Writings - Drag King Barbie

It's been a month and we've missed you! We're not embarking an a different sort of journey - that of creation. Each week one of us provides a prompt and then we free write. We hope to use these writings to create our performance piece, wherever that takes us. But, we want to share some of our musings along the way. Sometimes we'll post an entire piece, other times just snippets of them. We'll also do our best to provide the prompt, so that you can see where our minds journey! And heck, if you feel inspired to write something that inspired you in the comments, we'd be honored.

Without further ado - I bring you our first prompt... (please note that this image and the 'intellectual property' of the image belong to P. Jeannechild - thank you!) The writing below consists of snippets of each of our individual pieces.

1. I never had a barbie. of any kind. my father refused to allow them in the house. didn’t want his daughters growing up with that image... that kind of role model. I took this very seriously. I was not permitted to play with them. there was something dirty... something low about them that my daddy disapproved of. something I was not supposed to be. something I’ve always been afraid of being.

the most common comment I ever hear about barbies from my friends is that they cut their hair. gave ‘em all butchie do’s and then made them have sex with each other. very few were affected in the way those feminists in the 70s said they would be. they turned those dolls into icons of a completely different sort.

2. If only there had been a drag king Barbie poking out behind the plastic on the shelves at Child World. Or even a GI Jane with combat boots and helmet hair. There was only the opposite camps. Pink and pretty Barbie and Army Green and rugged GI Joe. Pick a side, stay there, make sure it’s the right one. Don’t deviate. Yes sir, ma’am. Good thing I had an older brother who liked GI Joes. I lucked out. And I saved my parents a fortune in ¾” stilettos and dream home accessories.

3. I really like Barbies. Please don't take away my Dyke Card. And I'd like to hold onto my Drag King Membership and Butch of the month subscription.

Barbie had no need to wear underwear! She had long, luscious locks. She had pointy, ridiculously arched feet. She was perfect. Except when she wasn't. I needed boy dolls to enact my lavish soap opera dream life. So I cut Barbie's hair. I tried for it to be stylish and coiffed, I put Dep in it, I brushed it back. It invariably looked like Dorothy Hammil on crack. That wasn't hot. So I cut it super short, super, super short so that the individual pegs of hair were visible. She got to wear Ken's clothes with a gumband around the waist to hold the pants up. And then she got to visit other Barbies.

day 9 philly to boston - homeward bound

9 days, 207 hours, 3012 miles, 11 states, 7 different beds, one helluva trip

We write to you today from the coziness of our own homes, after a night of sleep in our own beds and dang does it feel nice to be home.  But before we rest, we had to get home.  Our final day was really the perfect way to end this trip.

We woke up and had a lovely morning at Gail and Penny's in Philly.  Gail had to leave for the day (happy birthday!), and we spent the morning learning about Penny's female iconography collection.  Everywhere you turn in the house there are dolls, images, commentary on what it "means" to be female.  Statues, barbies, figurines, photos, record covers, you name it - she had it.  It was great for us to hear about her joy in collecting and her subversive vision for all of the images and things.  She displays them in cheeky installations which are just delightful, sardonic and beautiful.  We discovered a classic Barbie dream house, a Wonder Woman doll and a Drag King Barbie -  and then had some fun!  We played with the dolls in their home and found that with an adult sense of humor, playing with Barbies is actually pretty fun!  Before leaving, Penny sent gave us toy care packages that we weren't able to open until we had left.  Once we did open them, they were just the perfect thing for each of us.  Thank you.

We did a whirlwind driving tour of Philly with Renee showing us Penn's campus, her alma mater.  We even drove past Hollenback Center, the place where Renee was in Navy ROTC and where she was "on trial" and ultimately discharged from the military because of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell Policy.  After that we needed some greasy goodness so we headed to Pat's, King of Steaks and had such good greasy cheesesteak goodness.  (Including the traditional 'wiz wit'  which is a cheez whiz covered steak.  Yes, that sounds disgusting but it's so, so good.)  With the grease lining our bellies, it was time to head home.

With Kathy playing DJ, the road home was filled with song, laughter, planning and reflection.  It's been a whirlwind trip and one that we think will settle in our bones in the days and weeks to come.  We've met some amazing people, seen some inspiring sites and kicked up a lot of stuff.  We really learned so much more about ourselves because of the people and places we visited.  It's cheesy, yes, but true.  

We'll be continuing to update the blog in the next few days/weeks with videos, reflections, photos and more.  As we start to shape the show, we'll also be sharing thoughts on the blog.  Our plan is to have a workshop production ready for early fall and then a full show shortly thereafter.  

Thank you for taking this trip with us, for your support and your feedback.  We can not wait to take this experience and to continue to make our art.  It may not include 3000 miles, but it's a going to be a journey like no other.

day 8 pigeon forge to philly - city of sisterly love

We stayed at the Days Inn in Salem, Virginia. A bit of a crusty sheen on the bathroom floor, but we slept for a few hours before rising to a hearty breakfast with a somewhat surly waitress at Sarah Ann's breakfast nook.  Not the best food we have eaten, but consuming a corn dog the day before, it sufficed as food.

We each took a turn at the wheel, until Renee took us to our home for the night - and a place both Renee and myself have a warm chamber in our hearts - Philadelphia.  For me, it was where my best college pal Lee lives, with her Mom, in a beautiful little home in downtown Philly, in fact in the gayborhood. How appropriate is that? The city streets were decorated with rainbow banners (how'd they know we were coming?) for the Equality Forum, a big lgbt event that takes over the city. Lee grew up here, and when we were in college I'd come to visit, spending fun days at Hepburn's (the now defunct Lesbian bar) and consuming cheesesteaks 'til my gums bled. 

I hadn't see Lee in over three years, since my wedding, and it had been far too long. Lee was my

freshman roommate, and the first one of my friends to come out to me. And she is the friend that knows my queer history the longest, because she knew it even before I could make my queer stand on my own. Well her, and Cagney and Lacey. And we have found a home in our friendship, and no matter where we are, or how long it's been since we have talked to one another, as soon as we reunite, we fall into a familiar dykealicious step of our own vivacious out loud unique splash in the world without apology. And I am so grateful for her, for the fact she can remind me parts of myself and where I've been that I have forgotten. (Too many late night quarters games will do that to a impressionable freshman mind). And she has been a gender warrior far longer than me, giving me permission to uncover all that was too hard yet for me to get my gameboi on. 

As we have travelled into unfamiliar territory all this week, and felt moments of being uncomfortable, as well as understanding who gets more punchy late at night after a day in the car and far too much sweet tea, it was a wonderful gift to come back around to family that grounds me and reminds me of where I've been and who I am, at the core. 

and now.... over to Renee 

I have to ditto what Mal said - it feels really good to get this moment of grounding and true home at the end of what has been a whirlwind adventure.  After visiting w/Lee, we drove to the suburbs to see my "lesbian moms" - Gail and Penny.  In college, they took me under their wing when I was figuring stuff out and gave me one of the biggest gifts - an example.  Here was this amazing couple, flawed but loving, raising a little girl together.  Last night, the home was filled with laughter and family and good conversation.  It was amazing to see their daughter grown up and to interact with her that way.  

We had a great sit down interview with Gail, talking a bit about what I was like back in the day and why I became a part of the fold.  We also talked a ton about the pioneering career that Gail has had - she was one of the first female sports writers in the country and was the first female sports writer for the Philadelphia Inquirer.  Not only that, she was one of the very first out journalists.  I had known these facts for years, they're not something she hides, but I had never heard the struggles or the reason why persevering like that had been so important to her. 

As I type right now, Kathy and Penny are wandering the house examining Penny's vast female iconography collection.  It's like Barbie threw up!  (But we love it!)  I can't wait to hear the juicy vittles.

When I'm in this house, I'm both grateful and humbled.  We've talked a lot on this trip about breaking barriers and about role models.  I can't think of a more fitting place to wrap up our journey than here.  

And now dear readers, we get some cheesesteak and we hit the open road one last time. 

Nashville to Memphis (day 4)

day 7 - Dollywood or bust

we almost didn’t come.

I thought it might be cheesy. it was definitely expensive. and it’s closed on tuesdays, which was the day we wanted to come. we had a meeting about a month ago and decided not to. it just didn’t seem necessary. but by the end of the meeting something made me change my mind.
I’m so glad. but I don’t know why.

there wasn’t a specific moment. no one thing I can hang it on. my traveling companions are throwing out suggestions from the front seat. I’ll spare you. you’ll thank me. but it was easy. it was sunny. it was very clean. and we laughed. all day.

we started by running through a kiddie water fountain to the great bemusement of some of the staff standing around. we ended eating corn dogs and funnel cakes which have seriously complicated our drive this evening. in between we rode some of the best roller coasters I’ve ever been on (which is saying a lot) and saw one of the strangest stage/movie shows I have ever seen. which included being sprayed with water. twice.

and we somehow managed to break into the only restaurant in the park that was closed to the public. I’m still not sure how it happened, but after searching the ‘country fair’ section of the park for 20 minutes we finally found the barbecue pavilion, and burst in triumphantly to find ourselves the highlight of someone’s power point presentation. I think it was some kind of security training. safe to say they hadn’t reached the slide on how to deal with hungry and confused lesbians.

there was a museum about dolly which was slightly unsatisfying and left us wanting more information. we were all disturbed to find that the souvenir shops not only didn’t carry her autobiography, but no books at all except cookbooks. especially surprising since dolly is such an advocate for getting kids to read. and we spent a fair amount of time watching the bald eagles, admiring the beautiful aviary but wondering about the symbol of our freedom begin trapped in any kind of cage.

the title track of dolly’s latest disc is about being judged by your looks and misunderstood. walking through her theme park I couldn’t help smiling at how appropriate she should be added to the soundtrack of our journey. our journey with gender, with identity, with class and with food. she’s taught us something.

that doesn’t mean I recommend you eat the whole funnel cake just because you can.

day 6 memphis/nashville/pigeon forge - got a lot of livin'

Wowza!  Today we said goodbye to Elvis, tried to say hello to MLK, revisited some old friends and rolled into neonworld.  

Today was one of our only "unstructured" days on the trip and it allowed us to just take it as it came to us.  We began the day with another thrilling hotel continental breakfast.  And if anyone can overnight us some decent coffee, we'd be much obliged.  We then said goodbye to the Heartbreak Hotel and to Graceland and joined the time honored tradition of signing the wall.  At first, we were hesitant, being law abiding citizens, this whole defacing of property, on video, in broad daylight - well, it just seemed wrong.  But we had a sharpie so there was no turning back.  We signed and we're glad we did.  It was more touching that we had anticipated to see this anonymous outpouring of emotion.  We signed and rolled on to the sweet tunes of "Always on my Mind."

We then went into Memphis to see Beale St. and the Civil Rights Museum.  Beale St. during the day just didn't cut it so we wondered a bit and then set down 2nd street towards the museum.  We had heard that it was one of the most underappreciated museums in the country and we can understand why - there was very little signage and it was off the beaten path.  Unfortunately, due to some oddly worded hours, we were unable to actually see the museum as it was closed.  But, we were able to walk the grounds and to pay our respects to the place where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated 40 years ago.  The Lorraine Hotel was saved for destruction and the actual balcony where he fell is still there.  It was intense and emotional in a way that caught us off guard.  We had expected to be moved by the museum but I think we were surprised how much we gained just from being there.  (This is Renee here.  I got really choked up at this one.  And even do right now.  I was just so angry that this unifier, this man of inspiration and hope and dreams and promise was taken so carelessly.  The simple indicator of his death, combined with the bright blue sky and incredible company was just a really poignant moment.  If nothing else, I am most grateful for that moment, it lit something in me that had been dormant for a long time.  Thanks for indulging, I just didn't want to speak for all... and now back to our regulary scheduled program.)

We then decided that Memphis was done with us and we were done with Memphis.  We boarded Dolly and headed to Pigeon Forge, which conveniently brought us through Nashville.  We decided a brief jaunt was necessary and we had a lovely time down by the River, picked up some belt buckles, hats and appropriately cheezy postcards!  We had damn fine fried chicken with our new buds - Josh and Elizabeth - and then hit the road once more stuffed to the gills!

We had a good ole drive to Pigeon Forge - singing Dolly, wearing funny hats and playing our favorite theater game - hodgy podgy.  It's certainly day 6 as the jokes just keep getting worse (think firecrackers and bodily functions.  yes, a joke of that caliber had us crying with laughter.  Punchy?  You could say so.).  We rolled into Dolly country around 11pm and were a little flabbergasted with the utter scale of it all.  Neon everywhere, LCD billboards, Christian Theaters, Upside houses and more!  Our hotel room had a Bible out and open to Ecclesiastes and for 3 northerners who aren't necessarily avid church goers, it caught us a bit off guard.  But the people are sweet and the hot tub was hot, so for now, Dollywood - you're just what we needed.

some interviews

from Louisville:




from Nashville: