I won't lie that this is blog was created for class. But whatever, blogs for classes are kind of rad. Especially on a topic like this. Gender. It's a really fascinating topic just because it permeates so much of our world. Well, anyway, enough for the semi-lame intro to my blog, maybe I should just introduce myself (but super quickly of course, because really we all just want to talk about the genius that is RuPaul's Drag Race). So let's get down to the nitty gritty. I am a 21 year old college senior majoring in biochemistry planning on going to graduate school next year to pursue a Ph.D. in biochemistry. I have always been a bit of a tomboy, moreso when I was young than now (which is also interesting that because I liked to play outside and play video games that I was characterized as a "tomboy" maybe in a later post I can discuss that, because you know RPDR stuff). I blog on some other stuff too (mostly pop culture things, especially television, and sometimes politics) but that has slowed down in the past year due to studying and graduate school apps and the like. So I am actually super excited for this class assignment because I would like to get back into the blogging game.
Now for something a little more formal. Hopefully, I can have a fun conversational part and a more formal part to every blog post/journal entry. And when I say less formal, I mean being more specific than just saying "and stuff" all the time. I am still going to sound friendly. Don't worry. I wanted to talk about RuPaul's Drag Race for my first blog because what better way to start a blog talk about gender than talk about those who subvert it.
In case you were unaware, or you are not bothering to watch the video (I don't blame you, since you probably don't want to spend an hour just sitting on my blog), this is the first episode of season 5 (5!) of RuPaul's Drag Race. I like the beginning of this season for a lot of reasons (I mean, if you ever get a chance to watch it, RPDR is just a flat out hilarious and entertaining show) but for the purposes of this blog, I like that you see a range of queens. You get everything from the hyper-feminine "fishy" queens to the campy funny queens to the plain weird queens (there is, however, no definitive "genderfuck" queen which is a little unfortunate, but it is still early in the season and the first challenge wasn't exactly conducive for genderfucking).
Anyway, I started this blog with RPDR because the way that the men on the show is not only a kind of pseudo-reflection on how women act and dress but also because in our everyday lives we work to put on the same costumes. Maybe it is not as extreme as when you see RuPaul the man become RuPaul the woman but, nevertheless, we do "put on" gender. Everything from the clothes that we wear to even the way that we stand are conscious and unconscious decisions based on what we view as our gender.
But where does this concept of putting on gender come from? And where do we learn how to put on our gender? Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman in their article "Doing Gender" observe that we learn how to "do gender" through our interactions with others. For example, we learn how to be a "woman" through out social interactions, the reactions that others have based on how we decide to be a woman, influence how we continue to carry on being a woman, especially in social situations where women and men are expected to act in very different ways. Zimmerman and West continue on to describe a case study done by Dr. Harold Garfinkel conducted by observing a transgender woman called Agnes. Agnes learned how to be a woman through the actions of her fiance. And perhaps surprisingly, West and Zimmerman conclude this is similar to how everybody learns how to "do gender."
Going back to how I started this, I believe that nobody does gender as well as drag queens. The art of drag is based on doing gender and gender is their performance art. Drag isn't simply a man dressing as a woman, but rather a man performing as a woman. Or perhaps not. Just like most other sects of society, there are hard and undefinable lines, especially as drag culture grows, it is harder to say that a drag queen is a man dressing as a woman, especially when you have those queens who border on androgyny rather than sticking to straight male or straight female stereotypes.
I am going to leave you with this video here:
Article Referenced:
West, C and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. "Doing Gender." Gender and Society 1:125-151.
But where does this concept of putting on gender come from? And where do we learn how to put on our gender? Candace West and Don H. Zimmerman in their article "Doing Gender" observe that we learn how to "do gender" through our interactions with others. For example, we learn how to be a "woman" through out social interactions, the reactions that others have based on how we decide to be a woman, influence how we continue to carry on being a woman, especially in social situations where women and men are expected to act in very different ways. Zimmerman and West continue on to describe a case study done by Dr. Harold Garfinkel conducted by observing a transgender woman called Agnes. Agnes learned how to be a woman through the actions of her fiance. And perhaps surprisingly, West and Zimmerman conclude this is similar to how everybody learns how to "do gender."
Going back to how I started this, I believe that nobody does gender as well as drag queens. The art of drag is based on doing gender and gender is their performance art. Drag isn't simply a man dressing as a woman, but rather a man performing as a woman. Or perhaps not. Just like most other sects of society, there are hard and undefinable lines, especially as drag culture grows, it is harder to say that a drag queen is a man dressing as a woman, especially when you have those queens who border on androgyny rather than sticking to straight male or straight female stereotypes.
I am going to leave you with this video here:
Article Referenced:
West, C and Don H. Zimmerman. 1987. "Doing Gender." Gender and Society 1:125-151.
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