By literally performing genders, the drag king and queen expose the construction and fluidity, rather than the nature or truth, of gender. In this sense, drag kings have more in common with their queer counterpart, the drag queen. However, these music hall performances catered to straight audiences and bear little resemblance to drag king acts. HISTORY OF KINGINGįemale male impersonators date back to the 1800s and share a history that includes such performers as Vesta Tilley, British music hall's most famous male impersonator. Such activity illustrates one way in which drag king culture often interrogates notions of what constitutes drag, thus, pushing the boundaries of performance, theater, and gender. Some drag kings dress and perform in female drag to participate in ensemble acts or even to emcee events. Accordingly drag kings may identify as women, as butch, as transsexuals, as transgendered, as genderqueer, or they may regard their performances as quite removed from their gendered or sexual identities. Others view their drag king personas as direct political and activist action, while still others find their way to drag king culture through performance art or involvement in a local queer community. Some drag kings explain that their performances allow for the expression of an inner part of them-selves-their own embodied, expressive masculinity-or describe their involvement with drag king culture as a starting point for a transgendered identity. Well-wrought performances have a variety of different effects: they incite the crowd with a seductive drag king earnestly displaying his own masculinity they entertain with a choreographed song-and-dance number or they provide a playful or unswerving critique of, for example, the binary (male/female) gender system or hetero-normativity. Other acts consist of the impersonation of celebrities or stock character types and may contain brief skits. Performances can be solo or ensemble acts and usually are comprised of lip-syncing and dancing. Drag kings usually prefer the use of male pronouns when they are performing or dressed in drag. Some drag kings also pack, or put socks, dildos, or home-made packages in their underwear to give the appearance of a penis. The most common method of applying facial hair is to affix clippings of real hair to the face with spirit gum or other liquid adhesives. It can be drawn on with eyeliner, and accentuated with dark eye shadow for an unshaven look.
Drag kings have also made an art of the crafting of facial hair. DRAG KING STYLE AND MASCULINE EMBODIMENTįor their performances, most drag kings dress in male attire and bind their breasts with bandages or tight-fitting sports bras. to discuss the politicization of their craft, their commercial challenges, and more.Drag kings are artists, activists, queer people, and others that dress in constantly-evolving styles of drag for theatrical performances (and occasionally other artistic mediums, such as photography) which aim for a masculine realness, a parodied presentation of masculinity, and/or a political intervention or critique. We assemble a panel of drag kings from across the U.S. Female masculinity is still scary to some people.” Dick told The New York Times that audiences, “don’t necessarily see the comedy in a woman putting on a suit. Dick has been performing as a drag king for decades and is now based on the West Coast. through the 19th and 20th centuries, with performers like Madam Vestris and Florence Hines (featured below) pioneering the art form in the West.
The traditions continued with performers in the U.K. The history of male impersonation dates back thousands of years to the Tang Dynasty in China. They are typically paid less than queens and often face discrimination at the clubs where they perform. While queens can often be found in the spotlight, the stories and experiences of drag kings are sometimes overlooked.
Earlier this month, thousands of drag lovers descended upon London’s streets for the largest drag convention anywhere on the globe.
Programs like “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and influencers on Instagram and TikTok are making the performance style a part of our collective consciousness. Drag performance has become a part of the cultural mainstream.
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