Research Session 1

In this first research session, I was not sure what to expect. I had hoped to find a great source that would help me to gain the information I needed, and that is exactly what I found. I began by using the search engine at the McIntyre Library page, http://www.uwec.edu/library/. I searched what I first wanted to research: drag queens. Since I am researching both drag queens and kings, I knew it would be better to start off with just one and work from there. I had a very positive experience in this session. I found a website, http://sex.sagepub.com/content/13/3/275.full.pdf+html , an article titled "Drag Queens and Drag Kings: The Difference Gender Makes." This was written by Leila J. Rupp, Verta Taylor, both from the University of California, and Eve Ilana Shapiro from Westfield State College. They studied two groups: the 810 Girls from Key West Florida, who are drag queens, and the Boy Toys, consisting of drag kings, from Santa Barbara, California. This study was done to understand the differences and similarities between drag queens and kings. For this first research session, I only focused on drag queens.

The authors give the definition of a drag queen as "gay men who perform in women's clothing, although they are not necessarily female impersonators." (276). This led me to question the difference between those who are transgender and drag queens. Luckily, the article had this answer for me. One can be a drag queen but does not have to be transgender. However, transgenders can perform in drag as either kings or queens. To continue with the question of gender, there are also females who perform as drag queens, who are then called "bio queens." I then began to question if gender was a restriction at all. When the article talked about why drag queens go into drag, I learned that "queens tend to come to drag in part as a resolution of gender identity issues" (277). Both kings and queens show resistance to gender structure. There really are not any restrictions to who can do drag and who can't. Race, age, or class do not matter.

 

I then wanted to look more into the reasoning behind people coming to drag. (This made me very excited to look into drag kings as well.) The 801 Girls say that some of them used to dress in their mother's clothes when they were young boys, and that they showed signs at a young age of being interested in "girl things" such as playing with Barbie's. Some went into drag just for fun; others did it so they could "create an identity that they could put on and take off" (280). Others say that drag is related to their interest in straight men. They believe that if they can dress as a woman and have the assets, then straight men will be attracted to them. Drag also gives a transgenders a chance to explore what it would be like to be the opposite sex. Some get into drag because it gives them a resolution to their gender identity issues.

I was very pleased with the information that I found during this research session. This gave me a base and understanding of drag queens, and I am looking forward to continuing the research to drag kings. I hope to find more sources that have individual accounts of drag experience so I can learn about their stories.