Journal Monica's Journal: drag race 3
the whole fall party scene at bard is building up to one party, usually held in late october: the Drag Race. we had the 2002 one last night. apparently this party is written about in the college guidebooks, and is apprently ranked on someone's list of the top ten college parties, but i couldn't find the list. (playboy sometimes makes similar lists, but a quick jaunt around their site did not easily yield such list. good to see that wvu's still #5 party school tho.)
the Drag Race is always planned before any other parties of the semester, and all the other clubs have to plan around drag race weekend. recent alumni and other students who have dropped out come back just for this party. in previous years, it's been held on parents weekend. that's ok, because parents are usally nestled safe in their off-campus beds long before festivities begin. this year, it was on daylight savings weekend, a good trick because the party can go for five hours 10-2.
Members of the sponsoring Queer Alliance spend all week decorating. by saturday, they're putting finishing touches in place. the grafitti'd walls of the old gym are covered up; streamers and decorations are hung from the ceiling. platforms are built in the corners for people to dance on, and a catwalk in the middle. a professional drag queen (and this year a king too) is hired from new jersey. i overheard Pia, the head of the drag race committee, say at 9pm last night, "i've been in the old gym for 12 hours today. i'll see you after i shower and get dressed."
oh, and the outfits. the idea is to change your gender, but that's only the default. there are men as ugly women, women as ugly men, and ugly men and women as themselves. and there's celebrity costumes - cowgirls, mad hatters, cher, hunter s. thompson, slash, marilyn monroe, michael jackson. many people are mostly naked or wearing the smallest amount possible - lots of teddys, corsets, and fishnets. there was an adam and eve couple this year, with fig leaves. a girl went a few years ago topless, with rainbow painted swirls around her nipples. one of our friends last year went wearing only a towel - on his head.
this event is not intended for the sober. there's a huge spike in the on-campus drug trade the weekend of the party, and afterward there's a huge shortage. the local liquor stores actually sell out of vodka, 40s, and carlo rossi. it's one of the only times local law enforcement are allowed on campus - to do sober-driving checkpoints.
administrators are on uber call the night of the drag race. clusters of them, including the dean of students and all his associate deans, the head of reslife, and even Leon are known to appear. they wear slacks and fleeces and carry radios around outside, able to procure rides home quicker than a drunk can say he's not.
the party itself is basically composed of as much flesh and makeup as possible packed together. it's a massive swarm of glitter and lipstick that can barely stand up. there's music, but no room to dance. to breathe, attendees have to go outside into the 40-degree air. because they're half naked, they soon get cold and go back into the sweaty mob. the professional drag queen comes out, but everyone's so sloshed that they can't stay off the stage long enough to let her do her musical number. and the stage is never high enough so that people can actually see her, because that would present a safety hazard to drunk people falling off it.
but one of the parts i like the best is the morning after, because i can laugh at everyone else's mistakes. this morning, todd and i got up at what we thought was 11, but it was really 10. we found our freshman friend patrick outside the dorm, and we asked him how his head felt today. he said, "i felt fine until i realized i was waking up in some apartment in red hook." when asked whose apartment it was, he mumbled something. i said, "who?" and he said "exactly. i think he's hungarian or something?"
many of the people at breakfast were still in their costumes. we assumed that if they had slept at all, it had not been in their own rooms. i heard a girl eating behind us saying that she had decided to go sober, but then discovered that drag race sucked sober, so then went home to get stoned, and when she got back, the party was over. she also said that her boyfriend dumped her at the party because she did too many drugs. maybe that contributed to her urge to smoke up.
personally, i'm not really a big fan of drag race. freshman year i thought the horribly pessimistic, "what if everyone in here overdosed at the same time - EMS wouldn't be able to handle it." this thought has plagued my enjoyment of this and other large parties throughout my college career. there was only one year i didn't go completely sober - we went to the dorm next door to smoke, and i didn't get high anyway.
the whole thing is so hyped, and here i am hyping it some more. the flyers are the glossiest of them all, and there are workshops in the freshmen dorms on "being safe on drag race night". we get emails telling us the schedule and where the checkpoints will be and to make sure we lock our doors and register our guests by 5pm. the freshmen ask me, "do people really have sex in the middle of the dance floor?"
why even bother? i think it's an incredibly unsafe event masquerading as a drag show. before i attended my first drag race, i envisioned it as a real race, like down annandale road. imagine if it were less a dark, scary, unsafe party, and more a costumed parade in broad daylight. with flags and music! your costumes, which you've spent hours preparing, wouldn't be crushed by drunk people falling into you, but rather flaunted and awarded all kinds of prizes. it could be in may - when it's warm outside and nakedness is ok and we have a queer alliance-sponsored spring fling already scheduled every year. i suppose i just don't see why they keep doing this if it's so unsafe. the only fun part is seeing everyone else's costumes, but even taht is not fun enough to make it worth it, and fun can be had in so much better ways.
drag race and wvu at #5 (Score:1)
on a side note, wvu is ranked #5 in the playboy party school list. incidentally, they came at the beginning of the semester, when wvu has their annual "fall fest" to keep people from drinking on Grant Avenue, but all it is now is a place for people to come to to listen to live music after theyve gotten completely drunk. playboy was right in the middle of all this, and interviewed a couple of people who obviously hadnt been on campus awhile. hence, we get statements such as "best place to pick up chicks" - mountainlair plaza right.. only if they play ultimate frisbee and shave more than i do. "best place to drown your brain" - shooters lounge uh-huh, if your idea of a good time is being stuck in a mildewey basement with one exit and cigarette burns everywhere.
oh wait.. this isnt my blog
Re:drag race and wvu at #5 (Score:1)
sorry
Re:drag race and wvu at #5 (Score:1)