Maya the Drag Queen

Maya
Born
Alex Mathew

Kerala, India

Alex Mathew, popularly known as Maya the Drag Queen or Mayamma,[1][2] is a drag queen from India.[3][4] Mathew started performing drag in 2014 at Jagriti, The Humming Tree, and gave many performances at Rangashankara, Opus, and Alliance Franciase, among others.[5] Mathew is also an actor, singer, motivational speaker and a corporate employee. [6]

Early life

Alex Mathew was born in the southern Indian state of Kerala and was raised in its capital, Thiruvananthapuram. From an early age, he was aware of his femininity. One of his earliest public performances was in childhood at a school fancy dress competition, in which he dressed as Nagavalli, a character from the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu. Mathew later recalled that he did not expect to win, but simply wanted an opportunity to express his femininity.[7]

During his youth, Mathew said he experienced bullying because of his Malayali accent, but eventually came to embrace it as part of his identity. He was inspired by the films Mrs. Doubtfire and Chachi 420, whose male protagonists adopt female personas. He later said these performances helped him imagine drag as a form of self-expression.[8][9]

Personal life

Mathew came out to his family a couple of months after his first performance. Speaking about his experience, Mathew said, "That day, my mother gave away the sari reluctantly because she couldn't approve of my drag identity...Now she packs my suitcase whenever I step out of the city for performance. It took her three years to accept my drag identity and understand that I perform in a sari to break the gender stereotypes of this patriarchal world."[10]

Career

In September 2014, Mathew began performing in drag in Bengaluru as one of the first drag artists to regularly perform in the city.[11][5] After his first performance, he came out as a queer man and adopted the stage persona "Maya," also known as "Mayamma."[11]

Although he initially saw drag as a form of entertainment, Mathew has said that Maya evolved into a vehicle for social commentary. He created the character in response to growing concerns about gender-based violence in India, including the 2012 Delhi gang rape, which prompted nationwide protests and renewed public debate about women's safety, and the rape of a four-year-old girl in Bengaluru in 2014. Through Maya, he began incorporating messages about gender equality, feminism and individual freedom into his performances.[12][13]

Mathew performed at venues including Jagriti, The Humming Tree, Rangashankara, Opus and Alliance Française before expanding to performances elsewhere in India.[5] He has cited RuPaul and Bianca Del Rio among his artistic influences.[2]

By 2017, Mathew had expanded his work beyond live performance. Fashion choreographer Prasad Bidapa featured him in a photoshoot, and Mathew began delivering TEDx talks, conducting workshops, and speaking publicly about gender equality, feminism and LGBTQ rights.[3][1] He also hosted the talk show Chaaya with Maya.[14]

Following the 2018 decision of the Supreme Court of India to strike down the portion of Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code that criminalized consensual same-sex relationships, Mathew said public awareness of drag increased, leading to larger audiences for performances.[5] Mathew appeared as Maya in the French documentary The Queer Explorer, hosted by Nicky Doll.[1] In January 2023, he inaugurated a Pride Café in Bengaluru.[15]

Music

References

  1. 1 2 3 Siganporia, Shahnaz (19 September 2019). "How Maya The Drag Queen is using drag to educate and empower Indian audiences". Vogue. Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  2. 1 2 Sargeant, Chloe. "Meet Maya The Drag Queen: one of India's few performing drag superstars". Retrieved 28 October 2020.
  3. 1 2 Basu, Ipsita (6 March 2017). "Meet Alex Mathew, a communications officer by the day and a feminist drag queen at night". Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  4. ↑ Shaikh, Sadaf (27 September 2018). "Being A Drag Queen In India: Maya". Verve. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Maareesha, Anagha (12 September 2019). "Niche to mainstream: Bengaluru's drag community is making it happen". Indulgexpress. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  6. ↑ Service, Statesman News (3 June 2017). "The complete makeover". The Statesman. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  7. ↑ Nair, Vibha Rajeev; Parvati, Vibha (26 June 2024). "How Bengaluru's drag queens are redefining Indian masculinity". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X.
  8. ↑ Vasudev, Chandana (28 June 2022). "Pride Month 2022: A glimpse into an all-encompassing art form, Drag". Indulge Express. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  9. ↑ "Being Gay Is Illegal in India, but That Doesn't Stop These Drag Queens". Vice. 31 January 2017. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  10. ↑ "India's drag queens put politics front and center". Nikkei Asia. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
  11. 1 2 Indian, The Logical (11 August 2017). "My Story: It Took Me 6 Months To Tell My Parents That I Am Gay. They Didn't Speak To Me For A Year". The Logical Indian.
  12. ↑ Rajendran, Sowmya (1 July 2019). "'Avvai Shanmughi', 'Mayamohini' and others: How cinema misrepresents drag culture". The News Minute.
  13. ↑ "Alex Mathew aka Maya the Drag Queen on Feminism, Inclusivity, Pride and Drag in India". feministaa. Archived from the original on 20 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.
  14. ↑ Riaz, Azmia (31 January 2018). "Gender bender: Alex Mathew and the 'Maya' behind conquering the world of drag". Ed Ex.
  15. ↑ "Solidarity Foundation and Amadeus launch 'Pride Cafe' to empower LBGTQIA+ community". Restaurant India.
  16. ↑ Proud Maya, 17 January 2018, retrieved 4 October 2024
  17. ↑ Drag Queens, 7 May 2018, retrieved 4 October 2024
Wiktionary logo
Look up female impersonator in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wiktionary logo
Look up drag queen in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
This page is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.