14 May RTS STUDENT TELEVISON AWARDS ENTRY – SIDNEY STANFORD
“Drag Culture in todays society”
The entry requirements for this award is to be able to produce original content, 5 minutes minimum, produced within the 18/19 academic year and sticks to the rules and regulations of the constraints of the broadcasting practise. My agreed output for this piece was 500 words and a 5 min video about drag culture,drag discrimination and a brief drag history overview. I produced a 5.48 second video and wrote 485 words (below) and I covered all topics that I proposed.
The art of drag has been something that has been done for many years and people as far back as the 18th century would dress up in clothing of the opposite sex. It was wearing a costume and years ago, the art of drag and the topic in itself was treated completely different to how people do nowadays. Drag Queens are men who present as female and the opposite, women presenting as Male would be called Drag Kings.
Drag Queens and Kings are slowly but surely integrating into mainstream pop culture and society thanks to pioneers such as Lily Savage, Dame Edna Everage and of course, RuPaul. RuPaul’s Drag Race is easily one of the most watched and talked about phenomenon’s of this generation and season by season it breaks boundaries and project and elevates the typically underground cult onto a platform for the entire world to consume.
Some see this as a positive to the community, as it is good for a minority group who are prone to discrimination to be able to have the same platform and opportunities as any everyday working man and woman can! But some highlight the capitalism and the money driven media outlets that seem to be cashing in on the idea of the well respected and traditional artform.
In the UK, in many cities such as Nottingham, Manchester, Blackpool and Liverpool, drag is an integral and important part of the city’s LGBTQ+ scene and especially so in London. In the capital, there are many different bars and venues for fans of the art and drag queens and kings such as Heaven, the Admiral Duncan and Compton’s. These are spaces designed to keep out people who wish to ridicule and bring negatives attitudes towards people who are brave enough to drag up and have fun expressing their true selves.
I spoke to Boudica, who is an up and coming queen in London, and it was interesting to hear about first-hand experiences and watch the character of Boudica come to live whilst hearing these stories. She m
entioned the pros and cons of doing drag and made it clear that people’s attitudes are changing, and people are becoming more ac
cepting as time goes by, but it does not stop some people from abusing him and his fellow drag peers. She highlighted that, and this surprised me, that most people tend not to use verbal abuse but resort to violence and even told me about a peer of hers who had chemicals thrown over them just for presenting in drag.
Day by day, drag culture is just growing in popularity and more people are getting inspired to dress up and present in drag thanks to the norms and values of our society slowly changing due to people’s perspectives on the LGBTQ+ community as a whole as well as the numerous amounts of media coverage drag queens receive now thanks to these views.
