![]() ![]() ![]() Yes, there had been fat contestants before Kim Chi. But RPDR has shown that drag queens-and especially Asian drag queens-are complex and beautiful people with their own insecurities.Īnd those insecurities are what made Kim Chi such a breakout star. Before RPDR, drag queens and trans women had long been the butt of many jokes in mainstream media (I think back to shows like Friends and even Will & Grace) I’ve even seen queer men accuse drag queens of reinforcing stereotypes. Watching people who look like me transform into people who I wanted to become was life changing. Apart from the many Asian contestants who have graced the runway, celebrities like Jenny Shimizu, Margaret Cho, and Alec Mapa have appeared as guest judges as well. Given these stereotypes, it may come as little surprise that a show that focuses on drag queens and drag culture has been so open about featuring queer Asian Americans. Winter Han, for example, discusses the ways in which Asian American drag queens “emphasize femininity to gain recognition and notoriety as a way to overcome marginalization within the gay community.” Indeed, I’ve had white men fetishize my Asianness in tandem with my femininity one ex, for example, referred to me as a “ bishounen” (Japanese for “pretty boy,” referring to male characters in Japanese media with highly feminine features, often targeted towards female audiences) when he discovered that I did drag. While this stereotype has (rightly) been the target of much criticism within Asian American circles, for many assigned-male-at-birth (AMAB) trans/gender-nonconforming (GNC) Asians, it can be a source of empowerment instead. In Western pop culture, Asian men are often portrayed as un-masculine or even fully feminine. ![]() Cosmetics so I could finally learn to do my own makeup properly. When I could finally afford to, I bought a haul from E.L.F. After that, I went out to parties with those same girls a couple more times in drag I’ll never forget the first time someone referred to me as a “lady,” even though I still hadn’t quite figured out how to do my makeup (it was dark in that club!). Even though I watched Michelle Phan on YouTube, I didn’t wear any makeup. I borrowed their clothes and a cheap Ricky’s wig and bought a pair of cheap heels from Payless that I didn’t yet know how to walk in. ![]() I first did drag my senior year of college, dressing in character with two of my girlfriends as a performance art piece. Watching RPDR for the first time, I learned that there was a place for me. But, while I never necessarily felt pressured to fit into any particular image of masculinity, I also did not quite understand that there were other possibilities. I even have a photograph my mother took of me as a young child wearing her friend’s daughter’s dress. As a child, I had always associated more with girls and girl culture-I preferred Sailor Moon over Dragonball Z and almost all my friends were girls. By proudly proclaiming herself “Fat, Fem & Asian” both on television and online, Kim Chi used her media visibility to transform these stigmatized characteristics into things to be celebrated.Īs a queer Asian American, I’ve been fascinated by RPDR since I first watched it as a junior in art school, when one of my classmates showed a clip of Cameroonian drag queen and Season one winner Bebe Zahara Benet in a class about immigrant visual culture. Her appearance on the show was groundbreaking, not because she was the first Asian American to compete (Asian American drag queens have competed on nearly every season, with Raja becoming the first Asian winner as early as the third season), but because of the candid ways in which she talked about her insecurities over her Asianness, her queerness, and her body image. My name is Kim Chi, and say ‘Hello’ to yellow!'” Soon after, she marketed t-shirts with the slogan, “Yas fats / Yas fems / Yas Azns” on her website, with proceeds being donated to The Los Angeles LGBT Center, Proud2Share, and Shape Up America. As someone who is all of the above, I understand your pain. In the seventh episode, in a mock presidential campaign challenge, she announced, “Shady gays believe in: No fats, no femmes, and no Asians. Korean American drag queen Kim Chi became a fan favorite on the eighth season of RuPaul’s Drag Race ( RPDR) when she took a stand against the superficial standards of racism, hyper-masculinity, and body-shaming in the queer male community. ![]()
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