My Situationship with Drag

By Qsherhana and Sir Lavender Scare

Qsherhana's Story

While I can definitely relate to so many artists saying that drag has saved their life and that it's freedom, my situationship with drag is very contradictory.

The main conflict between us arises from a perhaps unhealthy power dynamic. As a person who was assigned male at birth and has always tried to reject the expectations of masculinity, by default, you'd expect my expression through drag to be a queen, but jokes on the both of us, I ended up a king. As a drag king, taking your expectations of the masculine, amping it up through drag, automatically takes it to this gender-ambiguous nowhere, which is ironically where I feel most comfortable with the idea of participating in the concept of gender, despite time and time again saying, I do not do gender.

A lot of my art explores power, largely talking about how it's misused and perhaps, in a way, I'm trying to force myself not to obsess over control. My drag is a world-building project, which is literally me constructing a scene where I control the entire narrative. I definitely love power, I love having dominance, so while I am the most me when I'm in drag, I use drag as a way to form distance between myself and this made-up character who is a power-hungry man.

Drag is demanding in terms of the physical labor it takes to create the fantasy, as you would assume, but also on the emotional side. Getting tipped for something that is your gateway to feeling fully yourself, for something that shapes your identity, is very strange. What I mean is, the act of creation is a very therapeutic experience that helps me bridge the distance between all parts of me. The truest version of me exists only in drag, but at the end of the day, this is done in front of an audience that's telling me I’m cunt, I’m slay, or telling me they understand and relate to me, who scream and cheer for me, praising my creativity and hard work, though they have no idea who the fuck I am, though this is a very intimate journey of me trying to figure out who the fuck I am.

Sir Lavender's Story

My relationship to drag has been different at different times, and across three different personas I’ve brought it to life through. 

The first persona was a brief relationship – a few months pre-pandemic at a Tuesday bar show. He was young (as was I) and showed me a fun time: good for a laugh but not a lived-in home.  

The second persona I met in a new part of my country, during a time of grief and transition. He felt like joy, hope, and possibility in the dark. He was flashy with a streak of annoying... A little deluded, but someone you're rooting for anyway. He's still in the picture, but these days, I'm necessarily searching for a bit more depth in who I bring to life. 

The latest persona is new, but I sense he’ll be sticking around. I am keenly aware of the ways we make one another better. He draws upon my academic background in history and culture to make informed points that land with humor and a hint of self-awareness. In a dance class, I slip into his headspace for a moment and even the teacher notices how my posture and movement shift. He challenges me to take chances in life and fashion, and he's got me into makeup, heels and gaudy getup that increasingly creep into my own wardrobe in surprising and intriguing ways. We protect one another – selectively sharing the identity of the other only in trusted situations. I feel a level of safety in writing and creating from his perspective, which isn’t (exactly) my own. 

These small delights my king brings me somehow manage to summon a lust for life amidst a chaotic backdrop of cruel power clashes intent upon scaring us into submission. The same terrors that sent me spiraling in past years can feel like calls to action when he and I face them together in the best and most genuine way I know how: with a creative vision, a healthy dose of absurdity (because we have to be able to laugh to combat the world’s injustices) and an intention for a better existence. Our work together helps me to feel that this is all possible if we stop platforming the worst people in the world and pay attention to artists, marginalized voices, and coalition building instead.  

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Bio: Qsherhana (any pronouns) is a drag king and an experimental worldbuilder based in Yerevan, Armenia. His art is rooted in exploring cultural and individual identity. As a drag artist, his work is inherently political, mainly touching on the treatment of art and artists in the current political climate and the state of queer artistry in a country where it's not safe to do drag. Qsherhana has recently started doing drag publicly, starting with Act One, titled 'The Qsherhana Agenda', inside the greater world-building that is slowly shaping up as more Acts are released. 

Follow Qsherhana on Instagram @qsherhana 

Bio: Sir Lavender Scare (he/him) is a drag king, educator, and storyteller who has figured out several ways to put his gender studies degree to use, against all odds. A few things shaping his perspective include being raised in the midwest to a soundtrack of National Public Radio, writing for a comedy news show at a historically women’s college, and stumbling upon a community of drag king mentors who encouraged him onto the scene JUST in time for a global pandemic. Across his writing, zines, and performances, he is fascinated by everyday observations, eccentric characters, and capturing the absurdity and nuance of our times.    

Follow Sir Lavender on Instagram and TikTok @DragKingStoryHour 

Photography, art, costume design and makeup by Qsherhana and Sir Lavender

Image edits and design by Qsherhana