There are a lot of misconceptions about Drag Queens, mainly about what drag is all about. In a fascinating, eye-opening way, Oskar Kirk Hansen shares his story of how Mystika Glamoor is his way of self-expression and, at the same time, his armour to make himself feel more powerful.
Mystika Glamoor is a fierce character; a performance artist, a Drag Queen, and an unlikely ambassador for self-acceptance. After hours of makeup and hairdressing, Oskar Kirk Hansen transforms into her. She has been his drag character for about one and half years now since he moved to Edinburgh from Denmark.
“I’ve always been fascinated in performance art and performing in general,” Oskar explains. “Acting, film, anything that allowed to sort of be more than who you were just as a person. That sense of escaping to a different reality. So, once I moved to Edinburgh, I started going to the drag shows and eventually I started performing.”
But drag is not about sexuality, it’s not about a second personality, or wanting to be a woman, which is a common misunderstanding. But rather a way of expressing who you are.
“I think the main thing of drag is just showing that in the end it’s not all that serious, you know? There’s no set way of being who you are,” Oskar explains as he begins his transformation in front of his mirror.
“If I can go into a bar in some cheap wig and some crazy make up and some weird outfit, get paid a little bit of money to do it, and just have fun and be myself, then you can accept yourself. Because I’m here to show you that you can be something different if you want to be. All drag, I think, is about that, just sort of pushing what we expect from life and from ourselves.”
This idea is supported by a psychological study by Jennifer O’Brien, Ph.D. Jennifer is a Clinical Psychologist at Mental Health & Counselling, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She has an expert opinion in most things’ LGBTQ related, from examining gender identity, sexuality and stigma. In her report, The Psychology of Drag, Jennifer states that drag is a way of self-expression.
“It is important to note that performing in drag is not necessarily rooted in questioning one’s gender identity, though this is a common misconception. Drag queens usually adopt an eccentric persona or a character which might act as a means of self-expression of their own personalities, or allow them to characterise various personality attributes in order to entertain.”
Drag Queens put in enormous effort and financial cost to establish a collection of makeup, wigs, outfits, and, also, they need to develop skills at using these things to transform themselves. But as much as it’s about self-expression and self-acceptance, drag can be used as an armour; a way of making yourself feel powerful and immune to the things that normally bring you down.
Having completed his transformation, Oskar sits and explains how he uses Mystika Glamoor to make him feel stronger and less vulnerable.
“Drag is extremely therapeutic I would say. You know, a lot of people in the community have either mental health issues or social issues and so getting up on stage manages to free you from that. Not to just let it go, but to use it as something to make you more powerful.
“When I look like this [Mystika], you can throw anything at me, and it’ll do nothing."
"I can walk down the street out of drag and maybe feel people’s eyes on me a little bit, because I still look ‘gay’ obviously, but I’m much more vulnerable. When I look like this [Mystika], you can literally throw a brick at me and I probably wouldn’t feel it, you know what I mean?”
It's not easy being a Drag Queen. Those who perform full-time are faced with many personal, physical and financial issues as well. They risk being discriminated against – not only in public, but also within the gay community. However, the fact that they put so much effort into their performances and transformations shows people that they are not ‘faking’ it, but rather exploring and accepting themselves, and these costs end up benefiting the Drag Queens because it leaves them feeling validated and appreciated more for their efforts.
According to Jennifer’s study, this is what makes Drag Queens feel more powerful. “The main takeaway from the study is the hypothesis that drag performers are motivated, despite the many costs, by the ways in which signalling, or performing within the gay community, promotes ‘upward mobility’ and status within a small, protected community,” it explains. “Because of the costs of performing, Drag Queens are more likely to be perceived as authentic, and so those costs end up being an advantage, or a badge of honour.”
It has taken some time for drag to get to where it is today, where it is more accepted, more appreciated and more understood than it has ever been before. It’s important that these Queens continue to accept and express themselves, because, as Oskar says himself, drag is constantly developing. “Mystika is always a work in progress. I’m still figuring out exactly who Mystika is but that’s the whole point in this journey. Figuring out who I am both as Mystika and as Oskar.”
Perhaps drag is a glimpse of a future – and maybe even, someday, a new normal for people.