Last January 8, RuPaul’s Drag Race contestant Manila Luzon revealed a photo of a period-stained dress she would’ve worn on an episode of the reality show. Since she uploaded the image, she received mixed reviews from netizens worldwide. Some of them were averse to her concept and agreed with RuPaul that the dress was in “bad taste.” But there were others who applauded Luzon for bringing to light such a sensitive topic among women.
However, Luzon’s stint on the reality show ended when she was recently eliminated from the competition. In light of this, local artist Megan Diño decided to pay tribute to the Fil-Am drag queen by creating this realistic watercolor painting of her infamous sanitary napkin dress.
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Diño tells InqPOP! that she created her painting to honor Manila Luzon’s efforts in normalizing menstruation.
“Although it was done in a comical way, because it’s drag, the period dress sparks conversation about a topic that’s often thought of as embarrassing and in some cultures, taboo. It empowers women by telling non-menstruating humans that periods are a perfectly normal human experience.”
She also adds that females everywhere should not be ashamed of this particular bodily function.
“Menstruation is a biological function, guys! When you eliminate that shame, it encourages women to know more about the bodies, to accept them, to celebrate them. Accepting periods as a female function promotes body and sex positivity, as well as reproductive health.”
Through the Drag Queen contestant’s controversial choice of clothing, Diño believes that Manila Luzon was able to inspire young women everywhere to not be ashamed of their periods.
“She (Manila Luzon) is the perfect example of someone who uses drag (or art in general) as a platform to start conversations about subjects and topics that are otherwise deemed as offensive or shameful.
In the case of the period dress, she’s telling young girls, many of which are her followers that, ‘Hey, periods are perfectly normal. They’re perfectly okay.’”
Although not everyone will understand nor appreciate Manila Luzon’s efforts, we can all agree that sensitive topics like menstruation need to be discussed without fear or judgment.
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Read more from InqPOP!:
Fil-Am Drag Queen contestant wears ‘period-stained’ dress to empower ladies everywhere
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