Smells and Bells

Some week in April, we had the the drag co-op, House of Larva, make a presentation to our class, as well as host a performance in Emerson, titled Lowlands.  The House of Larva is a drag house that incorporates social commentary, gender subversion and lip-synching in their shows in attempting to express "the ugliness of Queer identity." Lowlands explored how an alternate society cannot escape the influence of imperialism, as well as patriarchal and heterosexual power constructs. During the show, the Empress of the Bitchfaggots was required by Benwa Breedwinner to sacrifice a bitchfaggot, Fanga Sphinx, so that her empire may prosper for another 1,000 years. After relishing in her power, she falls in love with the soon-to-be sacrificial victim. Moreover, she’s required by her all-encompassing overlord to train a special operative agent to defend the Bitchfaggot empire, who is modeled in the image of American military masculinity. After failing to sacrifice a victim on the altar...

In class, we had members from the group House of Larva come in and speak about the drag performances they put on. They showed us some clips from previous shows, and told us that there would be a show that night, along with a workshop the following day. Although the performance was incredible, I enjoyed the workshop the most. Only a few people attended, so it was more intimate and made the experience a lot more personal. The workshop constantly made me conscious of myself, my life, and my body. We did exercises that made us apply how we interpreted the gender roles to be in our society. One of my favorite exercises were when we were told to touch certain parts of our bodies like our tailbones and hip joints. This exercise was the most engaging because it made people interact with themselves and become more conscious of their bodies. We then sat certain ways on the floor so that we could feel these parts of our bodies, and moved around the room so we could feel them move as well. ...

http://house-of-larva.com/ Our senses are not infallible. They make mistakes all the time. What we see or hear or smell can be distorted or misinterpreted. We are gullible, believing almost anything if our senses tell us it is true. Often we are completely unaware of the mistakes they make. Drag is about illusion. It creates a space to explore and celebrate gender and sexuality in new and exciting ways. Many assume that the illusion is as simple as men dressed as women. They see humor in the “mistake” their senses make when they see someone in drag. However, there is an honesty in drag. Our senses are not making a mistake. In fact, drag may be the only way that we can authentically see gender for what it is: an illusion. Performance is always a part of gender. We are constantly putting on a show, expressing our gender in everything from how we talk to how we walk to how we dress and beyond. When we perceive another human being’s gender, we can only sense this performance. Our se...