Drag queen research
As part of our background research we were all split up into groups to cover research for each segment.
My groups segment was the drag act.
Men dressing as women has been going on for 100's of years, most notably in Shakespeare's plays.
This is because (1) "Female actors did not appear on stage until the mid 1600’s because acting was not deemed a credible profession".
(2) "From the 1870's to the 1920's, pantomime began the rise of drag. As a way of mocking females, men would put on acts as if they were women, characterising femininity"
It wasn't until the 1920's/1930's that the first LGBT bars and
meeting places began to be created. These were places where homosexual men could meet each other and drag performances were just a part of the entertainment. This was the start of the "Pansy Craze" ( (3) the roots for the pansy craze stretch back decades, as least as far as the first of New York's masquerade balls held in Harlem in 1869. The craze got more popular by the 1920's as many as 7,000 people of all colours and classes were attending)
(2) "From the 50s to the 60s, the American public began to really crack down on the LGBT community. In fact, in order for a man to not be arrested for doing drag, he had to be wearing no less than three items of male clothing."
It wasn't really until the '80's that drag became a mainstream cultural phenomena, with many drag queens being acknowledged by the public on film and TV shows.
It wasn't until the 1920's/1930's that the first LGBT bars and
(2) "From the 50s to the 60s, the American public began to really crack down on the LGBT community. In fact, in order for a man to not be arrested for doing drag, he had to be wearing no less than three items of male clothing."
It wasn't really until the '80's that drag became a mainstream cultural phenomena, with many drag queens being acknowledged by the public on film and TV shows.
Through out history gay people have been targeted by different political, religious and social outlets. However thanks to shows like 'RuPaul's Drag Race' they've reached a growing peak of popularity.
RuPaul's drag race is a competition to try and find the winning drag queen out of a selection of contestants. They work with top models, designers and American Idols to get through the rounds. Each round one drag queen is eliminated until reaching the winner. The show has made itself successful looking at drag queen fashion and how it's achieved. (4) "With the increasing media coverage and unreality of reality television, those who are not familiar with what the community stands for, cast the queens in their minds as caricatures rather real people themselves."
In terms of online coverage thanks to the popularity of shows like RuPaul Drag Queens have become hugely popular on Youtube.
In terms of online coverage thanks to the popularity of shows like RuPaul Drag Queens have become hugely popular on Youtube.
Drag queen make up is a big part of a look. It's the main identifier for their various character personalities as well as one of the key things that makes them identifiable as female.
Trixie Mattel
Trixie Mattel
Delta Work
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(1) "Boys Playing Women in Shakespeare’s Troilus and Cressida" www2.cedarcrest.edu/academic/eng/lfletcher/troilus/Papers/CAnagnos.htm
(2) "A brief history of drag queens" www.theodysseyonline.com/history-drag-queens
(3) "Pansy Craze: the Wild 1930s drag parties that kickstarted gay nightlife" www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/14/pansy-craze-the-wild-1930s-drag-parties-that-kickstarted-gay-nightlife
(4) "How social media is stealing drag" www.theodysseyonline.com/how-social-media-is-stealing-drag
(2) "A brief history of drag queens" www.theodysseyonline.com/history-drag-queens
(3) "Pansy Craze: the Wild 1930s drag parties that kickstarted gay nightlife" www.theguardian.com/music/2017/sep/14/pansy-craze-the-wild-1930s-drag-parties-that-kickstarted-gay-nightlife
(4) "How social media is stealing drag" www.theodysseyonline.com/how-social-media-is-stealing-drag
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