Jan Cina, as the drag queen Chica Checa, has divided opinion online. Why do men in dresses provoke so many people during Pride?
Actor Jan Cina kicked off this year’s Prague Pride in a guise unfamiliar to most Czech audiences. He took to the stage as the drag queen Chica Checa Pala Santa – with striking make-up, a wig, form-fitting costumes and a performance in which he sang, danced and adopted a feminine style taken to the point of deliberate exaggeration. The character was originally created for director Šimon Holý’s new film *Chica Checa*, in which Cina plays a young man who hides not only his sexual orientation from his own mother, but also the fact that he earns a living as a drag queen. At the festival’s opening, however, Chica Checa stepped off the silver screen and became one of the most striking faces of this year’s Pride.
Footage of the performance quickly appeared online. Alongside admiring reactions, praise for the costumes and surprise at Cina’s transformation, there were also derisive and dismissive comments beneath the posts. Some people were bothered by the very sight of a well-known actor in women’s clothing, whilst others automatically associated drag with bad taste, sexuality or a need to provoke at any cost. Similar reactions had, in fact, accompanied previous clips from the film – online discussions saw the film being rejected precisely because of its queer theme, rather than solely because of its cinematic execution.
Dramatic make-up, huge wigs, high heels and costumes that cannot be overlooked. Drag queens are among the most visible faces of Pride – and that is precisely why they regularly become the target of ridicule and outrage. Behind the seemingly simple question of why men dress up as women, however, lies much more than a desire to attract attention. Drag is theatre, humour, a demanding stagecraft and a play on notions of how men and women should dress, move or behave.
Drag is not an attempt to become a woman
One of the most common misconceptions is that a drag queen is simply a man who wants to look like a woman. In reality, most drag artists do not aim to realistically imitate a woman’s appearance. Drag works with exaggeration – lips are fuller, eyelashes longer, hips more pronounced and gestures more theatrical than they would be in everyday life. It is an art form that utilises costumes, make-up and exaggerated gender stylisation. Drag can celebrate, parody or subvert stereotypes, or simply use them to entertain the audience.
The result is not merely a costume, but a distinct stage persona. It has its own name, character, way of speaking, sense of humour and visual style. One drag queen might resemble a Hollywood diva, another a punk singer, an alien creature or an exaggerated caricature of a celebrity. The aim is usually not to convince the audience that a woman is standing before them, but to create an illusion and then play with it.
Furthermore, drag should not be confused with transgender identity. A transgender woman is a woman in her everyday life as well, whereas drag is a performance usually created for a specific show. As GLAAD points out, transgender women are not drag queens unless they themselves perform in drag shows. This is the difference between a person’s identity and the character they create on stage.
At the same time, it has long since ceased to be the case that only gay men do drag. Drag queens and drag kings can be people of all kinds of gender identities and sexual orientations. Some performers exaggerate femininity, others masculinity, whilst others create characters that deliberately defy the traditional division between men and women.
Behind the glitter lies a craft
At first glance, drag might seem like a party where someone puts on heavy make-up, slips into a dress and plays their favourite song. However, those few minutes on stage often require hours of preparation.
Performers must devise a routine, source or make a costume, apply make-up, rehearse the choreography and master walking in heels that most people wouldn’t dare wear even on the way to a taxi. Added to this is engaging with the audience, improvisation, comic timing and the ability to hold the audience’s attention.
Some performers sing live, others dance, host, do stand-up or perform elaborate lip-syncing – that is, synchronising their mouth movements with a pre-recorded track. Yet a high-quality performance isn’t just about appearances. A performer must be able to structure a routine so that it has pace, a punchline and is capable of evoking emotion in the audience.
Drag can therefore take just as many different forms as theatre. There are provocative late-night shows intended for adult audiences, but also cabaret, comedy, singing, political or family-friendly performances. To claim that all drag is automatically sexual would be akin to labelling the entire theatre as erotic simply because some productions feature nudity.
What matters is not the mere fact that a man is wearing a dress or striking make-up, but the content of the specific show, its form and the audience for which it was created.
From secret parties to global entertainment
People have been transcending gender roles in the theatre, at carnivals and during all manner of festivities for centuries. Modern queer drag, however, developed significantly in environments where people could not openly express their identities and relationships. Costumes, humour and anonymity allowed them to escape, at least for a moment, the rules that otherwise constrained them.
William Dorsey Swann, a man born into slavery who organised private balls in Washington at the end of the 19th century, is regarded as one of the most prominent early figures in American drag culture. His parties repeatedly came under the scrutiny of the police and the press.
Drag was therefore not merely innocent entertainment. For people who could not meet safely in ordinary public spaces, it also represented a way of building community and resisting social and legal pressure.
In the 20th century, drag continued to develop in cabarets, nightclubs and the ballroom community, particularly amongst Black and Latin American LGBTQ+ people. According to the National Museum of American History, the first known drag balls in Harlem, New York, took place as early as the 19th century and gradually became a safe space for people rejected by mainstream society. At the same time, they were labelled as immoral or illegal by the authorities and the moralists of the day.
Later ballroom culture offered more than just competitions, fashion and entertainment. It also created an environment in which people rejected by their own families could find a community, recognition and surrogate family ties. It is from this that the system of so-called ‘houses’ originated – groups that functioned not only as competition teams but often also as chosen families.
Today, drag is no longer confined to underground clubs. It has become part of television entertainment, fashion, advertising and social media. Its journey into the mainstream has brought it popularity, a new audience and the possibility of a professional career. At the same time, however, it has meant that people who are unfamiliar with queer culture – and who take its hyperbole at face value – are increasingly encountering it.
So why is drag so provocative?
The simplest answer is: because it brings to light something that, according to traditional notions, should remain hidden. Society remains relatively sensitive to situations where a man steps out of the role associated with masculinity. A woman in a trouser suit rarely surprises anyone these days. A man in a dress, with heavy make-up and feminine mannerisms, however, can still provoke a strong reaction.
Drag reminds us that many of the rules by which we recognise a ‘proper man’ and a ‘proper woman’ are not immutable laws of nature. These are also social conventions: how we should dress, move and speak; which emotions we are allowed to show; and how we should come across to those around us.
Drag takes these rules, magnifies them many times over and puts them on display on stage. It shows that even the common notion of femininity is, to a certain extent, constructed through clothing, gestures, voice, make-up and societal expectations.
For some audience members, this is precisely what is liberating. For others, it is unsettling. Whilst male authority is traditionally associated with a distancing from all things feminine, a man who embraces femininity consciously, publicly and without shame subverts this notion.
In doing so, he does not necessarily ridicule women. Rather, he often highlights just how theatrical the expectations society places on all genders can be. This does not, of course, mean that every drag performance must automatically be a profound commentary on society. Sometimes the performer simply wants to entertain the audience. However, even the mere possibility of wearing a dress without fear or shame can carry symbolic significance in certain contexts.
Perhaps the question isn’t why they cross-dress
When someone asks why men dress up as women, the answer may be surprisingly simple. Because they want to play a certain character. Because they enjoy fashion, dance, music or humour. Because through drag they can be more confident than in everyday life. Because they want to entertain the audience. And sometimes also because consciously breaking the rules imposed on them by society brings a sense of freedom.
A more interesting question, then, might be why the sight of a man in a dress still manages to upset us so much. After all, a wig or high heels do not, in themselves, harm anyone. What irritates some people is not a piece of fabric or a layer of make-up, but a person who makes it clear that they have no intention of apologising for being different.
And that is precisely why drag still has its place during Pride. Not just as a glittering spectacle, but also as a reminder that freedom sometimes looks loud, over-the-top and absolutely unmissable.
