One of the leading drag artists in the world, RuPaul, has shown recent success in his

TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race in which it challenges drag queens in all aspects of drag:
charisma, uniqueness, nerve and talent. An article written by Sophie Turner highlights
the interview of RuPaul when he was asked if drag kings would ever be part of the drag
scene. ​The idea of drag and why drag resonates so much in our male-dominated
culture is there is irony in a man dressing up in the synthetic version of being a female.
If a female were to do drag, it loses the irony.” This was RuPaul Charles’ response
when interviewed by ​The Advocate​ as to whether he would include kings in his popular
television show (Turner, 2017).

Being one of the most powerful figures in the drag community, his statement has
brought up questions as to why he has openly stated such. In the same article, a drag
king commented on RuPaul’s statement. ​Landon Cider, a hugely popular drag king in
the US was irritated by the comment, “Now more than ever, LGBTQ youth are tuning in
to find inspiration in drag idols. If half of our LGBTQ culture may not identify with
predominantly gay male contestants they see every week, what use is that? I refuse to
believe Ru meant to offend my brothers who have worked so hard to be treated equally
in the drag community. But I do invite him to consider that a king has yet to be cast”
(Turner, 2017).

This research paper would expound on drag culture and how the idea of drag has
shifted from being focused on aesthetic to being a movement in which it celebrates and
promotes drag as a form liberal expression and of gender equality. Moreover, this paper
would argue that the drag industry, culture and community must not be dominated by
men ideals rather it should be a non-gender specific movement.

To understand the premise of what drag culture is, one must understand who are the
people moving and working in it. The concept of drag or what performers call it “being in
drag” is someone who dresses up in the opposite sex which creates a persona to
become a form of entertainment to the audiences. Moreover, the National Center for
Transgender Equality has given the definition of drag ​being a type of entertainment
where people dress up and perform, often in highly stylized ways. The term originated
as British theater slang in the 19th century and was used to describe women’s clothing
worn by men (Keisling, 2017). Although drag started out as an avenue for men to dress
as women, it has extended to women dressing up as men and to other genders as well.
However, ​there is so much more to it than just a costume or outfit. Drag comes is so
many styles, it varies depending on what part of the country you live in and how you
view drag. One style of drag is not better than another. It’s all about personal opinion
and how the performer chooses to express her or himself. ​(Bartolomei, 2013). Today i​n
the drag community, there is no specific standard of beauty or will there ever be a
standard since drag is constantly evolving in styles. Furthermore, the appearance of a
person in drag reflects one’s personality.

The two main leading participants in the drag community are drag queens and drag
kings. Although these are the two main performers in the community, there are those
who also androgynous, being partial about their gender, and bear drag, drag queens
who do not hide their male appearance such as keeping the beard as part of their drag.
This research will focus on drag queens and kings. Moreover, the definition of drag
would focus on someone who dresses up in the opposite sex’ ​typically for the purposes
of entertainment and this would be redefined again.

It is easier said than done when a man becomes a drag queen. Moreover, everything
masculine about the man must be either hidden or taken away. For example exposed
areas of the body where the outfit does not cover must be waxed or shaved. Another
example would be the man’s genital region must be, or if there is any other method,
taped flat in order to give the illusion of a female. Foam pads are used to give the body
curves and fake breasts are worn (BuzzFeed, 2014). When it comes to makeup, the
masculinity is hidden using contouring and applying highlights on the face. On a man,
the jawline is softened and the hairline is rounded, the nose is pinched and the cheeks
are highlighted to give the illusion of a woman. Katya, a well known drag queen, shaves
before applying her makeup in order to have a smooth polish to her look. To cover her
after-shave, she applies a layer of color correction concealer as not to break the illusion
of being a woman. Drag queens put forth enormous effort and financial cost to establish
an ensemble of makeup, outfits, wigs, and also must develop skills at using these
means to transform themselves into their highly adorned characters (O’Brien, 2018).

Meanwhile, women go through a similar process. Drag kings must hide their femininity,
this includes their breasts and curved body, through binders or tape which would give
the illusion of a broad and flat chest and a rigid look on the overall body. The use of fake
genitals and facial hair is used to give the illusion of a being a man. Whereas drag
queens soften their face with makeup, drag kings give more geometric and rough
shapes to the face.

Being in drag would mean that there’s a specific performance you must do whether it be
singing, dancing or doing a lip-sync to a song, you must perform. Although both drag
queens and drag kings’ performances are similar, they both have a different end goal in
mind. A research done by Katie Horowitz, who spent at least nine months in Bounce, a
bar in Cleveland, Ohio, presented how drag queens and drag kings performed. Perhaps
the most significant difference between kinging and queening as they are performed at
Bounce is that the ideal of femininity operating in queen shows is far more fixed than the
ideal of masculinity produced through king shows (Horowitz, 2012). Moreover, drag has
evolved into certain perspectives, such as drag is supposed to be able to depict the
ideal male or female, on what it should be and how it is interpreted and understood by
its audience.

To differentiate the abilities of the performers, drag queens, men performing as women,
are able to manipulate and play with the features of a woman and turn them into
something over the top or into something that people see an ideal woman. Moreover,
drag queens have generated an artistic style of over exaggerating certain features of
women. According to Charlottle, a graduate from the University of Edinburgh, drag is
continued to be defined primarily by male mastery of the depiction of highly selective
feminine identities that focus on surface aesthetics (hair, clothing, make-up) rather than
social narratives of family or reproduction (Coles, 2007). Drag has become more of drag
queens focusing so much on depicting what the ideal woman should be. Moreover it
has come to a point that it is causing arguments among feminist activists such that
specifically sexualized rendering of feminine identity, which reflects persistent
hierarchies of desire and desirability (Coles, 2007).

On the other hand, drag kings, performing as men, seem to have not so much features
to play with in an ideal man rather, it seems that they have more difficulty in drag and
capturing the audience. Drag kings have faced considerable criticism over the years. It
is to be expected from people that may not understand the culture, but it is very unusual
to come from within the LGBTQ community (Turner, 2017). Although it’s unclear exactly
why, drag kings are less common in gay communities, and are also less visible in
popular culture and in research on drag. (O’Brien, 2018).

Currently the culture and it’s growth in popularity has generated what should and should
not be in drag and it has created boundaries in which certain performers, whether it be
men or women, are only able to do as much because of their audience impact and
those who would want to keep watching them perform. Gender issues emerged in which
certain stereotypes are created between drag queens and drag kings and that certain
aspects affect their popularity, performances and income in their industry. One example
of the growing issue is that drag kings are not being recognized in the drag industry as
drag queens are. Steven J. Hopkins’ article, “‘Let the Drag Race Begin’: The Rewards of
Becoming a Queen, demonstrates that there are often significant benefits, such as
status and power, to becoming a drag queen, especially for those who are contextually
successful (Schacht, 2013) and this is not as observable for drag kings.
It was not a surprise that there are few studies and articles about drag kings since they
aren’t as talked about as drag queens. ​In recent years drag king performances globally
have declined in popularity and were in danger of fading from our cultural view. The
reasons behind this are many, including the fact that the debate around gender is
evolving, and drag is seen by some as increasingly problematic. Performing masculinity,
as drag kings do, is arguably more difficult. Masculinity is perceived as more natural or
ingrained than femininity, so drag kings can’t simply dress up but have to rely on other
performance techniques (Kerryn, 2018). ​Moreover, it is evident that drag queens are
more popular than drag kings due to the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race, and that there
are certain notions about drag kings. ​One experienced drag queen commented that he
would never become a woman: ‘just cause you get a pussy, don’t mean life’s going to
be great.’ This view reflects an acknowledgement that to live in the world as a woman
means a certain loss of power (Coles, 2007).

Women seem to not have the right to do drag since being a drag king is not seen as
something uplifting but rather it brings shame and a lack of meaning of what drag
should be. However, this is not the case. David Friend, a reporter from the Canadian
Press, visited Menz & Mollyz Bar, a local bar in the UK which features drag king
performances, interviewed drag king Spency Munny. According to Munny, "The
challenge right now is kings are boring, kings are hyper-masculine and that's ugly and
toxic. We're fighting to be like, 'This is different! Come and see it and you'll like it!'
Showing them a new side of drag." (Friend, 2017).

Although drag queens and king are similar, drag kings are in no way the “counterparts”
of drag queens and moreover that to conceive of them as such is both to replicate the
heteronormative assumption that gay and lesbian cultures are ontologically related
(Horowitz, 2012). Some Hollywood drag queens, through the almost always larger than
life lens of the movie director, have become superheroes (a province typically reserved
for manly men) who are seemingly superior to not only women–often portrayed as in
need of their rescue–but other forms of masculinity (Schacht, 2013).

Drag has become a form of the depiction of the power of men rather than someone who
is able to express themselves freely and artistically. It has now become a focus of
performance and aesthetic which has completely ignored the entire purpose of drag.
Although drag kings do not share the same spotlight as drag queens, drag kings are
continually growing in popularity as well but not as fast as drag queens.
Drag kings should be treated like drag queens in which they are both doing drag as a
means of self expression rather than it being performance based or aesthetic based.
There is a story in which every drag performer wants to give to the audience. ​Munny
began a recent show dressed in a hospital gown for a piece called "Waiting Game,"
about an intensely personal struggle with the possibility of gender reassignment
surgery. It left Munny, and some in the audience, in tears. (Friend, 2017).

Although RuPaul’s Drag Race only highlights drag queens and that RuPaul himself
quoted that there might not be a space for drag kings in the show, another TV show,
Drag U(niversity) highlights drag as an expression for all gender parties. According to
Lisa Weems, a writer for a LGBTQ journal, ​Drag U is a kind of informal education
offered by media as an agent of socialization, with the capacity to provide alternative
ways of teaching and learning about the self, identity, and society. As a forum for
politicizing gender, sexuality, and other identities as cultural productions, I propose that
Drag U allows participants and audience members an opportunity to challenge
dominant discourses (Weems, 2014) such as gender debates between men and women
and who should dominate the industry.

The drag community should promote anyone who would want to be in drag to be able to
express themselves in whatever artistic form they choose to represent themselves.
In season nine of RuPaul’s Drag Race, one of the runway theme’s was Club Kids in
which the theme focuses on challenging the queens in what drag should be or what it
could be. This showcases drag as being gender neutral and as a form of not aesthetic
but a form of art that challenges the mind of the viewer. The outfits shown on the
runway spread across from drag queens becoming actual fashionable clowns into
humanoid creatures. One of the runway looks, worn by Trinity Taylor, depicted a squid
humanoid geometric fantasy. Another runway look, worn by Peppermint who was the
first transgender who participated in RuPaul’s Drag Race, depicted a humanoid figure of
the peppermint candy.

Although the statement released by RuPaul attacks those who are non-drag queens, its
platform is a good example of how drag should be a form of liberal expression and that
it is gender neutral. Drag uplifts those who are still figuring out what their identity is and
it uplifts those who seem to have no hope in life. Drag therefore is a movement of
self-discovery and lifting up self-esteem. In conclusion, drag is defined as a movement
of gender equality and a form of liberal expression of one’s self rather than mainly
aesthetic, ideal men and women, performance and general income.