Alynne, born and raised in Port Arthur, is an incredible chameleon. Sometimes she looks like a wife and mom who loves to go hiking and hunting with her family. Other times, she likes to put on a daring costume or a geeky sweater or some sweet shade of lipstick.
Alynne’s mother-in-law likes to say, “The many faces of Alynne.” And it’s obviously accurate!
All these faces are pretty amazing.
But there is another.
I’ll be using this space, today, to reprint my October Walleye article about Alynne’s drag character….
Behold!!!
FAUX ROCIOUS!
The following is my reprinted article (slightly edited) from The Walleye magazine, October 2020 issue.
Get ready because Alynne Peacock will challenge everything you think you know about Drag Queens!
As a child, Alynne grew up eschewing traditional gender norms and stereotypical “girl pastimes.” She spent years playing football and wrestling and getting her hands dirty, learning how to fix cars and motorcycles.
In contrast to her main interests, she was also very involved in theatre and performing. Alynne says, “My mom was a seamstress for Cambrian Players and I grew up very comfortable and surrounded by costumes, props, makeup, and actors.”
A childhood spent watching her mom adorning actors led to theatre camps, Halloween themed birthday parties, and years of performing Burlesque under the name Fanny Babette.
About ten years ago, Alynne began looking for a way to combine her love of flashy costumes and performance with her lifelong passion for pushing and exploring gender expression. She began by simply googling “female drag queens.” She wasn’t interested in putting on a “man costume” to be a drag king; she wanted the exaggerated and exciting femininity that came with being a Queen.
But was a woman allowed to be a Drag Queen? In her search, Alynne came across the term “Faux Queen.” She concluded that female drag queens were thought to be uncommon and not as authentic as traditional drag queens. But she wasn’t deterred. Never one to back away from a challenge, Alynne decided to craft a character to push limits and open doors.
Alynne transforms into her beloved character, Faux Rocious, at a table in her living room. The makeup process takes anywhere from two to four hours. The wig follows the makeup, which is then followed by the costume. In order to get that perfect seamless drag queen body, Faux Rocious puts on a smoothing and shaping foundation garment, then a corset, and a second shaping garment. A false bottom (or fake butt) is put in place and covered up with a final shaping garment. The flashy costume is last but it pulls everything together as a work of art.
This particular Faux Rocious look is called Phoenix Rising From Ashes. It’s bright and bold and it comes full of meaning and importance.
The red colouring represents the blood shed by the Missing and Murdered Indigenous women of Canada. This is how Faux Rocious honours Alynne’s Métis heritage. The large fiery hair with grey and silver accents are the Phoenix rising up from the ashes. The Phoenix rises and sets fire to gender norms and expectations, as well as cultural norms wherein her Indigenous ancestors’ teach about women being sacred water keepers, as opposed to fire keepers.
Peacock is not one for loudly proclaiming her beliefs all over social media, but she’s always been careful to artistically incorporate her most important values into performance.
And nothing is done without a small element of humour. Peacock knows that some might find her shocking and offensive. But she has never wavered in being honest and authentic.
On the stage she gets to be wild and loud and entertaining.
She is Faux.
But Faux is 100% as real as they come.
If you’ve ever been interested in learning various drag makeup techniques, Alynne (as Faux) is holding weekly Friday makeup workshops, starting this week!
Please visit Faux Rocious’s Facebook page for more details.