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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Feb. 20, 2004)
february 20. 2004 - j u s t o u t 35 CULTURE eatinffout ▼............. Female masculinity Portland’s first drag king troupe nudges you a little closer to your edge by eatingout CO < > z 5 o z J odi D arby ear with me, friends, for a little trip through gen der academia. In her Kxik Female Masculinity, Judith Halherstam clarifies that masculinity is not always equivalent to maleness; it is more precisely a set of spe cific behaviors and attitudes that are available to all who would access them. Masculini ty, then, being in essence gender-free, takes many forms apart from maleness. In other words, you don’t have to he male to exhibit masculinity. But maleness carries a specific social demand for its emphatic Tommy Torpedo (right) woos the women as part of DK PD X. See the drag troupe during the TechnoDyke.com expression. These internal birthday bash Feb. 22 at Holocene. ized demands become a kind of gender performance where the majority of had ever seen, and it involved a priest and an performers. The last show Jan. 25 packed in a people hope to fall into one category or altar hoy. It was really political and really, really sell-out crowd as DK PDX did a sendup of another. This kind of gender performance is hot at the same time.” Cotterill was on stage movie icons like Top Gun, The Graduate and not perceived as performance per se by the within a month. W ayne’s World. actor or the spectator because the perform “Drag has the ability to deconstruct binary ance is an internalized and largely un ; nee in Portland, Cotterill “started talking gender. I’ve seen a lot that reinforces that," says conscious one. | to everybtxly I could to feel out whether or Gitterill. “It gets people talking, thinking OK so far? Let’s continue. aKiut gender and their own perceptions of it ' not people seemed interested,” she remem In cases where gendered signs are conscious and reactions to it. It directly affects the players bers. “There was an overwhelming interest, so I ly acted out— in some ways hyperacted— and worked to make it happen.” One of the first and the audience." presented as performance, we arrive at what and most ambitious connections Cotterill T he idea is simple— what Cotterill calls social anthropologist Lauren Wells-Hasten calls the “Le Tigre factor,” after the feminist punk made was with Soox, a Boston transplant with “gender theatricality.” a knack for the stage. group that conveys serious social and politi Or what some queers call drag. cal messages through dance music. Entertain Soox’s “first brush with the idea of drag” Drag is by its nature gender-disruptive and the crowd: Make them dance, make them was in her North Carolina middle school. “For laugh, make them hot, hut most of all make has always been an intrinsically “queer” form of the talent show, my group wanted to be Duran expression. Historically, the keys to Drag City them think. “We want people to walk away Duran. We wanted to dress like them and per from our show and feel uncomfortable, to have always been kept in the hands of men, form. The school wouldn’t let us and told us which explains why drag queens like RuPaul question their own ideas about gender. We we had to he a female band. We ended up Charles have become part of mainstream especially want people to push us in dif ferent directions, too.” society and drag queen bars have As a troupe, DK PDX is incredibly increasingly become the domain of straight, suburban hachelorette parties. diverse. The intersection between perform ance and trans visibility is huge for some Where drag queens have found a members of the troupe, which is a major certain level of acceptance in both step toward community building. popular media and academia, drag ” “W e’re all queer,” Cotterill explains. kings are still a relatively unknown “Some of us are trans-identified; some community. —All Cotterill aka Tommy Torpedo want to transition, hut most don’t. Some In recent years, organized drag king do king and queen drag. Me, I like being troupes have emerged in large cities: a dyke and being a fag. I like playing around doing a Bangles song, but we did it dressed as Club Casanova in New York, the Royal with both.” Renegades in Philadelphia and the Chicago Duran Duran.” Audience outreach is of utmost importance Later Soox, aka Ace, began to perform dur Kings are among the better known. In years to DK PDX right now. Others priorities include ing Amateur Night at Jacque’s, a Boston queer past, Portland saw drag king revues down film and video projects and more performing bar. “I do different types of performances, dif town at Embers Avenue; now, inspired hy the nationwide. “We want...people [to] know how ferent characters,” explains Soox. “Sometimes political nature o f smashing gender, the sexi approachable we are,” says Cotterill. “We want I’m a gentleman; sometimes I do the redneck ness of performing and the excitem ent of people to contact us and for them to know that with the mullet thing. Either way, it’s com charting new territories, we can say hello to we’re not a clique.” pletely over-the-top masculinity. It’s mocking DK PDX. Stxix adds, “For me personally, this is what I traditional ideas of gender stereotypes, the Founder Ali Cotterill, aka Tommy Torpedo, do when I’m alone and in my room, and now I same way drag queens do.” might he considered Portland’s King of Kings. can share it with people.” JH As for their inspirations, Kith Gitterill and From a young age, she played with gender. S x ix give credit to classic nationally known “When I was 5 and 6 , 1 ltxiked like a hoy," she Watch DK PDX enact readings from the new drag kings Mo B. Dick and Dred, the writings of says. “When I got a little older, I still looked anthology Up All Night: Adventures in Lesbian stone hutch Leslie Feinstem and gender outlaw like a hoy, hut I also wanted to perform. I want Sex during the TechnoDyke.com fourth birthday Kate Bomstein, and the drag activism of Diane ed to he a child star. The problem is you can’t bash— a Studio 54 tribute party— 7 p m. Feb. 22 at Torr, originator of the Man for a Day workshops. he a movie star in this society if you’re 13, and Floloccne, 1001 S.E. Morrison St. C o w is $5 at The women set out recniiting and pre you kx»k like a hoy!” she laughs. the door, $3 uith '70s gear. Jom the DK PDX fan miered last May during Skervy, the erstwhile It was five years ago at Oherlin College in list at groups.yahoo.com/group/portlamldragkmgs. queer dance night at Cobalt Lounge. After Ohio that Cotterill discovered drag. She was Skervy ended, they began performing at the • 19 and went to a performance of drag king Pat JODI D arby is a Portland tenter, graphic designer eastsidc club Holocene in earnest and feel they Riarch, who was opening for queer slam poet and radio producer. have finally come together as a solid group of Alix Olson. “It was the first drag performance I 444 ' __ UITH CAFE + Using local & organic ingredients + All organic produce 0 “We want...people to k n ow h ow approachable we are...and for them to k n ow that we're not a clique 4 Mostly vegetarian/vegan menu Serving fresh panini sandwiches 4 4 - 4 Delicious homemade soups & bold salads Local hormone-free beef burgers Specialty and breakfast items too! 4 Local organic beer, wine, & fresh juices Spacious booths for groups and always quick service + Yummy kids menu! 3024 NE Alberta + 503-335-8233 Breakfast: Sat & Sun 8-5 Lunch: M-F 10-5 Supper: Sun-Wed 5-10 Thu-Sat 5-11 Pizza, Salad, Sandwiches, and Oregon Microbrews sold here Free Delivery (60th-Rivcr, Glisan-Woodstock) 3701 SE Hawthorne 5 0 3 -2 3 1 -0 9 0 1
