Hi Messy, it's nice to meet you!
You look beautiful, how are you?
Hello there, hi
Oh I know I look beautiful, so you're welcome
I'm very glad to be here with you Bong Sou
And I believe that you have been doing a video
with an Italian friend of yours, it's amazing!
Yes, thank you for watching!
It's that people in Tuscany are not very quoted in Italy
I mean, they can't even speak
Why?
They can't even say "coke with a straw"
But I think it's important to participate and never hate
I should probably go...
He is a very good friend of mine, I love him
But I mean, he told me that there were rivalries
between different regions in Italy
And where are you from Messy?
So I am from Italy, in a city called Bergamo
I'm 26, I'm now a beauty Queen
So what do you want to do today?
You wanted to teach me something, didn't you?
Indeed, I wanted to teach you something today
I just wanted to go through a bit of gay slang
and understand a little bit what the LGBT community uses
and see if you get any of these words, really
Probably not, I have no idea about gay expressions or Drag Queens
So let's start, the first word of the day is "Queer"
I know that one!
So what does "queer" mean to you?
What do you think that word means?
Oh wow, it's a trap?
It's a tricky question, isn't it?
Queer, I think it involves...
It's not a tricky question
Gay, lesbian, transgender...
it's how people call themselves and how we call them
I think it has historically a bad connotation though
I'm not quite sure but I think nowadays
it's objective and neutral
I don't know, you have to tell me
So yes, we're close to that
I mean, if you look at the dictionary
"Queer" means literally "odd"
Far from the limit, strange and unconventional
And "queer" has a discriminatory value towards
the LGBT+ community
And it was used to single out whoever didn't fit
the society of those times, back in the early 900
So now the movement has gained back the word
and use it to empower themselves
and to empower the LGBT+ community
And to say: "we are queer and weird"
"And we are not going anywhere!"
Let's go to the next word, what do you think
let's see if you say it correctly "yaaas"
What does "yaaas" mean?
Am I saying it right? Yes, absolutely!
You need to embrace it, feel it within yourself
So funny enough, "yaaas" has a very ancient history
behind this word, myth related that the first "yaaas"
ever used was placed in Ancient Egypt
you know, where people would create a...
No I'm just kidding
"Yaaas" is just "yes" a little bit more gay
That's all there is
Nothing is so serious in Drag
Oh my... go ahead
Let's go to the next word, what do you think "gag" mean?
If you gag, if you feel like gagging?
Well the literal meaning is...
To be in a complete state of shock
For example, if someone is amazing
you're gagging for the elegance
or you're gagging for the look
so you literally gag
over something amazing, you're in shock
Ok but let's say, I'm not a Drag Queen
can I still use the words?
Let's say for example: "Oh Messy you're so beautiful"
"I'm gagging" can I use that with you?
Yeah of course, absolutely!
You can definitely use the word
Usually, the words we're talking about today
are literally words you use in your daily life
So I mean, it's all a learning process
and you can use this to express yourself
Probably don't use it in a restaurant
Yes, try not to use it in a restaurant
saying that you're gagging over a plate of food
because that's not nice
So they're not going to feel insulted
That's my main concern like if I start saying
these kind of things and they would say
Oh my god, who does he think he is using our words?
No, it doesn't matter really
I mean just embrace the culture
Since you are talking to a Drag Queen
let's go to the next word of the day which is
Where did "drag" originate from?
What does "Drag" mean?
Interesting, I actually have no idea
So literally, "Drag" is a word that originally comes from
"dressed as a girl"
So "dressed as a girl" was first recorded
in the late 1800, in the Victorian time
to describe a man that would portray a woman
on stages as women weren't allowed
to perform back in the days
So it was always a performance based name
and Drag Queens are a form of expression
to art and performance
So the T, it's a word that starts with...
It's the letter right, it's not like having a cup of tea?
It's like the T, the letter right?
I would understand "what's the N?"
What's new? What's the news?
But what's the T?
What's the trash?
It's not really it... So the T stands for truth
So what's the truth?
When you want to know real facts about a situation
you would ask "what's the T?"
Let's go through another word
"Shade" is a very important element and essentially
verbally offends anyone in a malicious way
trying to hurt someone
When it's the case, we'll call it "shade"
So you would "call shade"
In the moment someone tells you
Oh my god, you're ugly!
I mean, obviously you are not ugly
which is not your case because you're beautiful
Well thank you
But if you say "you're ugly"
or it's something that's not very nice, that's quite shady
So you would "throw shade" to someone
Let's use the word "clocking" now
What does "clock" mean?
Clocking means "to call out someone's flaws"
We use it in the Drag world a lot
When you hair is not fitting properly
or your eyebrows aren't even
and someone lets you know, that's clocking
It's something that you need to sort out
Something you need to literally fix
It's not like, it can be shade
but not really because you're telling someone
Ok listen girl, you need to fix that
What do you think "reading" stands for?
"Reading" is an act of pointing out flaws
of someone else and exaggerate it
because we love the drama
And being able to read is a real form of art
And reads are most of the time very funny!
So literally, the act of pointing out
someone else's flaws in a very funny way
and exaggerate it to the extreme
So there are some Queens that are very good at reading
I mean like, there is this girl called Bob the Drag Queen
she is an amazing Drag Queen from RuPaul's Drag Race
And she would read very well
For example, if someone is very skinny
She would say like "you are so skinny"
"you need to run around the shower just to get wet"
So literally, it gets to that point
Now Messy, before we continue
let's talk a little bit more about you
When did you start being Messy?
And where can we find you on the Internet?
And social media?
So I started being Messy
literally all my life, I've always been Messy
It's interesting because I've a real super power
And it really brings out everything that you have inside
You're able to express it on an exponential level
let's say
So I started doing Drag more about 3 years ago
And recently started to do it a little bit more
on a professional level
A good friend of mine 4 years ago told me like
about Drag and I thought it wasn't my thing
And I watched this amazing show
that I believe you know
It's RuPaul's Drag Race
And after watching nine seasons in about two weeks
I was like let's go out in Drag, let's do it!
So from then, I really created my persona
Enjoy my shows, I dance, I sing, I perform
I am Messy, I do Messy make up, I'm happy
Yeah for sure I mean
how long does it take you to put makeup on?
Well today, it took about 2 hours
and 3 gin and tonics
Yeah definitely
You need something to drink on a hot day like this
It's literally too much!
So yeah, I wanted to talk a little bit more about
the LGBT community and what it stands for
So the community has been always victim of segregation
for many centuries and back in the 60s
it was very difficult to be a gay man
lesbian, transgender
and you could be imprisoned for it or rather killed
On the 28 of June 1969, date that we remember
to the community as the Stonewall riot
a police raid took place at the Stonewall Inn
That night, the lesbian gay community and the neighbourhood
fought against the police and gave life to the Stonewall riot
of those days and lead the Gay liberation movement
that was born to celebrate the first Gay Pride
Sometimes we just forget the history of those
that have sacrificed their lives for ours
to live our life as freely as we desire
And sometimes we come across many prejudices
based on facts that we don't know
Hence we forget that we are all human beings
And sometimes, we could be kinder to one another
But thanks to the riots that took place over 50 years ago
Now we have the voice and the importance
that the young generation need to understand
We have the power that we can change our destiny
if we don't think the outcome is right
Especially, in those times where people are waking up
It's so important to understand how important pacific
protests are in order for us to shape the world
the way that we really want
and in the world that we really want to live in
Thank you so much for sharing
Thank you for listening
Should we go back to some words and expressions?
Yes absolutely
Dorothy stands for Dorothy Parker in the Wizard of Oz
Judy Garland which was one of the biggest LGBT icon ever
And it was literally back in the armies
in those years, the 50s and 60s
where people would try to identify each other
as homosexual asking if they were "friends of Dorothy"
And at that time, they were able to
understand whether they were gay or not
"Good Judy" is literally your best male gay friend
It's your bae at the time
A "good Judy" can be your GBF, your Gay Best Friend
Or your partner, if there is one
So yeah, it's literally a way to call each other gay
So it has to be with another gay man?
So for example, you wouldn't call me a good Judy
I wouldn't call you a good Judy but you can call me
a good Judy if you want to
Ok, you're my good Judy!
Let's go for the last two words right now
"Serve" is literally "to look on point"
To look stunning, gorgeous
So "you are serving it"
and you are showing how it is done
And you are serving it to the children
which are the young LGBT community
So you serve it to the children and kids
So Messy, you are serving it my good Judy!
Yes, I really hope I am...
Let's go to the last one I want to ask
Let's go to the next one
"Slay" which means "killing it!"
and is spectacular, awesome
Then we have "the house down" which is another affirmation
It's like "you dance the house down"
"You sing the house down" it means like
you are doing that right
"Boots" is a gay slang coming from the
Afro American community which again
exaggerate over more the feeling of the sentence
to be the max, to be the best
So literally "slay the house down boots" means "amazing"
So the "kiki" is literally having a chat
So what we are doing right now
We're literally having a kiki
So, can I try something?
You go
Alright so Messy
Thank you so much for the lovely kiki
and I can tell you that you're serving it!
You're literally slaying my house down boots my good Judy!
Yaaas!
It's so good, it's amazing!
That was actually a very good sentence
Bravo to you!
I just want to give a big shout out
to the LGBT+ community and the different movies
that are out there for people to educate themselves
and understand what the LGBT+ stands for
there are different movies that I want to talk to you about
"Pose" is a beautiful movie that talks about transgender
community and the Black/Latino American community
down in the underground ball rooms
"Tales of the City" which is focused on the transgender
community in San Francisco
And "Hollywood" which really shows the sort of
world that Hollywood was back in the 40s and 50s
and how people weren't able to allow themselves
to be exposed as gay
And another movie which is very important
"The Death and Life of Marsha P. Johnson"
which is literally the main symbol, the idol
that started really all this movement
and the Stonewall's and she is a great symbol
for our community that really gave us the opportunity
to be where we are right now
with plenty of love to give
So ladies and gentlemen and everybody else
this was Messy, don't forget to follow her on Instagram
Yes, please do!
If you think I did a great job saying all this slang
then let me know with a thumbs-up and in the comments
And don't forget to share and subscribe
to support language learning and cultures
So Messy, it was really nice, thank you again for the kiki
Thank you very much for having me here
Have a brilliant Pride month
and a brilliant rest of the year
let's get out of this coronavirus
Let's sort it out!
Alright then, take care, bye bye!