A drag show provided a very worthwhile bookend on Kent State’s Sex Week 2013. A college campus is known as a setting of tolerance as thousands of students from various upbringings bring endless different perspectives to Kent State. A student’s four (or more) years at Kent State serve as a formative period as he or she develops an identity only possible because of the wide spectrum of ideas, perspectives and experiences available. A drag show serves as a perfect example of one of these experiences.

Kent State students may all come from different physical, emotional and mental places but one commonality exists: each student has spent his or her life exposed to gender specific activities, influences and labels. From our toys as a child to the selection of the focus of our studies, our gender has dictated the answer to life’s open-ended questions. Some things are decidedly male while others are decidedly female. Yet, we rarely find ourselves in situations in which gender simply does not matter.

A drag show is one of those rare experiences in which gender lines become blurred. Here, individuals are less focused on being male or female and fight to challenged societal norms dictated by our gender. No longer do men have to exert their masculinity to prove their social worth and women face less pressure to prove their female gender through a polished, put together external image. Drag shows inherently foster openness as society’s control on gender weakens. This open environment allows a sea change among onlookers and participants as the show shatters established gender guidelines and norms.

So, we commend Kent Interhall Council and USG for including such an influential event in Kent State’s Sex Week 2013. We hope this event challenged individual’s and the university’s status quo in gender relations and norms. And if you chose to skip this event due to its racy themes, we encourage you to overcome this and seize the next opportunity to attend a drag show.

The above editorial is the consensus opinion of the Daily Kent Stater editorial board.