Dr. Cheddar Gorgeous - A Cultural Icon’s Guide to Courageous Connections and the Healing Power of Drag
“The very existence or notion of a queer family is testament to the fact that blood bonds are perhaps not as foundational as we’d like to think they are.” - Cheddar Gorgeous (A.K.A Dr Michael Atkins)
Ladies, gentlemen, and those who eschew binary categorizations, please welcome the extraordinary Cheddar Gorgeous. That's Doctor Cheddar Gorgeous, as in PhD for real. Darling of RuPaul's Drag Race UK S4, renowned drag performer, celebrated artist and activist, mind-blowing academic, and all-around incredible human.
Interviewing Cheddar truly shook me, y’all. I’m someone who likes to hide behind my intellect; being smart has been something I’ve used as a defense my whole life. With Cheddar, there was nowhere to hide, they are truly one of the smartest, wisest beings I’ve encountered. As you’ll hear Sarah and I discuss, this is a vulnerable episode to release for me, but I’m so excited for you to meet Cheddar if you haven’t already, or to get to know them better if you do.
"Drag in its foundation for me is a relationship art.” Cheddar begins, and it's where all roads lead in this conversation. We cover a ton of ground on this journey: the healing art of drag, post-apocalyptic survival, negotiating with "the enemy," the binary baked into sexual and gender classifications (even within LGBTQIA+ spaces), the demise of genuine debate, and the value of productive tension.
"Productive tension creates the best art, conversations, and relationships," says Cheddar. Emotionally resilient communities respect the transformative power of productive tension in all its challenging, sticky, painful glory. Drag families, like any type of chosen families formed outside the confines of biological attachments, navigate that tension in the open, often with clearly defined boundaries, Cheddar explains. Their interpersonal dynamics become the true ties that bind.
Healing can be a byproduct of productive tension. Healing also fuels much of the transformation that occurs when a performer embodies their drag persona, onstage and off. "If we're thinking of drag as a form of healing," muses Cheddar, "it's great providing you've got someone who can guide you and help you manage it, and keep your drag monster in check…because we've all got one!" That's what true community does; it holds us accountable. "It's a willingness to be in a position of precariousness together," adds Cheddar. "You listen, and you negotiate, and you figure something out together, and you learn from what each other doesn't know."
It’s in that position of precariousness that I present this episode. Please enjoy!
GUEST CONTACT AND BIO
Dr. Cheddar Gorgeous (A.K.A Dr. Michael Atkins), is an Academic, Drag performer and visual artist based in Manchester, England. Their body of work stretches across a broad spectrum of arenas. The alien deity is most well known as the star of Channel 4’s Drag SOS as well as BBC’s RuPaul’s Drag Race UK Season 4, however, their work was born from their roots in underground queer club culture, academia, and activism. The depth and breadth of their take on the power of drag as have quickened their reputation as an advocate and educator of the more serious, complex and profound dimensions of queer culture that is able to move between niche and popularised mediums which a whimsical charm that is able to captivate audiences of multiple dispositions.
Let’s be friends! You can find me in the following places…
