Drag Darlene

Since being a teenager I have also been fascinated with drag queens and the art that is 'drag'. Where as some people just see it as men dressed up in women's clothes with a lot of makeup, I absolutely love how these creative men develop new person as through the use of hair and makeup. One of my dearest friends at home is called Matthew Watson but by night he becomes Gina Tonic. When I saw him last we had an interesting conversation about his drag acts and how he feels when he is up on stage performing. It was heart warming listening to him speak about self expression and how acting like someone else who he has created makes him feel like his true self. Matthew is now early 40s so when the Club Kids and Blitz came to the scene in the 80s he was in his element! The stories he told me about the parties and night outs in the 80s when he first started being Gina were mesmerising as he explained about the new wave of style and music that was taking over the youth of the time, how it all came together to create this new revolution which is still influencing people nowadays. 

Gina Tonic
                                         
Drag queens are sometimes called transvestites although that term also has many other connotations that the term 'drag queen' usually connotes cross-dressing for the purposes of entertainment or performance without necessarily aiming to pass as female. It is not generally used to describe those persons who cross-dress for the fulfillment of transvestite fetishes alone, or whose cross-dressing is primarily part of a private sexual activity or identity. As for those whose motivation is not primarily sexual and who many socialize cross-dressing, they tend to adopt the typical over the top drag queen look.