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Culture August 30, 2017
Inquiring minds need to know.
“Yas queen,” also known as “yas kween” to our friends on the East Coast, seemingly came out of nowhere. It’s one of those phrases that we all just kind of adopted without thinking twice about it.
However, this phrase did not fall out of the sky. Yas queen goes back much further than a viral Lady Gaga video and “The Real Housewives of Atlanta.”
ENTITY is here to fill you in on everything you need to know about this contagious expression.
Basically, yas queen is a verbal high five. It is the ultimate sign of support. This can be applied to looking aesthetically pleasing or accomplishing a task. More or less, it is another way to say “get it, girl!”
Urban dictionary defines yas queen as, “anything applause-worthy, fierce. Can add as many AAAs and SSSSs to drive the point home.”
The definition is followed by the example, “Gurl, saw your outfit on ‘Empire’ last night. YAS Queen. Pronounced YAAA-SSS-SSS QUEEN!”
Along with most modern slang, we can thank queer communities of color for bringing yas queen into our lives. According to The Huffington Post, the origin of the expression derives from the ball culture in the 1980s.
Balls are underground drag fashion shows where only the fiercest struts and most eye-catching costumes take home the prize. It was at these shows where queer POC created a space of love and acceptance.
The history of ball culture is primarily known from the documentary “Paris Is Burning.” The film delves deep into the lives of drag queens from different backgrounds as they navigate the social spheres of New York City.
During ball competitions, “yaaas” was commonly shouted by audience members to show encouragement. Queen was originally a derogative term to describe homosexual people that the ball culture flipped on its head.
In this social space, it became a term of endearment and a sign of support. When combined, yas queen became the ultimate compliment for performers.
You may be asking, how did yas queen go from an underground niche saying to the mainstream exposure it has today? You’re in luck, because ENTITY has your answers.
“Yas” is a term that has been linked to many different phrases such as “yas, honey.” The comedy series “Broad City” did not invent “yas queen,” but they certainly popularized it. They first used this catchphrase in 2015, and it has remained on the show since then.
There was also a viral video in 2013 of a Lady Gaga fan shouting “yaaas Gaga you look so good!” as the queen herself passed by after a show in New York City. This was the first viral exposure that yas received in the age of the internet.
In a Yahoo interview regarding her track “Yas Bish,” Nicki Minaj addressed how this saying has moved into mainstream culture. She stated, “The phrase comes from the drag queen culture. Females adopted the lingo because it makes us feel very cocky and very sexy and feminine.”
In short, yes it does. In recent years, yas queen has moved beyond the inner circle of drag queen culture to the public sphere. While this expression seems to have only positive connotations for all, it is important to remember where it came from.
There are varied claims about which communities created yas queen. Ball culture includes various white, black and Hispanic queer folks, so the lines are a bit blurred. Due to the diversity of this community, it is difficult to pinpoint who coined certain terms or phrases.
Black queer men claim that white gay men on various occasions highjack and then popularize lingo that they created. Some white gay men insist that white women appropriate their slang and black gay men point the same finger at straight black women.
Black women have also accused white gay men of appropriating their culture such as the Time Magazine opinion piece, “Dear White Gays: Stop Stealing Black Female Culture.”
Basically, there is not a clear consensus on which racial group within ball culture came up with yas queen. Now that it has peaked in popularity, the phrase can be heard among people of various races and sexualities.
Yas queen is a saying that we can all use and enjoy, but we also may give credit where it’s due. We all owe queer POC communities a big thank you for bringing this loving and colorful phrase into our lives.
To all the queens out there, we salute you!
