Otherwise known as the art of female or male impersonation, drag is a long-standing genre of performance art, with a history stretching as far back as the 14th century. Drag culture, despite its suppression in many conservative areas, has become a viral, beloved pop culture phenomenon across the globe, inspiring and entertaining its consumers regardless of their background, values, or sexuality.

The icons highlighted through the popularity of drag culture are drag queens: artists who adopt a female persona in their performance. Compared to most stage performances where acts are left unchanged once the scripts are finalized, drag queens relish a high degree of freedom and ownership over their performances. Likewise, drag queens are akin to improv performers, embodying their drag characters in whatever situation they find themselves in. This allows drag to be free of many boundaries and, therefore, ever-evolving. In consideration of such liberty highlighted in drag, many people are driven to consider drag as a concept beyond mere performance art. To many, drag is a community; drag is a culture; drag is love.

History of Drag

The concept of female or male impersonation dates back to ancient Egypt where female pharaohs, including Cleopatra, would dress or be depicted as men, most likely to exude an uplifted sense of power and control during one’s reign. Moving onto the late Middle Ages, drag as an art form was widely used as a theatre term when many male actors played women’s roles due to the lack – and ban – of female actors. This extended to the early 1900s when theatre drag was often showcased in American vaudeville theatre.

When homosexuality was outlawed in the United States (U.S.), many performers saw it fit to take their acts behind closed doors; this marked the foundation for underground drag culture. Prohibition not only led to the rise of numerous underground gay bars but also the rise of drag bars. In these clubs, drag queens would join houses consisting of local drag queens where they would compete with one another to gain notoriety and respect within the community. By 1996, there were an estimated 500 open and regularly performing drag queens in the U.S. as reported by Allure.

A Growing Craze

Currently, drag queens have become pop culture icons in the entertainment industry. This grandiose reception of drag queens worldwide can be seen through their representation and acceptance in media. To this day, RuPaul’s Drag Race – a drag queen competition television series – possesses over 100 nominations and wins from major broadcasting award shows. Drag Race has become a global franchise with 15 distinct series, including Drag Race France, Drag Race Philippines, and RuPaul’s Drag Race: the UK vs the World.

Drag Race in the U.S. alone has seven different spin-off mini-series streamed on three separate networks in addition to YouTube. The fervor over drag can be witnessed beyond the television screen, with over 50,000 fans alongside 100 drag queens gathering to celebrate the legacy of RuPaul’s Drag Race every year at RuPaul’s DragCon. The rise of Drag Race as a global phenomenon indicates the power and influence of drag, inspiring the masses to follow their dreams and spread the love drag queens promote through their work.

Essentially, drag queens – marginalized individuals with a passion to entertain – instigate a profound sense of catharsis, relief, and empowerment amongst their fans as they succeed in a society that lacks sufficient awareness and representation for minorities. There is something inexplicably symbolic about Aquaria – season 10 winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race – walking the Met Gala red carpet, being the first-ever drag queen to do so. It is breathtaking and remarkable to see Pabllo Vittar and Gloria Groove cover an edition of Vogue magazine – making them the first drag queens to star on the cover of a Vogue publication. To see phenomenally talented outcasts defy expectations and prejudice is an honor to the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community and a stimulus to fight harder for their rights.

Trailblazers in Korea

Although the drag scene in Korea is not as mainstream as in the U.S., domestic trailblazers are pioneering the way for a more fervid and accurate representation of their culture in mass media. The most prominent figure to call for this action is drag queen Nana Youngrong Kim – otherwise known as Nana. Nana’s unapologetic love for drag, exquisite artistic taste, and undeniable charisma on and off stage exude an energy that appeals to a wider audience.

Indeed, Nana is arguably one of the few Korean drag queens to have garnered considerable attention and acceptance in mainstream media. Beyond her social media presence, Nana has collaborated with multiple celebrities throughout her career. Notably, her feature in the K-pop girl group Browned Eyed Girls’ music video for “Wonderwoman” and Mamamoo’s “HIP” skyrocketed her notoriety amongst K-pop fans. Moreover, Nana has stood front and center as a collaborating artist in the 2021 “I AM CAMPAIGN” for Hera, a luxury contemporary Korean beauty brand. She has also had her running time on cable television through her appearance as a guest on MBC’s talk show program Videostar and her modeling for a Rush and Cash advertisement.

“Those who call drag cross-dressing are so out-of-date,” Nana comments in an interview with the Korea Times. Like so, Nana and her team Neonmilk are not afraid to lend a powerful, relentless voice to the community they represent. Although Neonmilk may seem nothing more than a popular YouTube channel at face value, it is much more than a mere group of social influencers. With Korean drag queen Bambi as chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, Neonmilk creates a platform for members of the LGBTQ+ community, especially drag queens, to provide the unfiltered, accurate stories of their lives. Responding to the ungrounded prejudices and hate surrounding their community, creators at Neonmilk attempt to familiarize and educate the public on drag queens, ultimately dispersing their innocent love of drag art and performance.

The growth of drag queens and their fandom indicates how moving drag is as an art form and its potential to serve as a common ground for people of different backgrounds to connect. The initial appeal of drag queens may stem from people’s love of beauty, comedy, and art. Yet, the ongoing influence they possess originates from all that lies underneath the makeup and drag: the desire to be loved, to spread love, and to love.