Do you know where I learned these dance moves?
My bedroom.
Usually when I’m alone at home,
I will play my favorite music,
and imagine myself as a diva on the stage.
This is a notebook for recording my everyday inspiration.
They’re all about my drag looks.
Like this one.
It’s a mermaid.
This is one of my looks for the competition.
We were all in this WeChat group for drag queens in Shanghai.
One day they sent a message,
saying we’re having a contest for drag queens
all over the country.
I want to know how it feels
to be at a big party where everybody is in drag.
I will take a yoga ball to the contest.
I’m going to sit on it and bounce up and down,
like a robot doing its job.
Most people think that drag
is about gay men dressing in women’s clothes
playing bitchy women.
Actually it’s not.
A straight man who likes to dress up like a woman,
and performs a bitchy woman, that’s also drag.
Panties for drag.
Only on Taobao.
It’s a mix of art, makeup, fashion,
performance, and comedy,
all that fun stuff.
I’ve always had this desire to express myself.
I think drag is a good outlet.
Kris can give me some advice.
[Chaoyang District, Beijing]
Honestly, I’m a little intimidated by those Shanghai queens.
But then, you know what?
I don’t think they will crown a queen from Beijing.
I don’t think they will,
you know?
Just be a bitch.
I am a bitch.
It was actually my fiancé who showed me RuPaul’s Drag Race,
seven years ago.
I was hooked.
My fiancé supports me being happy.
Not necessarily doing drag,
but he supports me being able to do something that I like,
and to spread joy to people.
-
You’re being gross.
Old man.
We’re going back to Sweden to get married next summer.
Are you out to your parents?
No, no, not really, not yet.
But, you know, what if your parents see the--
See this documentary.
Have you thought about that?
I don’t care. I’m just going to say,
“See, your son is getting such a big star.
So deal with it, baby.”
I don’t know.
My mom would just tell me not to draw too much attention,
because I’m from a small city,
from the northeast part of China, you know?
“What if you dress like that and get beaten up?!”
The contest is next week.
What’s the point of trying to lose weight now?
There’s no time.
After I did drag, I’m a little braver.
Oh, girl!
If you come for me or any of my sisters...
I’ll show my claws.
-You made this yourself? -Yes.
You crazy bitch.
What I enjoy the most when I do drag is that
I can become a woman in my imagination,
and that I don’t exist.
Looking back, I was probably the gayest kid in the world.
No one could be gayer.
My earliest drag outfit was made from our bedsheets at home.
I still remember how much I liked our bedsheets at that time.
I made them into a dress like this,
and tied a knot like this.
And there was a mirror on the closet about this big.
So when there was no school, I would stay home...
and dress myself up.
[Putuo District, Shanghai]
She has lost her feet.
My dad is a spontaneous person.
One time I asked him,
“Dad, could you get me a doll?”
And he bought me a doll with those thick legs
instead of a Barbie.
And it would go “Mama” if you patted its back.
You can’t make clothes for it because it doesn’t have a waistline at all.
And I couldn’t tell my dad.
He’s too straight to buy me the right doll.
I wanted a Barbie!
Now I feel that I’m my own Barbie.
[Changning District, Shanghai]
Room service.
Helloooooo, bitch.
-This is nice. -Yes, really nice.
I wouldn’t mind having a little flat like this.
Oh my God, look at that.
This is the coolest material.
Oh my God, you found all this on Taobao?
Yes.
Oh, is that your hat? You’re wearing a hat?
-Yeah. -Oh my God.
-Yeah, let’s fix things together-- -Absolutely.
You know what, I’m a little nervous actually.
-Nervous about the competition? -Oh yeah.
I’m afraid they’re going to be looking at me and like,
“Basic bitch.”
Trust me, that’s never going to happen.
You know what? I have a feeling you’re going to win
because of your **** costume,
and your song.
Seriously.
-I think-- -Oh my God, we’re here.
We’re here.
I think it’s easiest when you’re shading with a pencil
...to draw the heart shape first.
And then you’re just filling it in.
The most interesting thing about drag is
you get to do it with your friends.
We do each other’s makeup and dress up together.
It’s like,
“I think you should wear this. It looks nice on you.”
“I think your wig is going to look like this.”
I know back in the day in New York City,
many of them
would
go to these ballroom competitions.
In these ballroom competitions,
they started out impersonating pop icons
like Marilyn Monroe,
Elizabeth Taylor,
these old superstars.
And then they started making it more real.
[
Dressing up like a businesswoman,
college student...
But as I said, Neil, I feel like your drag aesthetic is very...
futuristic.
I think that’s the mission of, like... right now.
If you want to do drag, you better be artistic.
Push the boundaries.
But I think old school queens,
they have this kind of, what we call “roots,”
you know, the base of the culture.
And it’s good to see that it’s getting evolved.
Your look is so cool.
Thank you.
Bitch, aren’t you going to say I look nice?
What?
Oh, you look nice.
You look nicer.
Nice try, bitch.
Another interesting part of drag is
the exciting feelings that you get
when you are on your way to the club.
It’s exciting not because of the way people look at you.
It’s because you are being your second self.
Once you put on the dress,
no matter if you are gay or straight,
you are going to play a different person.
Your social identity becomes the role you are playing at the time.
My respect for women was already quite high before I tried drag.
After I did drag, it’s sky high.
Oh my God, I can’t believe how women can walk around in high heels
all day.
So when the two sides of you collide,
it feels pretty exciting.
You know what? I definitely think every guy
should try it once in their life.
Or at least try to walk in a pair of heels.
You are the queen of the club.
You’re getting everyone’s attention.
It’s like you’re living in a movie,
living in those 90s underground clubs.
People want to party,
so we just need a reason to party and celebrate,
and have fun.
What’s more fun than cross-dressing and being drag king and drag queen?
Alright!
This is the 11th year of the Shanghai LGBT Drag Party and Competition.
Right now, I’m a little bit nervous.
But I’m sober, so everything’s fine.
Everything is under control.
Everybody loves my outfit. I feel happy, yeah.
Yeah, he’s a little nervous. He’s sober.
There was dead silence in the room.
And then “Boom!” Like an explosion.
To be a queen,
not just a regular person in women’s clothes,
the attitude, the reaction, the performance altogether,
that’s the extra step.
To be the winner is to have an extra factor
that others don’t have,
that surprise factor.
There is no holding back in drag.
You can just joke about anything.
All the weaknesses of the human nature.
The good, the bad, the madness.
They all mean something in here.
I didn’t really go there to expect to win anything.
I just wanted to go there and show them what I’m capable of
because there are a lot of different styles of drag.
It was just a night out clubbing.
But when you think of it, you feel that...
there are glamorous nights like this in your life.
Whether you’re a man or woman,
we share one thing in common: humanity.
Beyond that,
it’s just performative.
I think I just walk into the chaos with a peaceful mind,
and embrace the chaos.
The thing with gender,
is that it’s very easy to cross.