Men are defined by a socio-sexual hierarchy- Alpha being the best and Gamma the weakest. This is a form of toxic patriarchy. The aforementioned scale, which takes no notes from women, is one of the main propagators of gender binaries.
I grew up gender fluid and didn’t give a damn about my socio-sexual status. Drag allows me space to explore my gender fluidity’s depths. Through wigs, bras, beautiful clothes, I examine gender and social structures’ concepts in beautiful ways.
The more I look inside, the more it occurs that women in drag, too, wield their sexuality in different ways. With my friend and photographer Santosh Kumar Gangala, I’ve imagined the Alpha, Gamma, and Beta drag performers.
As they say, a picture is better than a 1000 words.
The Alpha Queen
The Alpha Woman is dominant and possesses a high confidence level that lets her shift to higher positions in the world. Her courage comes from an innate knowledge about what she wants, and the hard work she must put in to get it.
The image of an Alpha female is defined by sexual freedom. I use a decadent costume and bulkiness to manifest the idea of authority. My inspiration for the Alpha woman came from the Guerrilla Girls, an anonymous group of feminists, female artists devoted to fighting sexism and racism within the art world. The group formed in New York City in 1985 with the mission of bringing gender and racial inequality into focus within the greater arts community.
Photography by Santosh Kumar Gangala
Also by Patruni: Drag in Quarantine: A Photo Essay
The Beta Queen
The Beta Woman personality is most often looked down upon by other people, so their beauty.
A submissive and usually kind are prominent Beta characteristics. These women tend to avoid conflict with others.
When asked to share an opinion or face a potential argument, the beta woman would rather stay silent. I create an image reminiscent of Femme Fatales and nymphs-like representation.
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Gama Queen
Reading classic literature and fantasising about romance is something that Gamma women tend to do very often. Too shy to pursue romantic interests they have in real life, books and movies are an escape for their utopian dreams.
Gamma women hope to one day connect with someone who shares their passion and dedication. I chose to represent Gamma women as sensual and with three faces, to show how the idea of dominance and submissiveness are fluid and fluctuate.
During this exploration, I was able to see every women’s personality type is unique in her way. Understanding the different natures within female identities allowed me to see the socio-sexual hierarchy status of women and question the status quo of sexual hierarchy over all.
These are confusing times. The human partnership goes in all beyond cultural and traditions that we’ve all been taught. Understanding gender dynamics holds vast promise for humanity.
Pictures by Santosh Kumar Gangala
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