Gender and Drag

In a world where heterosexuality and binary gender codes rule, there is little room for moving outside of that. The LGBTQIA+ community has struggled (and still struggling) to hold peace with societal norms. One of the biggest ways the community has challenged order is gender. Within the years, it has become a highly controversial topic, with gay marriage being passed and the transgender bathroom debate. The community has been making a name for itself with the constant protest against prevailing heteronormativity. Gender has slowly started bleed its way into our own governmental policies. 

With that being said, I have to turn to Butler's readings and Paris is Burning to introduce the true topic of this post: the drag community. If you haven't been to a drag show then I feel so sorry for you. It is one of the most freeing celebrations you'll ever attend. I'll attach some pictures below from my own experience and you can live through those. The drag community is a hot topic within the LGBTQIA+. You'll usually get two reactions: praise for challenging norms and criticism for what the it does for the transgender community. If you're curious about the latter, you can come talk to me personally about it, but for now, I will focus on the praises of the drag community. 

The drag community works hard to challenge conceptions of gender. Men, who identify completely as men and even heterosexual, spend their weekends making themselves up and portraying the complete opposite of their identity. Then, you also have transgender women who engage in drag shows as drag queens as well. Butler's reading focuses on the phenomenological theory of gender, which basically states that it "the acts by which gender is constituted bear similarities to performative acts within theatrical contexts." In this sense, society shows what is acceptable for a gender and someone must perform to that script perfectly. If that script is challenged, it can lead to consequences for that person or group. 

For the drag community, it is hard to ignore the consequences that have come out of it. Drag queens and kings are well-protected in most communities because the community never knows what might be waiting for them outside of that protected space. When you're in a gay club, like Spectrum, it is acceptable to perform outside of your gender. If you're a male performing as a drag queen, it's fine. If you're a female performing as a drag king, it's fine. But like Butler stated, it's only fine in the social context.

The social context of the situation determines the dangers that a drag queen or king will face. As long as they are in their safe space, the danger is limited, but once they step out, anything is bound to happen. Butler uses an example of a "transvestite" (side note: never use this terminology to a performer or transgender person, they will deck you in the face) on a bus versus in the club. Once that drag queen is out in the open, they are a threat to the societal norms and they must be punished for that. This is the type of hate the community has faced for years. This isn't a new thing for them and it isn't going to stop. As long as society sees threats to gender code as punishable, this hate will continue to reign. 

To me, Butler is ultimately arguing that gender should be seen merely as an act. Instead of adhering to a strict binary code, we should be able to move around in a comfort manner and distinguish it for ourselves. In the same way that drag queens and kings are allowed to twist their own gender performance. Instead of punishing someone for it, the act should be seen as artwork and part of their own identity. For society, we have to start moving beyond the binary code or at least in a certain sense. If people want to stick to it, there is no reason for them to change, but they should acknowledge that it's plausible to adhere to a different gender code even if you were born biological female or male. If we look at gender as a way of acting, it will be easier for people to separate "sex" and "gender."