'We’re all born naked and the rest is drag’ : constructing and performing a drag queen self

Abstract

This study embarks on a sociological journey to explore the experiences of individuals who construct and perform a drag queen self. Although the process of constructing and performing a drag queen persona has drawn little attention from empirical researchers, this research draws on sociological discussions about gender construction and gender performance to attain an academic understanding of drag. Scholarly literature interpret drag performances as spectacles which display alternative arrangements of gender performance to simultaneously contest and reproduce the heteronormative gender construction and order. In order to present an insight of drag queens’ experiences when constructing and performing their drag queen self, this study documented the narratives of 3 drag queens who were interviewed in and out of drag to generate exploratory data. The latter was analysed through a thematic approach and was delivered in a narrative form. The findings demonstrate that drag grants a platform where individuals confidently express their inherent fondness for performing and engaging in attire which is culturally attributed to females. By revealing their ‘inner drag queen’ on stage, drag performers interact with their audiences and these interactions serve to promote the drag scene in a context where drag is misunderstood. Data show that audiences expect extravagant depictions of gender from drag queens and in doing so, drag queens subvert the heteronormative gender order by not conforming to gender norms, and yet reproduce them through a hyperbolical illusion of these norms. This chimes in with RuPaul Charles’s (2018) quote, which hints that our performances which we deem as ‘real’ are all in fact, illusionary, hence “we’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”