Students go out in style - drag style

It was all about the purple fishnets.

College sophomore Cameron Clark spent the past few weeks preparing for his debut as Britney Spears last night, and he couldn't have done it without the "proper purple fishnets."

In towering black lace-up boots and a pink miniskirt, Clark was just one of the many Penn performers who participated in the second-annual gender-bending drag show last night. The show was part of QPenn, the annual lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender pride and awareness week.

"This is a drag show," said the emcee of the night, MC Liza, who hosts a weekly drag show at Bob and Barbara's, a bar downtown. "So don't be conservative. If you're going to be conservative, we'll send you somewhere else."

But the audience wasn't shy, and the five drag acts, which included a group of PennQuest leaders and a contingent from alpha Kappa Delta Phi, were met with a great reception.

"Word is really getting around campus," said College sophomore Elizabeth Lee, who directed this year's show. And with a crowd that far exceeded the number of seats packed into the Terrace Room of Logan Hall, "we must have done something right."

But the participants also hope for more than just high attendance.

College sophomore Jillian Dent, who cheered from the audience, said the drag show "really illustrates how gender is 'performative,'" raising important issues about gender and sexuality.

"Hopefully it will break down stereotypes and misconceptions about the rigidity of gender," said College senior Timothy Taylor, who took the stage for the second year in a row. "It's all right to play with gender."

And play he did - wowing the audience with a colorful rendition of the Dreamgirls song "One Night Only" with co-stars College senior Kevin Rurak and Engineering senior Keith Mangam. In matching mini-dresses and afros, the three received a standing ovation.

The decision to dress in drag this year came easily for Taylor, especially since he calls last year's show "one of the most amazing nights of my Penn career."

Last year also left a big impression on Lee, who knew "immediately" after attending the event that she wanted to take a more active role this year. Little did Lee know she would not only be directing the event, but MC Liza would also make her strut across stage in her heels to hoots and hollers.

But that spontaneity is exactly what makes the drag show so popular.

College senior Dana Luther, who produced the show, recognized that the drag event draws a larger crowd because it not only raises awareness and poses challenging questions about typical gender roles, but it also provides a "great opportunity to have fun."

And what better way to do that than with fishnets and afros?

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