What a Drag! Queens Past and Present! With Guest Cynthia Mooseknuckle
This episode’s cover images; Will and Amber dressed as though backup dancers for a Cynthia Mooseknuckle (center) performance
Diverse Joy Podcast - Season 3, Episode 9
It’s June, which means it is Pride Month, so we invited a special guest–drag queen Cynthia Mooseknuckle, a Madison legend–to talk drag and the LGBTQ+ community!
A mid-record still of Will and Cynthia Mooseknuckle looking at Amber
For “What’s bringing us joy?” Cynthia’s is hot beverages in the morning, to help awaken the senses! Amber’s is attending Vogue Balls in Portland. And for Will, it‘s his recent trend of discovering new (and old) music albums every morning.
This episode’s discussion topic is the history and contemporary use of drag performance as both an art form and a form of community and protest. Cynthia shares how drag has been a way to bolster her self-confidence, both in and out of drag. The conversation touches on acceptance and self-acceptance, authenticity, the influx of competitiveness into drag, and related topics and tangents (it’s a great conversation)!
Behind the scenes, Cynthia Mooseknuckle finishes getting into her drag persona as she puts on gloves, while Dr. Amber Nelson talks to her, as seen in a mirror
In Story Time, Cynthia shares a negative story about drag is–sometimes–more exploitative and exclusionary as it has become more mainstream, competitive, commodified, and profit-motivated. For her more positive story, she shares about going back to her small Midwestern hometown to be celebrated and honored in drag!
A mid-record still of Cynthia Mooseknuckle and Amber
This episode’s question is about whether it is difficult to remain sober within the drag community. Cynthia shares her personal journey with sobriety.
This episode’s bias habit-breaking skill is to Broaden Your Input via Genuine Connections. Making friendships with people different from you can help push back against biases in your mind. While talking about genuine connections and friendships, the discussion taps into recent tragic experiences with persecution of immigrant communities in the United States.
GameBoy Color with Pokémon title screen | Credit: Denise Jans via Unsplash
As always, we close out the episode with a joyful recommendation. Whenever we have a guest, we let them give theirs, and Cynthia’s is “retro gaming,” or playing classic video games, which can bring in good feelings of nostalgia and comfort that can bolster your mental health! She recommends classic Pokémon games, in particular. (Cynthia Mooseknuckle’s name actually comes from the character of Cynthia, introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl.)
The episode can be found below, by following the podcast wherever you get podcasts, including Apple Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, RSSFeed, Amazon/Audible, or by subscribing to @BiasHabit on YouTube.
Image Gallery
