Drag queen: Encyclopedia II - Drag queen - Drag and transgender

Drag queen - Drag and transgender

Most drag queens perform for fulfillment as a hobby, a profession, or an art form; as a way to be in the spotlight; or as a road to local or wider fame.

Drag queens are sometimes called transvestites, however, transvestism is a word with many different meanings, most of which do not apply to or include drag queens. Drag queens do not do drag for reasons of sexual pleasure, and are also not transvestic fetishists, people who have a sexual fetish for the clothing of another gender role. Furthermore, most people who are called or self-identify as transvestites are heterosexual men, whereas most drag queens are gay or transgendered.

Also, there is a (small) community of female-bodied drag queens, who may have one of several gender identities, with queer being rather common.

Drag itself is often thought of as part of transgenderism because it subverts gender roles. However, most drag queens are cisgendered gay men (that is, they identify, appear, and are embodied as men) in the remainder of their lives when not in drag.

Nevertheless, a number of people identifying as transgendered or transsexual women perform as drag queens, and a number of drag queens who do not identify as transgendered regard drag as being an important part of their understanding of their gender identity.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Drag and transgender", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki