Death Prefers Blondes - A Teen Socialite and her Crew of Drag Queens Have To Pull Off Their Biggest Heist Ever In This Thriller

Death Prefers Blondes By Caleb Roehrig

Teenage socialite Margo Manning leads a dangerous double life. By day, she dodges the paparazzi while soaking up California sunshine. By night, however, she dodges security cameras and armed guards, pulling off high-stakes cat burglaries with a team of flamboyant young men. In and out of disguise, she’s in all the headlines.

But then Margo’s personal life takes a sudden, dark turn, and a job to end all jobs lands her crew in deadly peril. Overnight, everything she’s ever counted on is put at risk. Backs against the wall, the resourceful thieves must draw on their special skills to survive. But can one rebel heiress and four kickboxing drag queens withstand the slings and arrows of truly outrageous fortune? Or will a mounting sea of troubles end them—for good?

Add your review of "Death Prefers Blondes" in comments!

Here's a Theory: The Statue of Liberty is... a Man!

Well, based on a man.

So the assumption has always been that the French sculptor, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, modeled Lady Liberty off his mother. But author and journalist Elizabeth Mitchell has a different theory, as reported in "Secrets of America’s Favorite Places", and told to the New York Post:

“As I was looking at it more carefully, the structure of the face isn’t really the same. [His mother] has a more arched eyebrow, has a thinner nose, has thinner lips, even in her youth. And he was a bust-maker … and was known for his accuracy,” Mitchell tells The Post.

“Going through photos he had in his files of his brother, I started to look at the face more carefully, and it really did look to be like Liberty. His brother in his adult years had actually gone mad, and it was Bartholdi’s task to go once a week to visit, sometimes [spending] hours just staring at his brother, who was not speaking.”

Here's a close-up view of a copy of Lady Liberty's face, from the museum under the statue:

And here's a photo of Frédéric's brother, Jean-Charles:

So why would it even matter?

The Statue of Liberty is still iconic, based on a woman or a man. Still amazing. Still a beacon of hope for what America stands for.

But, knowing “Lady Liberty” may actually be the likeness of a beloved young man adds a lovely LGBTQ hue to the oxyidized copper green-blue statue's welcome to America.

Should we think of her as a man in drag? Pride.com suggests she might be a drag queen. The wonderful Peter Tatchell Foundation asks, in their Oct 24, 2019 newsletter where I first read about this, "Is the Statue of Liberty a giant drag queen? Could it be based on a Frenchman called Jean Charles Bartholdi? Well, 'Lady Liberty' is a great drag name!"

At the very least, if she's really based on Jean-Charles, it's pretty gender non-conforming!

Queer history really is everywhere.

Giuseppe Milo [CC BY 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)]

Hold up your torch, Lady Liberty, and be proud of who you are—no matter who you're based on.

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens - In this "Judy Blume meets RuPaul's Drag Race" teen novel, Nima Discovers the Magic of Drag and of Being (And Loving) Your Truest Self

Kings, Queens, and In-Betweens by Tanya Boteju

Perpetually awkward Nima Kumara-Clark is bored with her insular community of Bridgeton, in love with her straight girlfriend, and trying to move past her mother’s unexpected departure. After a bewildering encounter at a local festival, Nima finds herself suddenly immersed in the drag scene on the other side of town.

Macho drag kings, magical queens, new love interests, and surprising allies propel Nima both painfully and hilariously closer to a self she never knew she could be—one that can confidently express and accept love. But she’ll have to learn to accept lost love to get there.

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Desmond is Amazing - a 10-year-Old "Drag Kid"

This is amazing...



I love how:

supportive Desmond's parents are of him being him.

confident he is in loving what he's doing, and who he is.

it's a window into how drag can be empowering.

I'm also struck (as I always am when watching RuPaul's Drag Race) at the mentoring element of Drag, and how for earlier generations, drag has sometimes been a way of finding family when a drag performer's own family of origin wasn't on board... For Desmond, with parents who are so supportive, it's like he'll have two families.

And that's something to celebrate!

The light in me recognizes and acknowledges the light in you,
Lee

p.s. - thanks to my husband for sharing this with me, so I could share it with you...

Drag Teen - A Gay Teen Enters A Drag Pageant To Get The Scholarship He Needs

Drag Teen by Jeffery Self

JT feels like his life's already hit a dead end at 17. Despite his dreams, it looks like he'll always be stuck in Florida. His parents aren't supportive, and his boyfriend, Seth, seems to be moving toward a bright future a long way from home. Scholarship money is nonexistent and his after-school job will only get him so far.

But there is one small hope--to become the next Miss Drag Teen in New York City. A drag pageant that comes with the full scholarship JT is looking for. Except the only other time JT tried drag (at a school talent show) he was booed off the stage. And then there's the whole issue of getting to New York from Florida to compete.

With humor, heart, and some solid friendships on his side, JT is determined to make his future happen. He, Seth, and their friend Heather take an unforgettable roadtrip to capture the crown, no matter how many feisty foes they have to face. Because when your future is on the line, you have to be in it to win it, one fraught and fabulous step at a time.

Add your review of "Drag Teen" in comments!

Gender 101, episode #15 Redux: transsexual, transgender and drag queen/drag king

In episode #15, Lucy defines and distinguishes between the terms "Transsexual," "Transgender," "Drag King" and "Drag Queen."



The movie Lucy mentions is "Paris Is Burning" - I watched it years ago, and remember it being fascinating and really entertaining.

As always with these discussions, I learned so much. And I'm delighted to share these videos with all of you.

Namaste,
Lee

The original post had this anonymous comment:


Anonymous said...
I currently self identify as a drag king. To me, that means that I mainly identify as female, and normally am on the slightly butcher side of the female spectrum. However, I have a masculine facet to my identity that is expressed when I do drag. I use the term drag king because I am much more outgoing in drag and see myself getting into some type of drag performance when I'm older, but I'm not currently involved in any kid of drag performance, except for the occasional male role in the school play. I also sometimes will describe myself as a cross dresser, but that doesn't seem as applicable to my identity as drag king. Sometimes I'll also use the term gender fluid, because there are some days where I feel more feminine and others where I feel more androgynous or masculine. Another term I use a lot for my gender is just queer or queer femme, because I'm mostly female identified, but there are other aspects to my gender identity, and queer is the easiest way to explain both that and my orientation. I feel like drag king also covers how my masculine side is a facet of my identity, but isn't necessarily how I present myself on a day to day basis. With all that being said, I am fairly young, and I'm still on the journey of really finding what feels right to me gender wise.
Also thank you for mentioning drag kings. I feel like a lot of the time people only think about drag as being men dressing as women, whereas there's us women dressing as men, too.
June 20, 2012 at 10:40 PM