Chappell Roan: A Refreshing Intersection of Sapphic & Drag Cultures
If you have ever been to a Drag show then you know there is a lot going on, but the definition of Drag is quite simple: an exaggerated expression of gender. Modern Drag performers are typically adorned in over-the-top makeup and wigs — I’m talking high contrast contours, beehives and big false lashes — as well as heels, prosthetics and themed costumes. Their art expands beyond the dressing room as Drag performers typically dance and lip sync to pop classics and shocking remixes.
Unconventional expressions of gender date back to cross-dressing in Ancient Rome and Greece, as well as men playing women in the theater during Shakespearean times. It’s important to recognize that the fluidity of gender dates back to before Christianity was created, but Drag is a distinct artform spearheaded by underground Black and Latinx queer communities during the US’s Reconstruction and Industrialization Era.
Many Black folks colloquially say, “we are the blueprint” and Drag is just one example of this pattern of inspiration and appropriation. Countless mainstream trends — often improperly credited to white people — can be clearly traced back to popular styles from Black culture. Many consider William Dorsey Swann, a Black American from DC, as the earliest known pioneer of Drag. Swann was arrested in 1896 for organizing early “Drag balls” with fellow formerly enslaved Black men. Nearly half a century later, Langston Hughes wrote of “gaudy” parties where “the men dress as women and men dress as women” in 1920s Harlem. Though I cannot name them all, these early Drag Queens and Kings are worth celebrating. Consider their fight for queer liberation next time you’re deciding how much cash to withdraw for tips at a Drag show.
Freed from the shadows of underground queer communities, Drag shows can now easily be found in bars and brunch spots in most US cities, as well as on TV with hit shows like RuPaul’s Drag Race. Drag has bled into other art forms, inspiring artists like singers Dolly Parton, Janelle Monáe and Celine Dion, and designers including Marc Jacobs, Jean Paul Gaultier and Perry Ellis to bend and exaggerate gender.
Chappell Roan is the iconic Drag persona of 25-year-old queer popstar and lyricist Kayleigh Rose Amstutz. Her signature look includes bold costume makeup, glitter, sequins, kinky lingerie, cowboy hats and the occasional pig nose and horse hooves.
Just this week, Chappell Roan served perhaps her most quintessential Drag look yet at her soon-to-be-released NPR Tiny Desk Concert. Her big hair and paper-white foundation is undeniably Drag-inspired — Gottmik may be the most notable practicing and globally recognized Drag Queen and make-up artist to use white foundation as a signature look.
Chappell is hyper-pop perfection — explicitly sapphic, unique but relatable, and refreshingly camp. Chappell started gaining attention by uploading videos of herself singing covers on YouTube and continued to grow her fan base by promoting her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, with singles and music videos released over the course of a year leading up to the record’s drop in September 2022. She is now on tour packing venues largely with queer women showing off their own rendition of Roan’s unique brand of sapphic Drag.
Kayleigh isn’t shy about embracing her Drag persona or her role as a queer icon. She encourages fans to dress on-theme, and has local Drag Queens open at her shows. At her November 2023 Seattle concert, local Drag Queens Sofia D’Torah, Rown Ruthless, and Kylie Mooncakes opened and used their time on stage to advocate against anti-trans laws and Drag bans. One of Chappell’s most beloved qualities is her ability to foster safe and joyful queer spaces. In her own words on stage: “This space is your space…This is your space to be free and dress up and be who you want to be.”
As a hyper-femme lesbian, I wish the list of campy sapphic stars was exponentially larger. With less than 25 lesbian bars remaining in the US, there are few opportunities for sapphic-centered community. In spite of this reality, Chappell is creating sacred queer spaces with each stop on her tour. Roan’s eccentric style and unapologetic chutzpah reminds me that I, too, deserve to hold space in the whimsical queer spaces I love that often feel catered to gay men. I also recognize that I hold a lot of privilege as a white femme cis lesbian because queer trans people of Color (QTPOC) face far more violence and discrimination. Queer spaces that may feel safe for me may not feel safe for others. Further reading that details the necessity of spaces specifically for QTPOC can be found here and here.
Watching Chappell’s success skyrocket has healed something in my soul. Pop music and fashion have been important to me since early childhood. As a young millennial, I consider myself a lifelong Britney Spears super-fan, and although it created a buzz at my Catholic school, I proudly dressed up as The Princess of Pop for Halloween in the third grade. In 2007, one of Britney’s most notably difficult years, I was red-in-the-face defending her at just eleven years old. I was also eleven when I realized I was some flavor of fruity. I can’t help but wonder if I would have come out before my twenty-third year had I caught an earlier glimpse of openly-queer women succeeding.
Beyond aesthetics, Chappell Roan’s lyrics touch on the many nuances of sapphic identity, love and heartbreak. It’s not hyperbole to say my experience listening to The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess felt — at its core — like hearing music for the first time. Roan’s music is inspired yet distinct.
In Casual, she tells a story queer women know all too well — a devastating situationship.
I know, “Baby, no attachment”
But we’re
Knee deep in the passenger seat and you’re eating me out
Is it casual now?
Two weeks and your mom invites me to her house on Long Beach
Is it casual now?
I know what you tell your friends
It’s casual
The final bridge of the pop anthem Red Wine Supernova captures the uniquely playful experience that is sapphic intimacy.
Well, back at my house
I got a California king
Okay, maybe it’s a twin bed
And some roommates (don’t worry we’re cool)
I heard you like magic
I got a wand and a rabbit
So baby, let’s get freaky, get kinky
Let’s make this bed get squeaky
Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl takes me back to making the choice to embrace the scary L-word after realizing I had inadvertently not “swiped right” on a cis man in three years.
Uh-huh, I’m through
With all these hyper mega bummer boys like you
Oh yeah, I need
A super graphic ultra modern girl like me
We’re hot, we’re drunk
Wow, look at her moving, baby, she’s the one
Chappell Roan is more than a Drag persona — she is a sapphic symbol of freedom and vulnerability in our identities.
In the midst of health challenges, I was unable to attend Chappell’s November show in my city. I hope the stars will align and I’ll save up enough to experience that signature Chappell Roan queer bliss at her concert in Charleston this May.
References
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Roan, C. (2022c). Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl [Spotify]. Daniel Nigro, Mike Wise and Jonah Shy.
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