On June 22, Misia Joachim will once again appear at the Warsaw Equality Parade. – I realize that different people have different approaches to the Parade and perceive it differently. It’s okay that for some people it will be a protest, but for me it’s completely the opposite. This is a celebration, a celebration that once a year we can walk through our city feeling safe. We can be together. Even though we have nothing in common, we can be happy on this one day. When you’re at the Parade, you feel the energy, he says. You can watch the interview with Misia Joachim below:
Drag Queen. A story about children’s fantasies and adult nightmares
He went out on the street in drag queen costume for the first time 13 years ago as Joachim. – I looked terrible, but I remember it well. I had these red dreadlocks with various cables and it was very, very gothic – he recalls. As he notes, the reality of Drag Queens in Poland was much more difficult at that time. – It used to be really bad. The reactions of people, and I’m not talking about people who are outside the LGBT world, were really bad and really unpleasant. And yet, over the course of over a decade, everything has changed. And the approach to drugs and the awareness of drugs – he emphasizes.
Now everyone knows him as Misia Joachim. – Misia is a story about my childhood fantasies and adult nightmares. These are stories about princesses and fairies, about elves and all the fantastic creatures. In general, I treat myself as a fantastic creature. Magical that is a bit unreal. This is how it should be: colorful, funny, wonderful – he says.
As he explains, Misia is a collection of all his features and behaviors, which are exaggerated and made “a million percent”. – This is a bit of a story about an aunt, a grumpy one who is a bit crazy. There are also a lot of stories about being childish. We don’t appreciate this creativity, this curiosity about the world. Definitely [Misia, przyp.red.] she’s funny – or at least in my head she’s funny, loud, crazy, completely unpredictable and will always say something inappropriate – he describes.
He created the entire character himself. He learned – and still learns – makeup on YouTube. – I don’t think this is a finished process, because I hope that this make-up will be even better. I still have a while to reach a level that would satisfy me, but I think that after five years since I started painting, it looked the way I would like it to look, he says. It takes two to three hours to turn into a Drag Queen. – I start by covering my eyebrows, then I paint my eyes, my complexion, my eyelashes because they will be powdered differently, and finally my lips. Because it’s simply the most convenient for me – he enumerates.
Its appearance is intended to arouse discomfort and raise questions. – So much discomfort that you don’t know what you’re looking at. You don’t know who I am. You don’t know why I’m like this and you start thinking about it, he explains. – It was definitely the goal of drag, to break windows in this reality, in this wall and show: “I won’t be like that. And not everyone is like that,” he adds.
“Being yourself is more valuable than anything else”
Misia’s account has almost 150,000 followers on TikTok. people. Presence on social media is an important element of his activities. She gives others the courage to be themselves, and as she emphasizes, “being yourself is more valuable than anything else.” What kind of reactions does he encounter? – There is a lot of support. There are a lot of people who like what I do. There is a lot of hate, but there is no more hate than positive, nice things. And the hate is usually not about me at all. This is not a story about me, but about your fears, your problems, what you believe in – not me. And it’s usually men who hate. We know what it’s like, he says.
When asked if he is bothered by hate, he replies: “I’m a bit too fat and a bit too old to care about the opinions of people I don’t know and who mean nothing to me (…) This is my advice to everyone. Other people may think a lot of things about you and that’s great – let them think. Not all their thoughts are true.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
