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Amazing Women: For PH drag artist Marlyn, women matter in drag scene

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Josiah Eleazar Antonio

ABS-CBN News

<div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/C4sdEbmRSzH/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fnews-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A25156530.5%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="722" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script><p><span id="isPasted" style="color:rgb(0, 0, 0);letter-spacing:normal;orphans:2;text-align:start;text-indent:0px;text-transform:none;widows:2;word-spacing:0px;-webkit-text-stroke-width:0px;white-space:normal;text-decoration-thickness:initial;text-decoration-style:initial;text-decoration-color:initial;display:inline !important;float:none">MANILA —</span> Drag artist Marlyn Ocampo, more commonly known by her first name, stressed the importance of women in the booming Phlippine drag scene, which is more identified with the LGBT community.</p><p>Competing in the second season of the reality competition &quot;Drag Den Philippines,&quot; Marlyn showed that women can also become drag superstars.</p><p>&quot;Women are important in the world of drag kasi if women do not exist ...wala kayong magiging inspirations, supporters, friends. ...Kung pwede kaming maging supporters, pwede rin kaming maging stars,&quot; Marlyn told ABS-CBN News in an interview, where she shared how women face challenges in the drag scene and how she overcame such hurdles in life.</p><div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="3000753"></ivs-player></div><script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script><div><strong>&#x27;IF THEY CAN, I CAN&#x27;</strong></div><p>Armed with dreams of becoming a performer and strong makeup skills, Marlyn started to do drag in 2017.</p><p>&quot;Nagpe-perform ako out of drag, ta&#x27;s naisip ko gusto ko na talaga mag-drag. Kasi kaya ko naman mag-perform, kaya ko naman mag-make up, marunong ako mag-drawing and creative ako. Medyo baliw-baliwan din ang utak, so perfect talaga &#x27;yung drag for me,&quot; she said. </p><p>While she did make it to the debut season of &quot;Drag Den Philippines,&quot; Marlyn became the makeup artist of the show&#x27;s host Manila Luzon. For her, it was a &quot;blessing in disguise&quot; and made her more prepared in the future.</p><p>&quot;Nung time na &#x27;yun kasi wala pa akong kilalang mga designers, wala pa akong gano&#x27;n kilalang mga connections. So, ang hirap pala talaga for me kapag nakasama ako sa season 1. So blessing in disguise na rin kasi nung naging make-up artist ako ni Manila, dami kong nakilala tapos mas na-hone &#x27;yung knowledge ko about drag and kung ano talaga &#x27;yung ginawa nila behind the scenes,&quot; Marlyn said. </p><p>&quot;And, &#x27;yung ngayon actually ang dami rin kasing nag-message sa akin and daming mga naghihintay na sumali ako sa season 2 na parang perfect na daw &#x27;to, perfect time na ganon. Sabi ko feel ko rin naman maha-handle ko kasi dami ko ng na-collect na mga creative people, my creative friends na pwedeng mag-help sa akin,&quot; she added.</p><p>Marlyn also served as Andrea Brillantes&#x27; makeup artist for her drag-inspired series &quot;Drag You And Me&quot; in 2023, where she saw how people worked together for the art of drag.</p><p>&quot;Ang saya niya ka-work because she knows what she wants at saka mahilig din kasi siya sa drag talaga, like fan talaga siya, hindi lang &#x27;yung naki-bandwagon talaga. She knows her queens, she knows her inspos kaya pinapakita niya sa akin, &#x27;Gusto ko po talaga, ate, maging kamukha si Valentina.&#x27; Ayun &#x27;yung laging sinasabi ... So ayun ginawa ko talaga &#x27;yung make-up parang inspired kay Valentina sa kaniya, ang bagay sa kaniya, and nagustuhan niya,&quot; Marlyn said of Brillantes.</p><p>&quot;I consider her as a drag artist na rin, drag queen na rin kasi she has a drag name, she has a drag show, she appears in drag ...Maraming drag queens na inspired by her, and inspired din siya sa mga drag queens mismo,&quot; she added.</p><p>With her newfound connections and drive, Marlyn joined the second season of &quot;Drag Den Philippines&quot; and became the first AFAB (a female assigned at birth) queen in a drag competition in the Philippines.</p><p>&quot;Ang sarap sa feeling, kasi dati ko pang sinasabi, kahit &#x27;yung halos wala pang nag-dadrag na AFAB dito sa Philippines, nasabi ko na talaga na drag is for everyone. At saka, &#x27;di naman siya big deal. Ang drag is expression and celebration of who you are or kung ano &#x27;yung gusto mong maging,&quot; she said.</p><div><strong>WE CAN CO-EXIST</strong></div><p>With her victories, Marlyn was transparent about the challenges that she faced as an AFAB queen prior to the show, noting that many AFAB queens and drag kings have less gigs.<strong></strong><br/></p><p>&quot;Before &#x27;Drag Den (PH)&#x27; hindi pa talaga ako nagkakaroon ng drag bookings much, &#x27;di ako nare-recognize. First of all, hindi ako nare-recognize as a drag artist. Talagang make-up artist lang. Ganun &#x27;yung sinasabi ng mga tao, kasi sabi nila they won’t perform. Parang, paano niyo ako makikita mag-perform if you don’t book me,&quot; Marlyn said. </p><p>&quot;At saka hindi lang ako &#x27;yung may ganitong problems, ang daming mga AFAB drag artists, like drag kings, lalo na &#x27;yung mga drag kings, hindi talaga sila nare-recongnize,&quot; she added.</p><p>It didn&#x27;t help that Marlyn is not fond of dramas in real life.</p><p>&quot;&#x27;Yung &#x27;pag away-away, ayaw ko ng ganon. Eh, di ba people love drama ... &#x27;Di ako maka-contribute. So ayun, sorry na, &#x27;di ako mahilig sa drama. &#x27;Di naman kasi naja-judge ang reputation or &#x27;yung dignity mo sa run mo sa show eh,&quot; Marlyn said.</p><p>&quot;Ang nafi-feel ko lang ah, parang &#x27;yung mga inner saboteur ko, feel ko hindi pa rin ako belong minsan... As you can see from the show, parang &#x27;pag lahat sila nag-ingay na, ako talaga wala akong ma-contribute kasi hindi ko alam sasabihin ko and wala rin akong masasabi. Naturally introvert talaga ako, hindi ako madaldal,&quot; she added.</p><p>Her experiences in bars also made her realize that viewers tend to not appreciate AFAB queens and drag kings as much.</p><p>&quot;Usually, bored &#x27;yung mga tao just because we are AFAB. Nabo-bore, or minsan nagwo-walk out. Parang minsan kasi feeling nila hindi kami nakakatawa, or hindi kami bakla enough. Kasi dapat lang kasi &#x27;yung humor or &#x27;yung pitik namin is parang ganun lang. Eh parang &#x27;di naman necessary na maging shady ka or maging super hyper ka all the time kasi ang hirap din i-keep &#x27;yung ganong energy. and hindi naman lahat ng drag artist same personalities. Ang dami ring mga introverts,&quot; Marlyn said. </p><p>&quot;They want to conform to beauty standards na hindi naman dapat. Kaya nga tayo nag-drag di ba kasi para gawin kung ano &#x27;yung gusto natin, kung ano man &#x27;yung istura na gusto natin,&quot; she added.</p><p>Amid these challenges, Marlyn was glad to show people that drag is for anyone regardless of gender, as suggested by the love and support she got from the fans.</p><p>&quot;Ang sarap sa feeling kasi ang daming nagme-message sa akin at saka in person din mga nakikilala ako. Ang saya kasi nasabi nila hindi pa sila aware na pwede pala silang mag-drag. Tingin kasi sa AFAB sa mga clubs, usually they are just fans, they are just audiences, assistants, ganon, fans lang sila. Sila lang &#x27;yung nagbibigay ng money sa&#x27;yo and support. We’re stars. Parang &#x27;yun &#x27;yung gusto kong ipahiwatig din na hindi lang kayo fans. Gawin niyo rin &#x27;yan. Kung mga idol niyo mga drag artist kayo rin mag-drag kasi kaya niyo rin &#x27;yan,&quot; she said.</p><p>Marlyn is hoping that the world of drag would become more accepting, and that women and the LGBT community should unite in fighting for equality.</p><p>&quot;(Sana) mas maging more accepting at saka ma-recognize lalo &#x27;yung mga AFAB drag artists, hindi lang ako, mga drag kings din. More awareness and appreciation for them, at saka less away within the community, less misogyny. We are the weirdos of the society, we’re not normies, we’re drag itself, the alternative, we’re all people. So we should be lifting each other up kasi we face the same struggles or different struggles pero lahat tayo nagsa-struggle. Hindi tayo &#x27;yung normies sa community,&quot; she said.</p><p>&quot;We both face similar oppression, they are all from cis-straight men. Kasi ang women, we face misogyny from both cis and queer people, pero &#x27;pag sa gays din, they get homophobia from all walks of life. Sana mawala na, and we help each other. Important talaga na mag-uplift ng mga community at saka we inspire each other.&quot;</p>

<p>Drag artist Marlyn Ocampo, more commonly known by her first name, stressed how important women are in the booming Philippine drag scene.</p>

Drag artist Marlyn Ocampo, more commonly known by her first name, stressed how important women are in the booming Philippine drag scene.