A drag queen, like Mayamma aka Alex is traditionally a male person who dresses up as female and enacts roles of female characters usually with exaggerated femininity. A drag queen’s performances range from theatrical and comical to emotional and satirical. India has neither explored nor been exposed to the drag culture on a mainstream or even fairly-known basis unlike some countries where drag queens have been a significant part of the pop culture.
Alex says that it was initially very difficult for him to carry on his gender performativity because of challenges big and small- ranging from mainstream society being misinformed about and unexposed to drag performances to difficulty in putting on a bra. Today, Alex has overcome all challenges and is Mayamma at ease who drapes a gorgeous saree and puts on make up without help. Alex derives inspiration from diverse sources like legendary drag queens and southern super heroes and has got a slew of excellent ideas pertaining to empowerment of women, equality of all genders and sexes and other ‘taboo’ topics, creative renditions of which he performs as Mayamma.
Indian mainstream society often associates the culture of drag queens strictly with gay men. In reality, there exist drag queens of all sexualities and of different kinds- ranging from established cinema artists who perform in drag once or twice as purely a creative outlet or high-profile entertainment and men who regularly perform in clothing and make up usually worn by women to men who choose drag as a means of self-exploration, comfort, spiritual outlet or of asserting cultural and even ‘anti-cultural’ statements.
Drag queen performances include both stage, such as Jatra in West Bengal which involves lip-synching or even live singing and dance and street, such as the Shiv-Gauri dance in the small town of Silchar, Assam which is performed along with live folk percussion.
Barely anyone in Mumbai pubs and restaurants ever suspected the gender of the young cross-dressing bisexual individual called Baby Gupta. Baby moved from Kolkata to Siwan, Bihar and joined an orchestra which performs at weddings and other shows. Baby is purely an entertainer who does not entertain advances by men at all and often recalls a horrific incident of sexual harassment she faced. She attends workshops and sensitisation meetings on issues pertaining to HIV AIDS and males having sex with males (MSM) organized by the Progressive Foundation for People based in Siwan. Ashik aka Paro, who also attends these events is a transsexual drag performer who says that such gender/sexual minorities are often forced into sex even by the police and barely have opportunities to do anything other than performing on stage.
Drag queen Arpan from West Bengal believes that individual’s dignity applies equally to all persons irrespective of gender and sexuality. Arpan organized the Rainbow Walk in Kolkata and obtained support from the West Bengal government to run sensitization and intervention projects, health clinics and counselling centers.
Indian cinema, though not on a mainstream front, continues to explore the drag culture in creative renditions such as The Pink Mirror, an award-winning film produced and directed by Sridhar Rangayan. This film is probably the first Indian movie that comprehensively focuses on drag performers, they being the leading characters. However, citing the film as ‘vulgar’ and ‘offensive’, the Central Board of Film Certification banned it in 2003. Despite two appeals by the filmmaker, the film continues to be banned in India. Nevertheless, it received wide international acclamation for an impactful portrayal of the marginalised culture and community of drag performers and transsexual individuals. Indian Express said, “The Pink Mirror is more than just the ‘peeping into the closet’. It’s almost throwing the doors wide open for the world to look in!”