The Drag Kings of Taipei
November 24, 2019 8:15 AM   Subscribe

Taipei held its first drag ball in June, the organizers taking cues from American ballroom culture to build a runway of their own. They had big plans: a much larger venue than before, a lip synch battle, and more drag kings than I’d ever seen on stage in Taiwan. [...] “There are very few drag kings in Taipei by comparison to queens. ‘Folks didn’t know there was a place for them,'” according to Skye. “Another aspect is that often AFAB (assigned female at birth) people are taught to be quiet rather than to stand up and be loud. Drag is a place to be loud, so it takes a special kind of courage to take chances and get out there.” The Drag Kings of Taipei, an essay for Autostraddle on "being a diaspora kid and doing drag and how sometimes they feel the same" [via mefi projects]
posted by filthy light thief (5 comments total) 22 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is a really interesting essay and worth the time to read.
posted by Dip Flash at 11:28 AM on November 24, 2019


Such a fantastic essay, thanks for posting to the front page.
posted by ellieBOA at 11:56 AM on November 24, 2019


Thank you so much. I read about this as it happened, and it was a very feel-good story among all the political stuff in the early summer. So nice to read about it from an inside perspective. Jia you!
posted by gemmy at 12:40 PM on November 24, 2019 [1 favorite]


Thanks for posting!
posted by antiquated at 5:44 PM on November 24, 2019


Thanks storytam for this wonderful piece, and to filthy light thief for posting on the blue.

I recently saw Dr Wang (referenced in the article) at an Asian American focused fundraiser in NYC and was so excited / blown away by how liberating his performance and stage presence felt. I'm so excited by the wave of Asian diaspora people growing up - I have more emotions than words, but it feels really supportive and caring and queer and open and freeing, and that a lot of really important processing and self-understanding is happening that didn't seem to exist for my friends ten years ago.

Like many other diaspora kids, I grew up wondering about parallel realities.

Yeah, this hits home. Thanks again.
posted by suedehead at 12:54 AM on November 26, 2019 [1 favorite]


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