Terrorist drag
Terrorist drag is a subgenre of traditional drag and, according to José Muñoz, describes a drag queen’s performance of “the nation’s internal terrors about race, gender, and sexuality.”[1] Terrorist drag encompasses themes of war, which can include battles between whiteness and blackness, society’s roles for men and women, as well as heterosexuality and the LGBTQ community.[1] Terrorist drag is to be seen from the performer’s perspective, as they have reasoning behind their art. It is political and intends to move us away from what we know as the norm. Terrorist drag gives performers a chance to go against what the mainstream world tells them to do, as well as what kind of person they are told to be. Terrorist drag creates an uneasiness and disturbance within the drag performer’s audience. Their work can be impulsive and subject to critique.[1] Their art “also appropriates, terroristically, both dominant culture and different subcultural movements,” meaning many subjects can be touched and interpreted.[1] This can be through the showcasing of the most dangerous individuals who walk the Earth, which is not only through dress, but character as well.[1] Parody and satire play big roles in terrorist drag, where a performer will interpret the way they see a certain individual who has brought harm in some form.
Vaginal Crème Davis is among the legendary drag queens and was especially important in the 1990s. There is one particular character of hers, named Clarence Sanders, that fully encompasses terrorist drag. Clarence is the ‘hot white front-man’ of the punk band PME. He is a white supremacist who has a love for guns. Here, Davis is in whiteface, has a fake beard, and wears sunglasses. Clarence is not only masculine and aggressive in the way he looks, but as well as in the way he acts. He screams that he would “never get caught with another man.” He and his bandmates proceed to make comments towards the “girlies” in the audience. According to Muñoz, Davis’ drag is “a terroristic send-up of masculinity and white supremacy.”[1] This all plays in Vaginal Davis’ interpretation and parody of the white man. Davis is a black gay man, and through Clarence, she embraces what it is to be the ideal white manly man in the United States of America. This is all based on her perception and past experiences. Clarence, as the white man, throws his fists in the air, is patriotic and probably sexist, has a deep voice, and drinks out of a bottle on stage. José Muñoz believes that Vaginal Crème Davis as Clarence is a perfect example of terrorist drag.[1] She dressed and acted the part of someone dangerous in her eyes. The supremacist she recreated crosses cultures and races, which contradicts his identity, his whiteness, and purity.[1] Davis’ “militiaman becomes a caricature of himself, sullied and degraded within his own logic”.[1] Here, the individual who is usually a threat or a danger to those of color is now ridiculed.[1] Through Davis’ work as Clarence, uneasiness is achieved and societal standards are forgotten.
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