I’m a woman, dominatrix and a drag queen: Meet Holestar, the queen tearing up the rulebook

Drag queen and dominatrix Holestar has heard it a million times: “You can’t be a drag queen, you’re a woman, you have to be a drag king.”

Holestar believes drag is about “the art form” rather than your gender. But being a woman dragging up as a queen, you have to go the extra mile—it’s not enough to put “extra glitter on” or wear a sparkly dress, it’s about creating an illusion, just like the male counterparts.

“I’m a big girl. I’ve got to paint that stuff on. I’ve got to paint my chin on. I’ve got to go over the top with it. Otherwise I am just a girl in a dress,” she told PinkNesws.

Drag is about bending gender norms

After a career in the army, Holestar got into drag and now also works as a dominatrix. She describes herself as “very butch” in everyday life and loves changing up her gender expression, on stage and in the bedroom.

The drag world, however, has not always been accepting of women performing as drag queens.

“I’ve been given jobs and they’ve been taken away once someone realises I am a woman,” Holestar told PinkNews.

But she didn’t let that stop her. She had a point to prove and she was determined to prove it.

“I’m quite butch in real life so I didn’t want to just switch the binaries from male to female,” Holestar explained. “I wanted to play with it a little bit.”

And that, for Holestar, is the purpose of drag. It’s about questioning gender norms and playing with them.

When she first steps on stage, most people mistake her for a man in drag.

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