Mustacheville: Drag and Masculinity in Asheville

Asheville has a large, vibrant queer community and is a destination spot for many queer-identified folk. Yet Asheville histories and historians never mention Asheville’s queerness except for broad allusions to the small city’s “progressiveness” and “diversity.” No history of Asheville’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, questioning, intersex, and allied (LGBTQQIA) community exists. As in many places with marginalized populations, proof of queer existence is collected through oral histories—stories passed on individuals within queer communities. While oral history is an important component of queer kinship systems, the absence of a written history delegitimizes and alienates queer peoples from each other, greater Asheville, mainstream cultures, and academia. Moreover, queer kinship relationships—often not biological but “chosen families”—inhibit the intergenerational sharing of oral histories so common among other minority communities. Without a collected history or intergenerational sharing of oral history, each generation of queer individuals is at risk of re-inventing the wheel.

As an active organizer and activist in the Asheville queer community, my observations of the drag scene over the last four years have been both occupational and social. My observation of drag sites has taken me from local gay (or queer-friendly) bars and clubs, to house parties, concerts, political rallies, colleges, festivals, and theatres. Knowledge of these events was informal, and often the occasions were not marketed as “drag” events.

The drag landscape is changing. Drag in Asheville requires observation beyond the bar scene to the many locations where gender-bending transpires. From Asheville advertising, to art, to political rallies, to festivals, to burlesque shows, the sites for drag are changing. Asheville is known for its eccentricities. Some of the city’s marketing capitalizes on the oddities—as evident with Asheville’s popular LaZoom Bus Tours, providing historical tours of Asheville “with a twist.”[i] The gilded purple bus visits Asheville’s hot spots with employees garbed in outrageous wigs and costumes—most notably a sharp-tongued, hairy-legged bicycling nun. Similarly, the Freaks of Asheville Calendar Project capitalizes upon the freak show appeal as a fundraiser for local nonprofit Art 2 People. Local artists and self-identified “freaks” reclaim the term once used derogatorily against gender non-conforming people by portraying and promoting Asheville’s artists. Political marches and rallies—such as the annual Stonewall Rally and “We Are Not Bashful” rally—are often peopled by folk in drag as a statement of visibility and solidarity on the street. Festivals, such as Lexington Avenue Arts and Fun Festival (LAAFF), brings Asheville freaks and civilians (Ashevillains) together in downtown for frivolity and elaborate gender-bending costumes. During this past LAAFF, performing masculinity became a guerrilla art movement through Mustacheville. Mustacheville was a facebook initiative in which Asheville peoples were encouraged to make and wear elaborate mustaches and plaster the town with false mustaches. House parties abound with drag-related themes, as indicated by “Multiple Choice Party” poster (Figure 1)[ii]. For this birthday party, guests were presented with three drag-themed apparels and encouraged to pick their favorite theme. These parties, festivals, rallies, and shows allow for Ashevillains to explore our genders express ourselves in new and exciting ways—even if for a short period of time.

Asheville burlesque troupes have become destinations for many transplant drag performers—such as some of the performers from the now-defunct drag king troupe, Ashevegas Outlaws. Burlesque shows often explore of gender-bending and desire. At the Seduction Sideshow performance at the summer Fetish Ball, drag king Tony Bravo (formerly of the Ashevegas Outlaws) and two of the voluptuous Sideshow ladies performed a very gender-bending number that challenged heterosexual role-play and the “naturalness” masculinity. Tony Bravo, sporting a black “wife beater” tank top, jeans, boots, and mustache is a manifestation of “the male gaze.” Initially watching the two women undulate and gyrate for the audience and himself, Bravo’s fantasies become fulfilled when the two women turn their attentions to him (and each other, at his behest). Yet the dream sours for Bravo when the women begin undressing him—putting his body on display for the audience. The two women then begin to dress him in lingerie: fishnet stockings, a bra, and a short lacy robe. After his initial, visible discomfort, Bravo begins to enjoy the garments and begins to undulate with the women—to the audience’s cheers and catcalls. This skit openly contests the heteronormative objectification of women by the omnipresent male gaze; the women have agency in the gender-stripping and re-sexualization of Bravo.

Drag shows have also become enormously popular on college campuses across the country. Last spring, UNCA’s Alliance, the student organization serving the LGBTQQIA communities on campus, hosted an American Idol-themed drag show. Students and community members competed, both as individuals and groups, to be UNCA’s Drag Idol. Students had the opportunity to perform as their favorite artists—some even singing and accompanying themselves instrumentally. Few of the student performers had performed in drag before. The show was also an opportunity for student performers to meet other amateur and professional drag performers in the Asheville community. The show was an incredible success: one of the most popular student productions that year. Student performers became local celebrities. Several have continued performing in the Asheville community. Several of the performers from the show are contributors to “Gen(d)eration XXX.” UNCA’s liberal arts education encourages students’ learning through “creative expression [and] co-curricular activities.”[iii] The drag show was, and will hopefully continue to be, a welcoming space for students to explore gender, identity, and self-expression. A study of drag sites raises many questions. Do new drag locations queer our definition of drag? How much does location define drag? Are gender-bending performances still “drag” outside of the gay bar and club? Is gender-bending performance of the burlesque troupe still drag? Do the performers have to be queer-identified in order to do drag? Does drag require conscious gender-bending or gendered role play? Can anyone do drag anytime?


Notes:

[i] LaZoom Bus Tours, http://www.lazoomtours.com/


[ii] Tuc Ker, “Multiple Choice Party” (poster, Asheville, NC, 2010).


[iii] “UNCA Mission Statement,” UNCA Course Catalog 2010-2011, 2010, http://catalog.unca.edu.