“What does it mean to give birth to a new identity?”
The Mothering fashion show hosted by Xpressions magazine was a vivid experience that began with a pregnant model giving birth to confetti. Trust, this is not an exaggeration, but merely the first category of a triple-series event that showcased all the ways that queerness within the drag community could be celebrated. Broken down below is each category and the significance it plays in the unraveling of the show and, ironically enough, the deconstruction and inclusion of queerness within all facets of community.
The Opening:
Before the first model struts across the runway we are tasked with a simple question:
“What does being a mother mean to you?”
This question posed by head of fashion shows, Sabrina Shaw set the foundation for the entirety of the night. Responses issued from the audience and fellow outreach chairs, Fernando Batista-Lopez and Miyanna Godlock entailed that being a mother means to be a nurturer. Within that established vein, being ‘mothered’ means to be in a position to allow yourself to be nurtured. Now, we can begin the formation of how the audience left nurtured enough to give that same peace to others.
Category One: Traditional Drag
As previously stated, the fashion show begins with confetti spilling out of the uterus of a pregnant mother. And, although this beginning had every bit of ‘wow’ factor, it was the messaging that it left behind that stuck with the audience. The model displaying the emotion of uncomfortability as they are straining to make it across the runway, due to their enlarged belly added depth to the experience of being responsible for something. However, the ‘something’ being birthed was not a baby, but instead a pile of multicolored confetti, for me and hopefully others in the audience, felt like the birth of something worth celebrating.
Special Guest: Chloe Cassidy
Immediately following the first category the crowd was honored to experience Chloe Cassidy’s performance of Beyonce’s Before I Let Go. Chloe Cassidy is a prominent drag queen based in Durham, NC. Cassidy’s performance beautifully enhanced the show with onlookers being included within the performance in the form of Cassidy singling people out to dance.
Category Two: Extraordinary Mothers
The last and final category was simply titled, “Extraordinary Mothers.” This category served as a symphony of the entire show. There were models as circus clowns, a mannequin head attached to the top of a model, and a dancing robot. This array of models coming out and doing their final bow coupled with the main message allowed the audience to know with absolute certainty that they had not only been fed with everything of the night, but been mothered into a new avenue of expression.
