AFAB queen

"AFAB" stands for "assigned female at birth". While this is somewhat controversial, other terms still used both by performers and in the media are also considered offensive. The term "faux queen" is rejected and considered outdated by many drag artists for implying that female drag queens are not as "real" as male drag queens,{{Cite web|date=2016-03-09|title=Crimson Kitty Is Biologically Female, And A Drag Queen. Got A Problem?|url=https://www.oxygen.com/very-real/crimson-kitty-biologically-female-drag-queen|access-date=2020-07-14|website=Oxygen Official Site|language=en-US}}{{Cite journal|last=Coull|first=Jamie Lee|date=2015|title=Faux Queens: an exploration of gender, sexuality and queerness in cis-female drag queen performance|url=https://espace.curtin.edu.au/bitstream/handle/20.500.11937/2117/235643_Coull%20J%202015.pdf?sequence=2&isAllowed=y|journal=PhD}}{{Cite news|last=Nicholson|first=Rebecca|date=2017-07-10|title=Workin' it! How female drag queens are causing a scene|language=en-GB|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jul/10/workin-it-how-female-drag-queens-are-causing-a-scene|access-date=2020-07-15|issn=0261-3077}} and the term "female queen" is considered by many performers to be transphobic as they imply that a transgender woman who performs as a drag queen is not female.{{Cite book|last=Muse|first=Amy|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cz3VDwAAQBAJ|title=Text & Presentation, 2019|date=2020-03-06|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-1-4766-4058-7|language=en}} Other descriptions include "biologically challenged" drag queen, "female female impersonator",{{cite news|date=2000-11-22|title='Faux Queens' bend gender-bending|publisher=CNN.com|url=http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/11/22/drag.queens.reut/|access-date=2007-06-01|archive-date=2007-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070710082807/http://archives.cnn.com/2000/US/11/22/drag.queens.reut/|url-status=dead}} or "female impersonator impersonator."{{cite web|title=This Week's Day-by-Day Picks by Hiya Swanhuyser and Joyce Slaton|url=http://bestof.sfweekly.com/2004-06-02/calendar/this-week-s-day-by-day-picks/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930204150/http://bestof.sfweekly.com/2004-06-02/calendar/this-week-s-day-by-day-picks/|archive-date=2007-09-30|access-date=2007-06-01|publisher=San Francisco Weekly}} In recent years "AFAB queen" has been adopted to be inclusive of any performer who is discriminated against based on their assigned sex at birth, including non-binary and trans male performers.{{Cite book |last=Gaag |first=Nikki van der |title=Patriarchy in Practice |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2023 |isbn=9780755640065 |edition=1st |pages=288}} However, this term is disliked by some trans male performers who believe there should not be any term to distinguish between drag artists on the basis of their gender identity, and who find that being called an AFAB queen means they are mistakenly believed to be women.{{Cite web |last=Wratten |first=Marcus |date=November 24, 2023 |title=Drag Canada's Drag Race contestant Denim explains why term 'AFAB queen' is transphobic |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2023/11/24/canadas-drag-race-denim-the-girlfriend-experience-bio-queen-afab-queen-transphobic/ |access-date=December 6, 2023 |website=Pink News}}

{{Crossdressing}}

Like all drag performers, female drag queens play with traditional gender roles and gender norms to educate and entertain. Female queens can appear alongside drag kings, transgender drag queens, or male drag queens at drag shows and are interchangeable with other drag queens as emcees, performers, hostesses, and spokesmodels.{{cite news|date=2004-06-02|title=A faux queen lets down her 'blond' hair by Laurel Wellman|publisher=SF Chronicle|url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2004/06/02/DDG1A6TU391.DTL&hw=faux+queen+lets+down+her+%27blond%27+hair&sn=002&sc=830|access-date=2007-06-01}}

For some it can be a way to redefine postmodern feminism; female drag queen Ms. Lucia Love stated, "Drag queens would be nowhere without women."{{cite web |date=November 22, 2000 |title='Faux Queens' bend gender-bending |url=https://www.cnn.com/2000/US/11/22/drag.queens.reut/index.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230405172749/http://www.cnn.com/2000/US/11/22/drag.queens.reut/index.html |archive-date=April 5, 2023 |access-date=June 10, 2024 |website=CNN |publisher=}} For others it simply is about dressing up and having fun.{{cite news|last=Barber|first=Lynn|date=2006-11-25|title=The interview: Ana Matronic - Life's a drag|publisher=Guardian|location=London|url=http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,1957098,00.html/|url-status=dead|access-date=2007-06-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070806013438/http://music.guardian.co.uk/pop/story/0,,1957098,00.html|archive-date=August 6, 2007}}

In San Francisco, the first ever "faux queen" pageant was produced as a benefit for the drag performer Diet Popstitute.[http://www.alvinorloff.com/webstitute.html Diet Popstitute, aka Michael Joseph Collins; 1958 - 1995] Alvin Orloff The first title-holder was Coca Dietetica, a.k.a. Laurie Bushman. The Klubstitute Kollective{{cite web|title=Faux Queen Pageant|url=http://www.sfbaytimes.com/article_p.php?article_id=4010/|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070926232248/http://www.sfbaytimes.com/article_p.php?article_id=4010%2F|archive-date=2007-09-26|access-date=2007-06-01|publisher=San Francisco Bay Times}} was formed after Diet Popstitute's 1995 death to continue to raise funds and provide a space for the performers who, at the time, were not always welcome in typical drag venues. Pageant organizer Ruby Toosday had "friends who got fired (from drag clubs) for being women...it seemed like we had definitely hit a nerve. Contestants were judged on drag, talent, and personality by a panel of judges{{cite web|title=Eight Days A Week - Glam it up|url=http://www.sfbg.com/36/28/x_8days.html|access-date=2007-06-01|publisher=SF Bay Guardian}} and the winner helped "femcee" the following year. The pageants were held from 1996 to 2005. The Faux Queen Pageant was resurrected in 2012 by former title holder Bea Dazzler, and will continue to be a yearly competition in San Francisco.

The dancer and performance artist Fauxnique (Monique Jenkinson) became the first female drag queen to win a major drag pageant—competing against cisgender male or trans female drag queens—when she was crowned Miss Trannyshack 2003. From Bust Magazine: "'(drag) comes down to a sort of self-awareness, a self-consciousness about playing around with femininity,' says Fauxnique. She adds that while drag for her is primarily about performance, it's also a 'rejection of traditional oppressive forms of masculinity—and that's part of an affinity with gay men as well. I wouldn't say every faux queen is a feminist, but I would say that a part of them is in some way.'"{{Cite web|title=Monique Jenkinson | Fauxnique|url=http://www.fauxnique.net/in_bust.htm}}

In the 1970s and 1980s, German-born Brazilian female queen Elke Maravilha became a popular TV personality after participating as a judge in the Chacrinha and Silvio Santos talent shows. According to her, "many people think I am a transvestite. When they ask me this, I jokingly reply that I'm a man indeed. And of the most gifted ones".Neves, Carla (September 16, 2007). [http://celebridades.uol.com.br/ultnot/2007/09/16/ult4233u146.jhtm ""Quando me perguntam se sou travesti, digo que sou homem, e dos mais dotados", brinca Elke Maravilha"] {{in lang|pt}}. UOL. Retrieved 2011-02-19.

The comedy films Connie and Carla{{cite web|title=Connie and Carla|url=http://www.connieandcarla.com|access-date=2007-06-01}} and Victor/Victoria both center on female drag queens, but the main characters of both films are women who are forced by circumstance to work as drag queens. They keep their gender a secret and impersonate men when off-stage, unlike their real-life counterparts.

The 2020 US reality TV vogue competition Legendary was the first US reality television show to include women performing and competing as drag queens, including the all-female team representing House of Ninja.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-19|title=Exclusive Interview: HBO Max's Legendary judge the Wonder Woman of Vogue Leiomy Maldonado|url=https://thequeerreview.com/2020/06/18/exclusive-interview-hbo-maxs-legendary-judge-the-wonder-woman-of-vogue-leiomy-maldonado/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=The Queer Review|language=en-US}} The reality competition Dragula featured two performers who were assigned female at birth in their third season, but winner Landon Cider (a cis woman) performs as a drag king and contestant Hollow Eve (a non-binary person) identifies as a drag artist, not specifically a drag queen. Female drag queen Sigourney Beaver competed in season 4, being one of the four finalists.{{Cite web|date=2019-08-08|title=Dragula Will Be The First U.S. Reality TV Competition To Feature A Drag King & AFAB Drag Artist|url=http://inmagazine.ca/2019/08/dragula-will-be-the-first-u-s-reality-tv-competition-to-feature-a-drag-king-afab-drag-artist/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=IN Magazine|language=en-CA|archive-date=2021-06-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210628143417/https://inmagazine.ca/2019/08/dragula-will-be-the-first-u-s-reality-tv-competition-to-feature-a-drag-king-afab-drag-artist/|url-status=dead}} In 2021, the third season of RuPaul's Drag Race UK was the first season in the franchise to feature a queen who was both assigned female at birth and identified as female, Victoria Scone.

Singer-songwriter Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, known professionally as Chappell Roan, performs with an aesthetic and makeup heavily influenced by drag queens, and has described her stage name as a drag persona.{{Cite web |last=Sessoms |first=Janelle |date=2024-06-05 |title=Chappell Roan is Leading a 'Maximalism Moment' in Beauty, According to Her Makeup Artist |url=https://fashionista.com/2024/06/chappell-roan-makeup-artist-donni-davy-interview |access-date=2024-06-11 |website=Fashionista |language=en}}

Drag queens who were assigned female at birth, regardless of gender identity are not always permitted or welcomed within drag spaces, which are typically owned and run by gay men. RuPaul, the producer and host of the reality TV competition RuPaul's Drag Race, originally banned female artists from his shows, stating "Drag loses its sense of danger and its sense of irony once it's not men doing it, because at its core it's a social statement and a big f-you to male-dominated culture. So for men to do it, it's really punk rock, because it's a real rejection of masculinity."{{Cite web|last=Networks|first=Hornet|date=2018-03-03|title=RuPaul Answers the Question of Whether He'd Allow a 'Bio Queen' to Compete on His Show|url=https://hornet.com/stories/can-women-compete-on-drag-race/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=Hornet|language=en}} After significant backlash, RuPaul amended this response in 2019 to state "I've learnt to never say never."{{Cite web|date=2019-09-17|title=RuPaul speaks on the possibility of cis women competing on Drag Race|url=https://gcn.ie/rupaul-speaks-possibility-cis-women-drag-race/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=GCN|language=en}}

There are widely-held beliefs within the community that female and non-binary AFAB drag queens do not face the same challenges as cisgender male drag queens, and do not need to use padding, makeup, or tucking to appear feminine. AFAB drag artists typically counter that they use the same makeup techniques to create exaggerated femininity, and many do use padding and corsets to create an extreme body shape.{{Cite web|date=2016-04-03|title=No Girls Allowed: Examining the Validity of the Bio Queen and Their Role in Queer Environments|url=https://hiskind.com/no-girls-allowed-examining-validity-bio-queen-role-queer-environments/|access-date=2020-07-14|website=HISKIND Magazine|language=en-GB}} These queens on Instagram often mock this belief that they do not "transform" their bodies by sharing strikingly different images of themselves in and out of drag with the hashtag #wheresthetransformationsis, started by female queen Creme Fatale.{{Cite web|title=Creme Fatale: Where's The Transformation, Sis? – Gloss Magazine|date=20 June 2018 |url=https://www.glossmagazine.net/2018/06/creme-fatale-wheres-the-transformation-sis/|access-date=2020-07-14|language=en-US}}

The rejection of AFAB drag queens is often closely linked to other reports of discrimination and objectification that women, transgender men, and non-binary people assigned female at birth face within LGBT spaces. These artists frequently report groping and harassment from cisgender gay men in gay bars and performance spaces, and report less pay and less tips from audiences.{{Cite web|title=Bioqueens Face Misogyny Within The 'Safe Space' of Drag|url=https://www.intomore.com/impact/bioqueens-face-misogyny-within-the-safe-space-of-drag|access-date=2020-07-14|website=www.intomore.com|date=17 October 2018 }} Artists also have complained about drag terminology that they state is exclusionary or offensive; non-binary artist Hollow Eve sparked a significant debate in 2019 when an episode of Dragula aired where they spoke out against the term "fishy," used to mean a drag queen who looks like a woman and referring negatively to the smell of a vulva.{{Cite web|title='Post-Binary but Polarizing' : Interview with Hollow Eve|url=https://www.wussymag.com/all/2019/12/18/post-binary-but-polarizing-interview-with-hollow-eve|access-date=2020-07-14|website=WUSSY MAG|language=en-US|archive-date=2020-07-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200716234844/https://www.wussymag.com/all/2019/12/18/post-binary-but-polarizing-interview-with-hollow-eve|url-status=dead}}

The rising prominence of non-male drag queens and increased dialogue around inclusivity has resulted in many drag artists rejecting any distinction based on their gender and calling for drag competitions to remove all gender and assigned sex requirements for contestants.{{Cite web|last=Cuby|first=Michael|title=These Trans and Cis Female Drag Queens Have Some WORDS for RuPaul|url=https://www.them.us/story/these-queens-have-some-words-for-rupaul|access-date=2020-07-14|website=them.|date=6 March 2018|language=en-us}}

However, the first female Drag Queen Victoria Scone competed on RuPaul's Drag Race UK Season 3, and Canada's Drag Race vs The World, where she was a finalist. The second ever female Drag Queen to compete of a Drag Race franchise is Clover Bish, who competed on Drag Race España and placed 5th overall, just falling short of the finale.

The third female drag queen to compete is Pandora Nox, who won the first season of Drag Race Germany. She is the first cisgender woman to win any Drag Race franchise.

File:Elke.jpg|German-born female drag queen Elke Maravilha was a well-known TV personality in Brazil between 1970's to her death in 2016.

DragCon 2023 @ DVSROSS Photgraphy -122 (cropped).jpg|British-born female drag queen Victoria Scone

File:Clover bish drag race.jpg|Spanish-born female drag queen Clover Bish

• Gender bender
• Genderqueer
• Queer
• Trannyshack
• "Werking Mom"

{{Reflist}}

{{wiktionary|Faux queen}}

• Example of an FTM "Faux Queen" Persona [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfgIHY12y9M How to Work It - TranÀpus Rex]

{{LGBT slang}}

{{Drag performance}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Faux Queen}}

Category:Culture of San Francisco

Category:LGBTQ terminology

Category:Women performance artists