It was really dark and really scary and I thought as An artist what is all this for? What is all the social media numbers and algorithms? and when I post and I don't post
When you put yourself out there on a platform you have to be willing to take the good and the bad, and that's something that drag-race taught me I wanted both of that experience and I wanted it to all be cotton candy and sickening
the world loved me and be rich right away and I'm not all the cookie crumbled
I get emotional because It's made me who I am and I just don't think that I would be The open-hearted confident person that I am today
had I not had that struggle Some of the more judgmental people will say that drag queens only do what they do for attention. How true do you think that is? Only, Does anybody only ever do something for attention? No, people don't typically have just one motive for things that they put their whole life into. Like I put my drags you know into my drag, but do I like Definitely want, require, desire attention? I mean, I did not push my balls into my body for anything else but attention I Love attention. This is so part of its true. I really love attention I love- I mean You you've never felt the feeling of being on stage with an entire room of people clapping for you. It's just like it's an unexplainable feeling you- How does this feel? I mean, there's like only eight people here Thank you You- You're used to like Staples Centre crowds? Not yet, that's terrifying but I mean, thank you all but It's even that I just started, you know, sweating and getting a little blushes It's it's just like a crazy feeling so I think there are attention whores in the community Yes, I'm one of them! I mean I think most drag queens are We love attention Like Tinkerbell, you know when you clap for her
She lives And when you give us attention
We liiive, Honey And I don't think it's necessarily bad to one attention I feel like we're constantly being told that if someone wants attention then they're not worthy of having it and that only people who Accidentally receive attention are deserving of it Are there some of us who feed off of it more and go the extra mile to get that extra amount? Sure, but I think ultimately again just like love, just like food, water, home, shelter attention and needing that
that's just human nature Bradley Owen wants to know how the hell you use the toilet when you're tucked. These are tucking panties. They're called tuck it ups and They're revolutionary because they're they're changing the way not only drag queens, but also trans people live their daily lives They're really really comfortable Alternative to things like duct tape on your pEnis. This is the front Yeah, and once you put your balls up and you pull it off back It has enough room to hold all of it all the way up And at the end of it you just, it just looks like a little thong and they're like everything's all hidden It takes a long time It's just like a lot of layers. You got to take off, use the toilet, try and do it as briskly as possible And then you just have to take your time And get it back on It's really really frustrating and wash your hands! bitch, because who knows what is festering down there under six layers of joints for several hours sweating I do not pee when I am in drag it just doesn't happen Damn, your bladder must be like like the size of your head No, baby, everything... Well, except for one thing is very petite. Are you talking about I have huge organs? how dare you know? Has doing drag ever affected any of your relationships ? Femininity that comes with drag is definitely difficult for a lot of gay men I think especially because I am non-binary and I do identify more on the feminine side and prefer the feminine pronouns Well gay guys are into men So if I'm somewhere in between, I'm not really a man, you know And I'm not really a woman so that means I have to kind of find somebody who either identifies as bisexual or who is open, you know to This idea of gender fluidity He'll come when he's supposed to you know, I believe in it and until then mama there's Boop so, you know, we make it work You will have absolutely no problem. In fact, you're probably gonna get one from this I guarantee it someone in the comments is commenting right now that you gotta taker, please slide into the Dm baby Do you hope to be a drag queen until the day you die? Even if I didn't want to be I know I will be yeah, it's not a choice. I've always been a drag queen So I don't ever see that ending, you know I would but if I ever decide to be buried rather than cremated, I want to be buried in full drag I think what I do is just very physically demanding on the body and so ultimately Do I want to do that for the rest of my life? No I mean does a football player want to get running - over and over until the end of his life? No, he does it while he can and then he hopefully either has enough money to retire or he figures out another strategy What's your least favorite part about doing drag? Shaving my back. That is really hard. Yeah, what do you do? Do you like a back scratcher and put a razor in it? I kind of like cry
until I meet a cute boy who will do it for me that always works You know people just take things way too seriously it's so frustrating when people can't look past what somebody has said even if it was just something so stupid and pointless and just like Understand that there's nothing serious going on right like really RuPaul would say this all the time: The cameras weren't rolling and somebody was crying on stage She would say. Hey, it's not that serious. Like look at everybody around you. Look what we're wearing. You know, Michelle visage his hair is like half fake So it's like it doesn't matter just for fun your whole reason for getting into it is because it brought you joy in the first place and Some people allow that to completely be lost and they
it brings them a lot of negativity because they focus on that negativity stop treating your art as something that is bringing you stress and anxiety and Invalidation and you know turn it around and have it bring you Joy, you know like once you start doing your art for you, and nobody else is only when it starts to get recognized and Appreciated. What do you think the biggest misconception about drag queens is? you know, I think people think all drag queens are the same. They're gay, They're flamboyant They must shave their legs. They must be bottoms. They must be sissies And you know, I was even surprised when I started drag realizing like oh no there's plenty of drag queens that have hairy legs and are tops and are drinkin' beer and acting manly and I mean, you know It's just like any other art form or job.
We're all not the same at all I mean you can look at us and tell we're different but there's also a difference beneath all of this too I was a guest on RuPaul's Drag Race in 2018 for just an episode Cameron Michaels turned me into a flawless queen I was Kelly Michaels But I feel like I kind of failed in terms of walking in those heels down that runway Can you help redeem Kelly Michaels? Well, we do... Do you have a pair of heels around? We did not mess around. so they fit flawlessly. Yes, incredibly. Oh my golly. Oh, Well, there we go No, I feel good the thing that I always envision when I'm walking is that I am walking on a tightrope It's just one foot in front of the other. Okay, and then you stop at the end of the stage You give a little turn and then you walk back And then this is the last chance the judges get to see you. So you just look give a little pose Maybe like eat your hair or something and then you walk up. All right, let's give it a go roll the music I don't know what happened at the end, but how was the rest? I can see in your face you're really feeling it I am feeling it But am I looking it is the question the last part kind of ruined it for me, but the whole walk was pretty good yeah, it was yeah much better than what National television saw you doing Thank You it Thank You Gigi Goode. You have transformed my life. I'm no longer the laughingstock within my own brain, which is fantastic, but then you own that .. I actually have a parting gift for you a best interviewer shirts, which you could get at the Padildoshop.com But for you, I will ship this to you for free my lovely Queen. oh my gosh you're kidding me Not kidding it looks fantastic not a pa-dildo shop? Padildoshop.com not to be- Yes not to be confused with the Pennsylvania dildo shop. Oh I see what you did there! All right, you got five seconds a shout-out or promote anything you want directly in a camera check out my new youtube series, muse me with Robert Heyman My YouTube my Instagram and my Twitter are all honey Davenport official check out all of my dope, amazing art I'm sharing with the world. Things are very hard right now in the world Just remember to take care of yourself and those around you if you subscribe to Anthony Padilla, I will personally pay you each $100. That's great. That's an empty promise, but you'll get really great content. Probably $100 worth of it Thank you so much. Laganja Estranja I feel like I Understand the wondrous world of famous drag queens just a little bit more. Well good I'm glad I could help inch your way in there and I didn't just dip my toe in there My whole foot rammed its way in there after spending the day with these famous drag queens I've come to realize just how important it is to have an outlet in which you can be your most authentic self in a world where negative labels are placed on most things Who are we to blame these drag queens for flipping the norms and making the world entirely for themselves in which acceptance, confidence and creativity are Prioritized. See you later. Bye guys. Press a like And you like to show off your best assets? Well, I do have several, you know, this mug today is definitely one of them. I have another one over here around the corner you might have heard her. Oh Oh my god, what's her name? That's the earthquake shake and take mama I can I know we're talking via some kind of satellite transmission, but I felt that through the airway. Well god bless you, honey I hope it gave you a little facelift isn't it your turn to stand up and do a little spin around for me Oh you wanna you want a little one of the okay, Honey, it's 2020, We gotta go both ways now I know it all. Okay. I know what they do. Let me see I know it. Wow Okay Shante you stay Shante you stay! I am never leaving. Thank you. I'm gonna give a round of applause for myself. You should pat yourself on the back, honey
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I'm so glad he interviewed Honey, but my god, how many of her responses involved her tuck/balls.
Aw man I wish he got Kameron! They could’ve chatted about the make over.
I love the queens he chose. Definitely saw another side of all of them than we have seen before on Drag Race. Honey is so underrated, wish we saw more of her, love the way she thinks and talks, Laganja must have been through a lot (many of my friends STILL hate her?!) and she has grown so much and Gigi's actually thoughtful and pretty smart. It just shows again how Drag Race isn't the best environment to get to know the queens at all.
When do I get to blow him?
I feel so terrible hearing about the mistreatment Laganja went through during her season and beyond that.
I'm just so happy that she's in a better place. It's hard to rise up when someone is getting hate from all over so the fact that she came out still being the kind person she is is saying something. She's just such a talented, funny, intelligent and wise person and she deserves the best.
Was Redacted at the static part of the intro????
That was very interesting! Brb gotta go follow Honey Davenport
Must be nice.