In his 1968 film, “The Queen,” pageant contestant Crystal LaBeija decried the “Miss All-America Camp Beauty Contest” as “racist.” LaBeija’s outrage eventually led to her founding of the House of LaBeija in Harlem, “with Crystal at the helm as ‘Mother,’” providing much-needed “family structure” for queer folk outside their families of origin and “laying the groundwork for today’s ball culture.” Decades later, LaBeija’s community-building efforts would serve as an inspiration for three seasons of the TV series “Pose.” “Normal is a setting on the dryer,” Doroshow often said, and according to theater artist Taylor Mac, “her flawlessness was found through fostering artistic expression as a form of civics.” Doroshow’s legacy is not without controversy. Doroshow, who described Sabrina as “very bar mitzvah mother,” with “big swoops of blond hair and thick black cat eye liner,” hosted and produced pageants, contests in large and small cities around the United States for decades, from the 1960s on. Flawless Sabrina, whose life straddled the intersection of personal and societal transformation. Goodman is especially compelling when chronicling the life of Jack Doroshow, a.k.a. Along the way, Goodman mentions familiar figures, such as the legendary “Godzilla of drag queens,” Divine, but also others who defy categorization, such as Rollerena Fairy Godmother, who worked by day on Wall Street but “coursed through in roller skates, magnificent 1950s pillbox hats with giant shimmering earrings, and rhinestone eyeglasses.” Take Broadway female impersonator Bert Savoy, rumored to have provided inspiration for Mae West, who, out of drag, was reportedly “bald, paunchy, middle aged, and blind in one eye,” but once ensconced in a “formfitting dress and spreading, feathered hat” made “a dashing if slightly bawdy fashion plate.” On the other end of the historical spectrum, we’re introduced to Wang Newton, a contemporary Asian American drag king who parodies cultural and gender stereotypes. “They were intensely proud to tell of their work each day and to showcase their projects at the end of the week.“The great thing about drag is you can invent the roles for yourself,” explains drag artist Marti Gould Cummings, and Goodman’s book features a thrilling array of mothers of invention. ![]() “Both of my kids loved Camp Invention! They loved having the opportunity to create, innovate and iterate what they had learned,” said the parent of 2022 Camp Invention campers. Pop-Up Venture ™: Big ideas come to life as campers design their own mini pop-up business. MimicBot ™: Children show their unique style when they transform a robot that mimics sounds into a one-of-a-kind animatronic stuffie. Invention Celebration ™: Campers take on the role of event planners as they throw a party celebrating creativity and innovation. This year’s Wonder program encourages children to be confident in their ideas and explore their innovativeness though hands-on activities including:Ĭatching Air ™: Taking a confidence-building ride through physics, engineering and art, children design and build their own skate park. ![]() ![]() Each year, the program features a new curriculum inspired by some of our nation’s most world-changing inventors – the National Inventors Hall of Fame Inductees.
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