A drag queen is someone who dresses as a woman for entertainment. The term is a combination of the words drag, meaning to wear clothes typical of the opposite sex, and queen, a colloquial term for a flamboyant gay man. While most drag queens are gay men, drag queens can be people of any gender and/or sexual identity. Drag queens are sometimes called female impersonators or simply queens. Drag performer and drag artist are gender-neutral terms for a drag queen or drag king.
Drag culture celebrates self-expression, diversity, and inclusivity and provides a space where people can explore and celebrate gender expression beyond the binary. In 2024, as drag performers band together to protect their art form from conservative attacks, drag culture is more relevant than ever for these performances and celebrations rooted in activism.
What is a drag queen?
A drag queen is someone who participates in the art form of drag.
Drag Race winner Sasha Velour told PBS that “From beginning to end, drag is an art. We think about the colors and the textures. We tell a story on stage. Some people dance. Other people sing live. Some people tell stories or jokes. I lip-sync, which is a tradition in drag as well. There's also just artistry in the appearance. We paint our faces like a painting, design costumes that go even wilder than contemporary fashion, bigger and more colorful.”
Her comments emphasize the multi-faceted performance and artistic skills of drag queens, which go far beyond gender expression. While creating a feminine persona is one part of becoming a drag queen, for most people their transformation goes beyond simply looking feminine.
Gender- and self-expression
Drag gives people space to express themselves and their gender identity in a new way. This can be liberating for men who’ve felt ashamed or shunned for having feminine qualities or an interest in women’s clothes and makeup.
Transforming into a more feminine form can also help drag queens tap into parts of themselves they rarely show, such as their extrovert side if they are usually introverted.
“Dressing up in drag offers a unique opportunity for individuals to break away from their daily personas and explore their creativity in appearance and behavior,” added Ryan Warn, a drag queen and the founder of DragUniverse.com. “In our everyday lives, we are often pressured to conform to societal and gender stereotypes. Drag allows us to shed these constraints and embrace a completely different persona, which can be incredibly empowering.”
Cross-Dresser vs. Drag Queen
Cross-dressers and drag queens both dress in a feminine way, but there are some key differences between them. Cross-dressers often feel sexually gratified wearing women’s clothes. They may cross-dress because they have a fetish for these garments or fabrics they’re made from, such as satin and silk. However, drag queens usually don’t have a sexual motivation for getting into drag.
Drag queens are performers who demonstrate their art form to other people, often at drag shows. Cross-dressing is a more personal expression of gender identity. Unlike drag queens, cross-dressers may only dress as a woman in secret. The secrecy around cross-dressers also extends to the way they present. Cross-dressers may try to “pass” as real women, while drag queens are happy to present a more exaggerated form of femininity.
Roughly 87 percent of cross-dressers identify as heterosexual males. In contrast, most drag queens are homosexual cisgender men. However, there are also transgender drag queens (male-to-female, female-to-male, and non-binary), heterosexual cisgender male, and cisgender female drag queens. While drag queens usually present as very feminine, there are also masculine drag queens who sport full beards and mustaches.
As RuPaul famously says, "We're all born naked, and the rest is drag."
Types of Drag Queens
There are many different types of drag queens, each with a unique style and persona. Some of the most common types of drag queens include:
- Pageant queens: Queens who compete in pageant competitions and create looks characterized by big hair, flawless makeup, and elaborate gowns.
- Comedy/camp queens: Queens that focus their act around comedic elements and often have a clown-ish appearance.
- Club kids/queens: Inspired by the colorful looks of the New York City club scene of the 1980s and 90s.
- Fishy queens: Ultra-feminine drag queens who try to replicate a realistic female look.
- High fashion/look queens: Glamorous queens skilled at creating artistic, high-fashion runway looks.
- Goth queens: Queens who use dark makeup and clothes for spooky looks.
- Social media queens: Queens who gain fame and popularity by showcasing their drag on social media platforms.
- Faux queens: Cisgender women who present a hyper-feminized look through drag.
- Androgyny/genderfuck queens: Queens with an androgynous look that combines masculine and feminine elements.
- Baby queens: Queens new to drag and still learning their craft.
- Transdrag queens: Transgender queens, either transitioning or post-transition.
The History of Drag
Men have been taking on female personas since the late 16th century, when women were forbidden from acting. Out of necessity, male actors assumed the female roles in Shakespeare’s plays. Women were finally allowed on stage in 1660, but the practice of men dressing as women became a comedic device. Exaggeratedly female characters known as pantomime dames became a mainstay of British theatre.
In the early 20th century, the black and Latino queer community celebrated their queerness through balls and other underground drag events, where judges graded participants on their drag looks. These events evolved to become the house balls of the early 1970s.
Around this time, America’s LGBTQIA+ community was fighting for their life. The Stonewall riots of 1969 began when a group of drag queens resisted arrest. Their resistance sparked drag activism that continues today and is celebrated during Pride Month every June.
Nightclubs like Studio 54 and The Pyramid Club became safe havens for drag queens in the 1980s. They gave performers like RuPaul and Lipsinka space to perform and hone their talents.
The Drag Family & Community
Becoming part of a drag family and the wider drag community can help drag queens feel more connected to others and less isolated. This can be vital for drag performers finding their feet, especially if they’re not accepted by their biological family and the community where they live.
A drag family, sometimes called a drag house, is a tight-knit collection of drag queens that rely on one another for companionship and support. Unlike a biological family with family members related by blood, a drag family is sometimes called a chosen family, because the family members choose their drag relatives. The head of any drag family is a drag mother, who acts as a caregiver and mentor for her drag daughters. People in a drag family share the same surname, just like the members of any biological family. They pair this surname with a creative first name which reflects their drag persona to create their full drag name.
“Being part of a drag family provides a profound sense of belonging,” Warn explained. “For a beginner, especially, being a drag queen can sometimes feel isolating. However, being surrounded by others who share the same empowering experience of drag creates a strong, supportive bond. Members of drag families help each other in various ways, from sharing drag items to passing down valuable tips and tricks from seasoned queens to newcomers.”
Drag's cultural impact & mainstream success
Drag culture has grown from an underground movement to a mainstream phenomenon, largely due to increased visibility in pop culture.
RuPaul’s Drag Race
RuPaul and his reality series “Drag Race” have been instrumental in helping drag become an accepted part of mainstream culture. Since its debut in 2009, the original Drag Race has run for 16 regular series in the United States. There have also been spin-offs, including All-Stars and Celebrity Drag Race, the behind-the-scenes series Drag Race Untucked, and 15 international versions in Europe, South America, Asia, and Australasia.
Many Drag Race queens have gone on to have successful careers including stand-up comedian Bianca Del Rio, Broadway actress Jinkx Monsoon, musician and TV personality Trixie Mattel, musician Adore Delano, makeup artist Raven, and choreographer Alyssa Edwards.
“Drag has been around long before ‘RuPaul's Drag Race,’ but the show has undeniably brought drag into the mainstream,” Warn confirmed. “This visibility has given young, primarily queer individuals the opportunity to see people like themselves celebrated on a grand scale. Additionally, I value how RuPaul educates viewers about the history of drag and the struggles of the queer community. It's a reminder of the challenging paths paved by those before us, whose efforts have made our current progress possible.”
Other Pop Culture
“Drag Race” isn’t the only pop culture phenomenon that celebrates drag. The films “The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” and "Too Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar” put drag queens front and center. Musicals such as “Hedwig and the Angry Inch,” “Kinky Boots,” and “Everybody Talking About Jamie” were so beloved that they made their way the screen.
Drag queens have also taken starring roles in TV shows including “Pose,” “We’re Here,” and “Drag S.O.S.” Drag queens have also made their name in the music world, including Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst and Ada Vox, who competed on “American Idol” and “Queen of the Universe.”
