A drag king or queen is a person of any gender identity that performs femininity, masculinity, or something in between.
Different styles of drag call attention to gender performativity. It plays a part in community building for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people.
While drag queens have a long history, drag kings are a more recent phenomenon. Additionally, in black and Latino communities, what is known as “ballroom”, features competitions where individuals aim for “realness.”
Vogue shares that “historically, drag kings have been female-aligned performance artists who wear masculine drag and personify male-aligned gender stereotypes. However, as understandings of gender have become more fluid in recent years, so too has this definition. Now, there are trans men kings, nonbinary kings, and even cisgender male-aligned individuals who perform as drag kings—just as there are cisgender female-aligned individuals who perform as queens.”
For more information, check out this article in Vogue.
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