Description
Book SynopsisTheatrical gender-bending, also called drag, is a popular form of entertainment and a subject of scholarly study. However, most drag studies do not question the standard words and ideas used to convey this performance genre. Drawing on a rich body of archival and ethnographic research, Meredith Heller illuminates diverse examples of theatrical gender-bending: male impersonation in variety and vaudeville (18601920); the sexless gender-bending of El Teatro Campesino (19601980); queer butch acts performed by black nightclub singers, such as Stormé DeLarverie, instigator of the Stonewall riots (19101970); and the range of acts that compose contemporary drag king shows. Heller highlights how, in each case, standard drag discourses do not sufficiently capture the complexity of performers' intents and methods, nor do they provide a strong enough foundation for holistically evaluating the impact of this work. Queering Drag offers redefinition of the genre centralized in the performer's constru
Trade ReviewDrawing on a rich body of archival and ethnographic research, Queering Drag: Redefining the Discourse of Gender-Bending (Indiana UP, 2020) illuminates diverse examples of theatrical gender-bending. It shows how, in each case, standard drag discourses do not sufficiently capture the complexity of performers' intents and methods or provide a strong enough foundation for holistically evaluating the impact of this work. Queering Drag offers a redefinition of the genre centralized in the performer's construction and presentation of a "queer" version of hegemonic identity. It also models a new set of tools for analyzing drag as a process of intents and methods enacted to effect specific goals. The book won the 2021 John Leo and Dana Heller Award for Best Book in LGBTQ Studies from the Popular Culture Association and was named one of NBC's "10 LGBTQ books to watch out for in 2020."
-- Isabel Machado * New Books Network *
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Preface
1. What's in a Name? Redefining the Discourse of Gender-Bending
2. "Masculine Women, Feminine Men": Variety and Vaudevillian Male Impersonators
3. Mythical, "Sexless" Characters: Identity Borders in El Teatro Campesino
4. The "First Punch" at Stonewall: Counteridentification Butch Acts
5. Bent Means "Not Quite Straight": Kinging as Disidentification
Conclusion: Bending Rhetoric
Bibliography
Index
