Boston’s Drag King Renaissance: In-depth Interviews with New England Drag Performers

• In Event: Trans and Nonbinary Lives

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary analysis of 44 in-depth interviews with drag performers across New England, supplemented by participant observation at local drag shows, and responds to what Shuster and Westbrook call sociology’s “joy deficit” by centering drag as a site of trans and queer joy and political expression. Social science research on drag has historically centered drag queens, far fewer studies examine drag kings, and fewer still attend to nonbinary, gender-fluid, or agender drag personas- often refer to by performers as drag things, creatures, or monsters. Using an intersectional framework, I contextualize how performers differentiate forms drag takes through gender expression and aesthetics of their characters, and how those distinctions shape community boundaries. I ask (1) how might drag performers from New England use drag performance to express their intersectional identities and (2) what are the intergroup differences in how drag performers use/engage in drag performance? In looking at intergroup differences, I expand on the previous research that has minimal research on drag kings and drag performers who exist outside the binary by drawing from a majority drag king and thing sample. Interviewees described Boston as experiencing a “drag renaissance,” especially for kings, with many performers and opportunities. Despite this increases visibility, there are yet many kings and things that still reported a persistent divide between themselves and drag queens in booking, audiences, and recognition. Participants also overwhelmingly framed drag as political. Some interpreted this as overt messages in performances, while the majority located drag’s politics in visibility and gender play, even when performances avoided direct commentary as inherently political. By centering drag kings and performers outside the binary, I show how trans and nonbinary performers use drag to grapple with gender identity, share politics and culture, and create art that spreads queer and trans joy.

Author

• Skylar Rathvon, University of Massachusetts-Boston