{"id":3221,"date":"2021-07-07T10:37:42","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T15:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=3221"},"modified":"2021-07-07T10:37:43","modified_gmt":"2021-07-07T15:37:43","slug":"doing-drag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2021\/07\/07\/doing-drag\/","title":{"rendered":"Doing Drag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Image:<\/em> A drag queen, dressed in a rainbow-sequeened dress and pink wig stands with arms raised, smiling<\/em>. Image <\/a>courtesy of Dany Sternfeld<\/a>, <\/em>CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.<\/em> <\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In June, in celebration of pride month, members of LGBTQ+ communities and allies honored and reflected on hard-fought advancements for queer people, from civil rights like marriage equality and employment protections, to representation in positions of political prominence and mainstream culture. One area of change is the rising popularity of drag — an artform pioneered by queer people of color in clandestine ballrooms, now occupying prominent positions in gay bars, television competition programs, and mainstream films.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drag began, like many parts of queer life, underground in urban nightlife spaces. In queer havens like San Francisco and New York City, drag performers have graced nightclub stages for over a century. As homosexuality grew more visible in the late twentieth century, drag performers were at the forefront of battles for liberation, political rights, and, later, for medical treatment during the years of the AIDS pandemic. In the 1960s, drag queens in Los Angeles and San Francisco pushed back against run-ins with law enforcement. Some in the queer community believe a drag queen, Marsha P. Johnson, threw the first brick at the Stonewall Inn in 1969, kicking off the now-infamous confrontation with the NYPD. In the years that followed, drag queens blended campy performance with activism, protesting governments unresponsive to those dying from AIDS, drug manufacturers, and anti-same sex marriage advocates. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Today, in light of the LGBTQ+ community\u2019s social, political, and legal advances, drag enjoys an unprecedented prominence in mainstream culture. Drag Story Hours, where performers, or queens, read storybooks to children are commonplace in schools and libraries in twenty six states and Puerto Rico. Performing drag, once a marginalized profession, is now a viable, if precarious, job prospect. The RuPaul\u2019s Drag Race franchise boasts thirteen seasons (with six All-Stars seasons to boot) as well as international spin-offs in seven countries. The cultural significance and prominence of drag today raises questions: How does drag celebrate queerness and resist normative sexuality? How did drag find its footing in both pop culture and political circles? Significant research in the humanities and social sciences sheds light on this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n