Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity

Galyna Kotliuk

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12

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Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity

Galyna Kotliuk

Published in International Journal of European Studies (Volume 7, Issue 1)

Received: 30 October 2022 Accepted: 24 November 2022 Published: 29 May 2023

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Abstract

This article examines how the performative nature of gender is (re)produced by drag queens and analyses drag culture in Euro-American socio-cultural and political space. In this study, I provide an outline of a historical tradition of portraying femininity on stage starting from ancient Greece and until nowadays. The aim of this research is to investigate the evolution of female roles in European and American societies and the influence of these transformations on drag culture as well as to define the position of drag performative femininity within the framework of modern feminist and queer theories. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach to the study of socio-political and socio-cultural phenomena in their development and mutual relations grounded on the principle of scientific objectivity. In the course of writing of this work, I have applied comparative-historical, critical and chronological methods as well as feminist and gender approaches, based on the theory of gender performativity first articulated by Judith Butler – all of which allowed to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the phenomenon of drag culture. Conclusions of my study offer an overview of the development tendencies of drag cultures in the USA, Germany and Ukraine providing a new perspective on “staged” femininity, which appears as a result of intertwining gender, race, class and national identities and subverts gender roles imposed by society.

Published in	International Journal of European Studies (Volume 7, Issue 1)
DOI	10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12
Page(s)	8-14
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Femininity, Drag, Drag Culture, Gender, Gender Performativity

References

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[4]	Butler J. (2006). Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge.
[5]	Case E-S. (1985). “Classic Drag: The Greek Creation of Female Parts”. Theatre Journal, January 3. http://www.jstor.org/stable/3206851.
[6]	Coles C. (2007). “The Question of Power and Authority in Gender Performance: Judith Butler’s Drag Strategy”. eSharp, January 15. https://www.gla.ac.uk/media/Media_41211_smxx.pdf.
[7]	Davy K. (1994). Female Impersonation: the Discourse of Camp. Hove: Psychology Press.
[8]	Edgar E-A. (2011). “Xtravaganza!”: Drag Representation and Articulation in “RuPaul's Drag Race”. Studies in Popular Culture, January 5. http://www.jstor.org/stable/.
[9]	Hamamra B. T. (2018). “The Convention of the Boy Actor in Early Modern Tragedies”. ANQ: A Quarterly Journal of Short Articles, Notes and Reviews, February 7. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/0895769X.2018.1491284.
[10]	Harris D. (1995). “The Aesthetic of Drag”. Salmagundi, January 5. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40548841.
[11]	Hekma G. (2020). “A Female Soul in a Male Body: Sexual Inversion as Gender Inversion in Nine-teenth-Century Sexology.” Third Sex, Third Gender: Beyond Sexual Dimorphism in Culture and History, ed. by Gilbert Herdt, 213-240. New York: Zone.
[12]	Horowitz K. R. (2013). “The Trouble with “Queerness”: Drag and the Making of Two Cultures”. Signs, January 5. http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1086/667199.
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[18]	Newton E. (1979). Mother camp: female impersonators in America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
[19]	Ormand K. (2003). “Oedipus the Queen: Cross-Gendering without Drag”. Theatre Journal, January 11. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25069177.
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Galyna Kotliuk. (2023). Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity. International Journal of European Studies, 7(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12

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Galyna Kotliuk. Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity. Int. J. Eur. Stud. 2023, 7(1), 8-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12

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Galyna Kotliuk. Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity. Int J Eur Stud. 2023;7(1):8-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12,
  author = {Galyna Kotliuk},
  title = {Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity},
  journal = {International Journal of European Studies},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {8-14},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijes.20230701.12},
  abstract = {This article examines how the performative nature of gender is (re)produced by drag queens and analyses drag culture in Euro-American socio-cultural and political space. In this study, I provide an outline of a historical tradition of portraying femininity on stage starting from ancient Greece and until nowadays. The aim of this research is to investigate the evolution of female roles in European and American societies and the influence of these transformations on drag culture as well as to define the position of drag performative femininity within the framework of modern feminist and queer theories. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach to the study of socio-political and socio-cultural phenomena in their development and mutual relations grounded on the principle of scientific objectivity. In the course of writing of this work, I have applied comparative-historical, critical and chronological methods as well as feminist and gender approaches, based on the theory of gender performativity first articulated by Judith Butler – all of which allowed to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the phenomenon of drag culture. Conclusions of my study offer an overview of the development tendencies of drag cultures in the USA, Germany and Ukraine providing a new perspective on “staged” femininity, which appears as a result of intertwining gender, race, class and national identities and subverts gender roles imposed by society.},
 year = {2023}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity
AU  - Galyna Kotliuk
Y1  - 2023/05/29
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12
T2  - International Journal of European Studies
JF  - International Journal of European Studies
JO  - International Journal of European Studies
SP  - 8
EP  - 14
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-9562
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12
AB  - This article examines how the performative nature of gender is (re)produced by drag queens and analyses drag culture in Euro-American socio-cultural and political space. In this study, I provide an outline of a historical tradition of portraying femininity on stage starting from ancient Greece and until nowadays. The aim of this research is to investigate the evolution of female roles in European and American societies and the influence of these transformations on drag culture as well as to define the position of drag performative femininity within the framework of modern feminist and queer theories. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach to the study of socio-political and socio-cultural phenomena in their development and mutual relations grounded on the principle of scientific objectivity. In the course of writing of this work, I have applied comparative-historical, critical and chronological methods as well as feminist and gender approaches, based on the theory of gender performativity first articulated by Judith Butler – all of which allowed to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the phenomenon of drag culture. Conclusions of my study offer an overview of the development tendencies of drag cultures in the USA, Germany and Ukraine providing a new perspective on “staged” femininity, which appears as a result of intertwining gender, race, class and national identities and subverts gender roles imposed by society.
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  -

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Author Information

Galyna Kotliuk

British Studies, University of Regensburg, Regensburg, Germany

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APA Style

Galyna Kotliuk. (2023). Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity. International Journal of European Studies, 7(1), 8-14. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12

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ACS Style

Galyna Kotliuk. Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity. Int. J. Eur. Stud. 2023, 7(1), 8-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12

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AMA Style

Galyna Kotliuk. Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity. Int J Eur Stud. 2023;7(1):8-14. doi: 10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12,
  author = {Galyna Kotliuk},
  title = {Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity},
  journal = {International Journal of European Studies},
  volume = {7},
  number = {1},
  pages = {8-14},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijes.20230701.12},
  abstract = {This article examines how the performative nature of gender is (re)produced by drag queens and analyses drag culture in Euro-American socio-cultural and political space. In this study, I provide an outline of a historical tradition of portraying femininity on stage starting from ancient Greece and until nowadays. The aim of this research is to investigate the evolution of female roles in European and American societies and the influence of these transformations on drag culture as well as to define the position of drag performative femininity within the framework of modern feminist and queer theories. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach to the study of socio-political and socio-cultural phenomena in their development and mutual relations grounded on the principle of scientific objectivity. In the course of writing of this work, I have applied comparative-historical, critical and chronological methods as well as feminist and gender approaches, based on the theory of gender performativity first articulated by Judith Butler – all of which allowed to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the phenomenon of drag culture. Conclusions of my study offer an overview of the development tendencies of drag cultures in the USA, Germany and Ukraine providing a new perspective on “staged” femininity, which appears as a result of intertwining gender, race, class and national identities and subverts gender roles imposed by society.},
 year = {2023}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Gender on Stage: Drag Queens and Performative Femininity
AU  - Galyna Kotliuk
Y1  - 2023/05/29
PY  - 2023
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12
T2  - International Journal of European Studies
JF  - International Journal of European Studies
JO  - International Journal of European Studies
SP  - 8
EP  - 14
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2578-9562
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijes.20230701.12
AB  - This article examines how the performative nature of gender is (re)produced by drag queens and analyses drag culture in Euro-American socio-cultural and political space. In this study, I provide an outline of a historical tradition of portraying femininity on stage starting from ancient Greece and until nowadays. The aim of this research is to investigate the evolution of female roles in European and American societies and the influence of these transformations on drag culture as well as to define the position of drag performative femininity within the framework of modern feminist and queer theories. The research methodology is based on a systematic approach to the study of socio-political and socio-cultural phenomena in their development and mutual relations grounded on the principle of scientific objectivity. In the course of writing of this work, I have applied comparative-historical, critical and chronological methods as well as feminist and gender approaches, based on the theory of gender performativity first articulated by Judith Butler – all of which allowed to conduct a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the phenomenon of drag culture. Conclusions of my study offer an overview of the development tendencies of drag cultures in the USA, Germany and Ukraine providing a new perspective on “staged” femininity, which appears as a result of intertwining gender, race, class and national identities and subverts gender roles imposed by society.
VL  - 7
IS  - 1
ER  -

Copy | Download