Connie and
Carla definitely experienced the constraints of being a drag queen, although the context
showed some margin of liberty: the shows, the community, the city.
Nevertheless, it would be naïve to deny the most evident signs of it being a
subject of difficult acceptance for people, and the proof was their friend’s
brother, the brother’s girlfriend, the staring at the street and their own
battling with talent and show business.
But I would like to point
out their relationship with their femininity through their new
masculinity with one of the most eloquent dialogues in the movie:
Carla: “I feel like I
can finally say what I think”
Connie: “I know, when
we were doing the show in Chicago, when you would say, you know, dirty stuff, I
could feel the audience going ‘Oh no! Don’t do that! Where’s my dessert?’ But
now, dressed like a guy…”
Carla: “We can say
anything we want!”
Even if Connie and
Carla are acting as men acting as women, their power position is quite
different than that of a woman’s.
Society has made its choice to allow men embrace their identity over
women repeteadly, so power still transgresses their drag. These new found liberties
are explored by still timid Connie and Carla during their time in Chicago until
they have other kinds of dialogue and empowerment. There’s a scene in which Carla suggests Connie
not to eat so excessively, but Connie responds sensibly that it is due to the
fact that they’ve got a higher female self-esteem as men than as women that people
go to see their show. What she is implying is that she isn’t worrying about
that kind of body self-image restraints as a man and paradoxically that brings
her closer to feeling more like a woman. Connie as a woman would worry heavily
over Connie as a drag, because the sense of being a daring man that’s able to
respect and celebrate femininity allows her certain liberties, such as
accepting her own body. This reveals us that the weight women carry on their
shoulders is not even leveled by men who like to appear as women, because on
one hand, they’re men, and they have to embrace a certain feminine image but
still accept what biologically cannot be changed, so they’re grateful; and on the other hand, again, they’re men:
they’ve been empowered by society over women since forever, even if those are
not the kind of men that will be highly accepted or celebrated. So Connie learns from both ideas and her body
responds consequently. It is very interesting how ideas can be embodied,
literally.
Even so, Connie tells
Carla that she was at the mall the whole day (waiting for her) and felt
awkwardly observed. She says she cannot go on like that, and that she needs to
“get out of that closet”. In the end, when they finally tell the truth and
leave the closet, followed by a disconcerting bunch the public applauds and
congratulates them on being true to themselves and welcome their outing. And their answer is not cheesy: it is positive
and political and coherent. It was necessary for those drags before them to see
themselves in Connie and Carla, to ask and take but also give acceptance when
the situation asked for it.
Lina Cepero
