Event Write Up: Dykes Do Drag

On Thursday, September 18th, I spent a fantastic evening at the Dykes Do Drag show at Bryant Lake Bowl in Minneapolis. From a feminist perspective I found this show exciting, challenging, and a whole lot of fun.
Of the many aspects of this show the one that stood out to me most was how it pushed me to go beyond classifying people. This show featured many different musical numbers where people of various sex, gender, race and attire or lack thereof danced, sang, acted and even impersonated Sarah Palin. Through these numbers, not only did the performers entertain, but they played with our minds. They played with sex, gender, sexuality, race, beauty standards, and yes, even blow up dolls.
What challenged me personally was the fact that through performance and through this playing with categories and standards, the usual classifications became impossible. Man/woman, gay/straight, white/person of color, sexy/ugly - all these dichotomies were widened, twisted, queered or just tossed out. This was difficult for myself as a viewer because although I always am trying to push myself to see beyond boundaries and to look through a feminist, anti-racist, queer-friendly lens, society often gets the better of me.
I found myself wondering during initial performances: is that flamboyant drag queen a female or a male underneath her costume? Is this person in a club supposed to be a gay man or a straight woman? It is precisely the fact that I could not find easy answers that made this event so appealing from a feminist perspective. It was as though someone were screaming at me in a fun and entertaining way "Stop it with the boxes!"
And I did. By the end I was no longer struggling to put people into categories based on sex, gender, sexuality or race. I just let them be and sang along, enjoying the show.