Dragg Women: A Gender Analysis
‘Gender blending’ is evident in nearly every society; with the Hijras in India, female husbands in Navajo societies and travestis in Brazil. It can be said that the westernised version is the drag queen. A drag queen is a male who dresses in female attire and often acts with overstated femininity (Strübel-Scheiner 2011). Often they will exaggerate certain female characteristics for comedic effect, dramatic effect or mocking. For the purpose of this essay when discussing a drag queen they will be referred to as a female as this tends to be their preferred title. A patriarchal society refers to a male-dominated societal structure throughout both organised society and in individual relationships. The gender binary is a patriarchal idea that there
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Any performance of gender is created and regulated by social norms. According to Butler (1990) gender identity is performative and constructed through the repetition of gendered behaviours and gender characteristics. Thus, gender is something that an individual ‘does’ rather than ‘is’. Individuals can either do masculinity or femininity, and it is a patriarchal ideal that it is biological men who should do masculinity and biological females who should do femininity (Butler 1990). Drag acts can potentially draw attention to the imitative nature of gender through their parodic repetition of gender norms. Drag queens work towards exposing gender as a cultural phenomenon which relies on imitation and changing appearance and which lacks any primary essential truth (Butler 1990). Butler believes drag acts are resisting the patriarchal power structures which regulate societal values. Drag queens show that there is no underlying basis of gender identity and that the binary of gender can be overthrown. However, Butler (1990) does state that all gender performance draws on societal gender norms; what is ‘feminine’ and what is ‘masculine’ is shaped by patriarchy. So therefore, there is a possibility that even when patriarchal ideas of what it means to be a man or
Any performance of gender is created and regulated by social norms. According to Butler (1990) gender identity is performative and constructed through the repetition of gendered behaviours and gender characteristics. Thus, gender is something that an individual ‘does’ rather than ‘is’. Individuals can either do masculinity or femininity, and it is a patriarchal ideal that it is biological men who should do masculinity and biological females who should do femininity (Butler 1990). Drag acts can potentially draw attention to the imitative nature of gender through their parodic repetition of gender norms. Drag queens work towards exposing gender as a cultural phenomenon which relies on imitation and changing appearance and which lacks any primary essential truth (Butler 1990). Butler believes drag acts are resisting the patriarchal power structures which regulate societal values. Drag queens show that there is no underlying basis of gender identity and that the binary of gender can be overthrown. However, Butler (1990) does state that all gender performance draws on societal gender norms; what is ‘feminine’ and what is ‘masculine’ is shaped by patriarchy. So therefore, there is a possibility that even when patriarchal ideas of what it means to be a man or