Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.09.2019, Blaðsíða 24

Jenny Purr, Lola VonHeart and Char-
donnay Bublée are as fierce, cheeky
and passionate offstage, as they are
on stage. Coming together as part of a
new female-led drag initiative, Femme
In-Unity, they are on a mission to
change the landscape of gender non-
conformative performance.
What is a Bio Queen?
A Biological Drag Queen—also some-
times called a Faux Queen or Hyper
Queen—is, simply, a biological woman
in drag. “Apparently you have to tell
people that you have a vagina when
you’re a biological woman in drag, as
a drag queen…” Jenny explains “I take
it as a compliment if people ask me,
are you a woman? Because I’ve blurred
the line of gender. That’s drag for me;
it’s making people question what they
know.”
Lola says she doesn’t mind the term.
“I just don’t think there shouldn’t be an
otherness. Drag is subjective, it’s your
own expression of whatever you want
to heighten.”
Though playing with and express-
ing an extreme and heightened form
of femininity, there is an openness in
the way these women see the art form,
“At the end of the day drag is a perfor-
mance art and what you’re portraying
doesn't have to be subject to gender or
anything else,” states Chardonnay.
Falling headfirst into Drag
“I watched all these beautiful Drag
Queens on stage, and I felt like, I wish I
could feed my fantasy like them,” Jenny
says of her drag evolution. “2016 was a
very rocky time for me because I hated
my body after a very traumatic event,
but I still wanted to find some way in
myself to express it.” Seeking a plat-
form of expression and with unend-
ing support from incomparable drag
matriarch Gógó Starr, she recalls dis-
cussing the idea of becoming a queen.
“Gógó said of course you can, it’s your
gender, you can express yourself. It’s
performance art; you just do it.”
Jenny may be the original trailblaz-
ing Icelandic Bio Queen, but Lola and
Chardonnay were hot on her heels. Lola
recalls the moment she realised she
could be a part of this world. “I was
watching Drag Súgur and thought
‘wow I wish I could do this.’” After be-
ing told Jenny was a woman, she re-
alised there was nothing stopping her.
The youngest of the Bio Queen per-
sonas, Chardonnay performed first
show in September 2018 and hasn’t
looked back. In the short time since,
she’s made a name for herself as a tal-
ented live singer, host, one half of a
power couple with Milo de Mix and un-
doubtedly one of the hardest working
Queen’s in Iceland. When she casually
says, “I’ve been super active” it’s some-
what of an understatement!
Greater lashes,
bigger hair
It isn’t always easy being a Bio Queen.
While taking on an art-form with a
complex history of marginalisation
and discrimination, some female per-
formers have their efforts dismissed,
being objectified or told they have an
advantage, Jenny says. “I think it’s so
crazy how females are always held ac-
countable for being the best—you have
to be better and work harder than a
guy.”
“It has to be more. Greater lashes.
Bigger hair. Because if I go on stage
as a Bio Queen with a more natural
look, I’m just a random girl going on
stage,” explains Chardonnay. Whilst
it might be considered sparkle and su-
perficiality, what they are portraying
is the female narrative. “Yeah sure a
cis male can come on stage and be a
queen and talk about being a woman,
but we are women and we deal with
misogyny every day. It’s so precious to
Culture
PMS: Pretty. Messy. Sexy.
Meet the Bio Queens of Iceland, an unstoppable force taking the Reykjavík drag scene by storm

Drag Show
Femme In-Unity
takes place at
Gaukurinn on
September 19th
at 21:00. Pay what
you want (1,500 kr.
minimum)every
króna goes to
Stígamót.
24The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 16— 2019
Cis women can do drag, too. "It's your gender, you can express yourself. It's performance art; just do it."
Words:
Kimi Tayler
Photos:
Art Bicnick
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