Many people were blown away by Sabrina Carpenter’s recent VMAs performance, which included drag queens, a dance break in the rain and a call to protect trans rights. While it didn’t become mainstream until recent years, drag has been around for centuries.
It all began in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. Theatre was a popular art form at this time.
According to an article from BBC, the stage had “strong links to the church and with that came rules that only men could tread the boards.”
Since no women were allowed to participate in performances, men had to play all the female roles!
The term “drag” is actually said to have originated from the long dresses the men in these performances would wear, which dragged along the stage behind them.
While drag started as a form of expression for men, many women also participate in drag today as drag kings. This is when a female performer adopts a male persona.
A popular performer during the Vaudeville era, which lasted from about the mid-1890s to the early 1930s, was Julian Eltinge. She was a drag queen who starred in many Broadway productions, and many people were convinced that this was a real actress, not just a character.
After each of Eltinge’s performances, the actor would take off his wig and reveal his true identity to the audience, leaving them in utter disbelief. His career was on an upward trend until around the mid-1930s, when “fears surrounding sex crime” arose in society. For a long time after this, there was a negative air surrounding drag.
One of the most famous moments in queer history is the Stonewall Riot of 1969. Many drag queens were involved, one of the most notable being Marsha P. Johnson. Johnson is credited as being the one to “throw the first brick,” although this moment is considered to be a myth and almost no one can agree on what truly happened at Stonewall. The throwing of the brick most likely refers to the first person to resist authorities, sparking a full-on riot, and many believe it was Johnson. However, she denied this claim many times.
In the 1970s, drag balls began in some parts of New York. These were runway shows where queens would walk for a panel of judges in hopes of earning a prize like a trophy. It was here that the style of dance known as “voguing” became a thing.
“Drag mothers” also originated around this time. These were veteran queens who would become mentors to younger, less experienced queens. They would also offer shelter to those who had a rough home life and nowhere safe to go. Many queens were part of “drag families,” with mothers passing down their surnames to their mentees. Sometimes they would even choose names for new queens, like a mother naming her child.
Harris Glenn Milstead, better known as Divine, became one of the most well-known drag performers in the 1980s. Divine starred in many movies and began integrating drag into mainstream media. One of his most iconic roles was Edna Turnblad in Hairspray. Milstead was only 42 years old when he passed away in 1988 of a heart attack.
One of the most famous drag queens today is RuPaul Andre Charles. He released his first song “Supermodel (You Better Work)” in 1992 and his first album “Supermodel of the World” just a year later in 1993.
The first season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” aired in 2009. It is still airing today, with season 18 expected to release sometime in early 2026. This reality TV show is reminiscent of the 1970s drag balls, with queens competing in front of judges to win a cash prize and the title of “America’s Next Drag Superstar.”
Due to the efforts of past queens and other LGBTQ+ advocates, drag is now a part of mainstream media, lending its influence to many artists today.
Watch Sabrina Carpenter’s VMA performance here: