The Drag Queens of Java 

Who said Western drag is merely for entertainment? ^_^

in essential, or literal, they are still in the category of 'drag queen'...

probably to make the title easier to understand for outsiders.

Isn't Raja Indonesian? It's probably a spiritual ritual what he does lol

agree, i prefer they're being called as drag queen instead of ladyboy by outsiders drag queen sounds more polite imo

This is unesettling that this is going on in a Muslim nation. How can the people allow it? They should be in Banda Aceh and they would be punished. Sharia'h needs to be in ALL parts of Indoneisa.

+Port Washington blah blah blah…

+Port Washington blah blah blah…

amen

Akh Sol aku setuju.. buatlah pula kisah dari South East Asia.

YASSSS.

YASS WE NEED A SOUTHEAST ASIA DISNEY PRINCESS (especially from indo lol)

Great idea! i love it!

it's a shame you learned your own culture from foreign media..

Mayu Not taboo, just extinct. Really Indonesian is surprisingly very tolerant to Drag people. They're everywhere in television and everyone loved it

Every tribes in indonesia always had a tradition that doesnt suit with islamic teaching , some survive some become extinct .. only a few tribes that doesnt accept islam in general still have their tradition well guarded until now such as the toraja, bali , the dayak, some of the batak people, also the papuan people

You can visit Banyumas sometimes

It's Islam that drives everything away and kill it

Danielle Spargo because your are trans.

Too bad with conservatives. Really sad actually

Joni Anarka tandhak is dominantly played by female

Hey Joni, Your comment intrigued me, I am curious to understand more about the women in this equation. I find it troubling how women are regarded and discussed in this video. The is my first time hearing about this, and I acknowledge that my perspective is heavily inspired by a western narrative (Canadian I am) but I think that this cultural practice embedded in a spiritual legacy sort of hurts female empowerment and opportunity. With all that said, I would love to hear your take on this, perhaps I am being hyper critical?

Raevin Larue today there are actually more female dancers than the men-in-drag version because cultural value evolves from seeing female lengger as a sexual object to just a dancer, a performer, an artist who reserves the cultural legacy. Seeing a lengger as an 'escort lady who dance' is probably no longer valid these days. However, men-in-drag lengger become a new phenomenon today because it is very rare already.

Thank you for that insight. I really appreciate it. I am gonna look into this more.

Raevin Larue anytime. Maybe someday you can visit Banyumas to know much more about this culture :)

Exactly

But don't they live their lives as ordinary males, and only dress up to perform? They have wives and children, and act as the man of the house by their own words. Perhaps it's something in between, I don't know, but I don't think it's something to get too offended over. The only word that would accurately describe them, I guess, is Lengger, but not many people in the west (target audience) know what that means, so "drag queen" was used as an approximation.

This is a terrible approximation and a VERY reductive one . They are closer to my opinion to the Japanese Onnagata from the Kabuki theater , ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-78H9pg_Ip9Y.html or the Otoko Geisha , the male Geisha ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-6kd48DzyQ2c.html though the onnagata and Otoko Geisha have no spiritual dimension to their act , so the Lengger go even deeper than the Onnagata , or Male Geisha is their art . I am not too familiar with the Lengger and this is why i won't say too much here, but if you call an Onnagata a Drag Queen , you would be in trouble in Japan . Onnagata start at age 6 and it takes over 20 years to master the act , and then a life of complete dedication . Plus as you pointed it Danielle , Lengger , Onnagata or Otoko Geisha has nothing to do with sexuality , many are straight , some might be gay , some might be on a journey toward womanhood , but their act is not a transfiguration of their sexual orientation . Though i have never met a straight drag queen , and being gay myself , and often going to drag shows, i know many .

... i think you might be missing the forest for the tree.

They aren't transgender they identify and live as males what the are is Lengger Lanang which are much closer drag queens the only problem with the term drag queen here is that it is a western concept associated with entertainment purposes while this has a spiritual quality to it's performance.

Pinka Tamara Dewi Somewhere in Sulawesi--in Bone i think. I was staying near that region when i was little, and they have this trans-female (is that the correct term?) priestess called Bissu. And I know people there acknowledge 4 genders (5 including Bissu). Cmiiw

Me too

My biggest flex is being Javanese and sillowesi

tvee An Arab brand... Damn just say you're culture takes precedence over you're supposed "Islam"... Only reason you think this is great is because the White man said so....

Wtf this tradisional dance not popular bcos modernitation n you blaming islam

Anggie Maharani Putri ini aslinya dibuat oleh vice indonesia

dactyl came here looking for this comment

nope

Vinder Resual Yes

Roovyjack this is has nothing to do with lgbtq community. It's offensive considering he/she was a drag for spiritual

of course this have something to do with lgbt community, because we're talking about gender here. People would be more interested and brave enough to do drag especially like this one if other would respect lgbt community. people wouldn't scare with all the judgement and hate. And why is that offensive thou?

Luvita Djauhari even if you visit Banyumas, you'll only see modern female Lengger dancers,

Oh I see.. Well then thanks to Broadly, Lengger Lanang is now getting more attention it truly deserves

Luvita Djauhari absolutely, we all hope Lengger Lanang would be more acceptable in the future because it shows one of the real spirits of Banyumas, a magnificent legacy of this land.

Darryl Estaño I'm Indonesian and I notice similar words when I watch things in Tagalog as well?!

Yeah! I actually even live in a place called "Lanang"! Haha

panerai123 actually in the video he speak javanese not indonesian

Dani Dancek whoopsy daisies...

If I'm not mistaken 'four' in tagalog is 'apat', am I right or wrong? Lol...and in javanese, four is 'papat'

Joni Anarka and Seven in Javanese is pitu, similar to pito in Tagalog.

Really? Wow

Anna Chan ahahhahaha

Wtf this tradisional dance not popular bcos modernitation n you blaming islam

Yeah, these arab wannabies is a threat to freedom and tolerance

Stupid Taqiy Stupid

come throooooooough!

YAAAASSSS

Stupid Emily and Stupid Monica , bringing everything down to a stupid show .

THEY SLAAAAAYY

Meowthless give her a break, maybe? If it was me, I would've turned down the offer to dance as well because I REALLY can't dance. Doesn't necessarily mean I have no respect for the art or the artists.

Meowthless ikr, i got high expectation on that tho. Eventho for me the reporter isnt that horrible but yeah kinda disappointed with her responses.

Maybe not everyone's an outgoing fairy?? She has every right to do what she does or doesn't want to do, you know nothing about what went on behind the screen god damn get a life reporters report, they bring a story, they aren't there to dance for the camera.

She wasn't being disrespectful by refusing to dance. She knows her limits. Plus, she did try.

She kept talking about how big her head was and how bad of a dancer she is. Obviously, she is a very anxious and insecure person. She doesn't deserve to be castigated for refusing to do something that makes her uncomfortable.