Drag and Gender Expression

As someone who prides themselves on making efforts to break through the constraints of the gender binary, I have experience exploring alternative ways of expressing my gender identity.

Drag artist Sasha Velour

I’m familiar with the derogatory comments, shady side-eyes from strangers, and questioning remarks from cashiers. So many times, on a explorative shopping expedition, I’ve abandoned my basket of clothes in some dusty corner of the store out of fear. Add to that the stresses and judgement that comes with growing up in a traditional Asian society and family. Every time, I’m left feeling ashamed and riddled with the same question: “Why must I sacrifice my identity for the comfort of others?"

It was a moment of serendipity, when I found Drag. I had known of drag queens since I was a child but never really attempted to understand the culture. I was taught to refer to them by derogatory terms, such as ‘lady-boys’ or ‘trannies’ and I’m glad to say I’ve since learned better.

Discovering Drag

Not unlike many others, I only started finding out more about Drag and Drag Queens through RuPaul’s Drag Race. Soon, I realised that Drag Race only presented a glamorized version of drag culture, so I set out to find out more about its reality. Along the way, I’ve discovered not only what drag IS but why it’s presence holds great importance and will continue to do so.

Drag History

Actor, Robert Harlow, playing Queen Isabella in musical comedy, ‘1492’

The term Drag has a long history based in theatre. In the late 19th century, before women were allowed to perform, men would dress as women to play female roles in plays. When women were finally allowed to perform, the term Drag was also used for women dressing up as men.

Fast forward a couple of decades, Drag Artistes are gaining popularity on the American stage and homosexuality has been declared illegal. Members of the LGBTQIA+ community were forced into hiding. They congregated in underground bars and clubs where they felt they could freely express themselves (oftentimes through drag), away from the persecuting eyes of law-enforcement and society at large.

Gay Rights Protests

Marsha P. Johnson and other members of the community at a gay rights protest

The culture and community experienced a massive explosion, drawing the inevitable attention of law-enforcement. In response to a police raid on the popular, Mafia-run Stonewall Inn in New York City, the infamous Stonewall riots broke out. This demonstration, led by black, trans women and other members of the LGBTQIA+ community, is heralded as an integral catalyst in the arduous journey to equality.

Ballroom Drag

Queens of New York City ball culture, featured in the documentary, "Paris Is Burning'

Following a string of raids across the US., began the great ballroom scene, a new underground community created to unite the LGBTQIA+ community. ‘Houses’ were led by a Mother, who would gather members of her House to compete in balls with themes where each House would present their take on the night’s theme. After fierce judging, a winner would be declared. The ballroom scene was dominated by black, trans-women and drag queens. But these Houses provided support, love and shelter for all, a grace not normally extended to members of the community, especially then.

What Is Drag Now?

Variety of drag artists

Since then, the Drag scene has grown and changed in so many ways. The essence of Drag today is that it can mean whatever you want it to mean. It is to take the social construct of gender and to play with it to suit whoever you want to be. While the common stereotype of Drag draws the image of an effeminate, gay man, dressing as a woman, it has come to mean so much more than that. Plenty of Drag artistes are cisgender, straight men, some are cis, straight women simply indulging in the extremity of their femininity. Many Drag artists play on the idea of Androgyny. There are even Drag Kings; women dressing as men, partaking in hyper-masculine clothing and behaviour. The possibilities of gender expression with Drag are limitless. 

Gender Expression, Gender Identity, and Self Discovery

Drag shows us that gender is whatever we make of it. It proves to us and the world, the malleability of gender. Drag opens up the conversation around what gender really is. It provides a gateway for people to question and explore their gender identity and that gender is so much more than just male and female. It shows us that gender exists on a fluid spectrum, between and beyond male and female. Just as the possibilities to Drag are endless, so too are the possibilities of each of our gender expressions.

“Wear a crown, fuck with gender, bend the rules, don't surrender”

- Sasha Velour. (Category Is… Season 9 remix by Rupaul)

Why Don't More Men Wear Skirts?

It was a little after noon, on a sunny day when one of the boys in my class yelled “Bakla!”; a Tagalog word meaning gay. All my classmates burst out laughing. As we all turned around to attend to the commotion, we saw the class clown wearing a girls’ uniform, a blouse and plaid skirt. He was immediately made to leave the classroom and change.

Such reprimanding didn’t seem like a big deal back then but little did we know that this was merely the tip of the iceberg. The behavior we saw that day would be repeated throughout our lives: boys would not only being made fun of for wearing a skirt or a dress but getting in trouble for it.

Clothing for men and clothing for women

There has been a lot of debate between the kind of clothes and colours men and women can and should wear. Premised as societal norms, these fashion concepts supposedly reinforce what is means to be “a man” and what it means to be “a lady” – children in school must dress accordingly – no matter how uncomfortable, to uphold the status quo.

Left: Kamala Harris in a pant suit; Right: Harry Styles in a dress

Gendered clothes as reinforcers of outdated gender roles.

Somewhere in our recent history, a blue shirt has become decidedly more "manly" than a pink floral one. Why is this so? What makes a white dress more womanly than a black pantsuit?

Some believe that clothing items such as high heels, a corset, a skirt, or a bonnet were made to be so incapacitating that it made manual work impossible for women. Women in such roles were dependent on a system which emphasized men as providers. Such a system facilitates and perpetuates disparities in gender roles, propagating the destructive stereotype that women are somehow "less able" to provide for their families than men.

Why were men expected to be providers? Why were women discouraged from working?

There are studies which postulate ideal masculine traits as those of aggression, strength, and independence while feminine traits as those of nurturing, passivity, and subordination.

This way of thinking suggests that men must be strong and independent and leads to the idea that men are alone in their familial responsibilities and that they must provide for their partners and their families. Similarly, women are thought to be passive and follow as their told, forcing them to a role within the household which empathetically excluded physical labor.

Such systems and their mechanisms worked to discredit (and maybe inhibit) the strength and capability of women, perpetuating the idea that women were less able. Such outdated systems of gender roles have perpetuated negative associations between stereotypical behaviour and characteristics expected of women with weakness, and inferiority.

Outdated systems of gender roles have perpetuated negative associations between stereotypical behaviour and characteristics expected of women with weakness, and inferiority.

Fashion as a facilitator of outdated roles we never agreed to

The above mentioned beliefs have shaped the kind of things men and women are allowed and expected to do within the context of sports, work, leisure and fashion. Perhaps because it's most visible, fashion became the facilitator and enforcer of the roles prescribed to us by an outdated society, dictating in every way what we could and could not do.

Shifting sands: Women in the workforce

Over time as the need for more women in the workforce grew, the idea that women should only wear skirts and high heels slowly broke down. More women were wearing pants. But it wasn’t because pants became a clothing item for everyone. It was because women began taking up leadership positions that required more “masculine” traits and pants were masculine. Women were embodying independence and strength.

Playing with gender norms in fashion, Thom Browne SS18

Women began wearing pants – why didn't men start wearing skirts?

If it was okay for women to wear pants, why did my classmate get in trouble for wearing a skirt?

It seems that although we as a society were able to come to terms with women taking on “masculine traits”, we weren’t able to do so with men taking on “feminine traits”. Even after so much progress, women are still seen as inferior and weaker. So much so, that even donning the clothes of women, alludes to unfounded inferiority. Even though women can hold the same jobs as a man, women are paid much less. Are men afraid to step into 'womenswear' for fear of being seen as inferior?

While most people now condemn the idea that certain traits and behaviour are gendered, many still feel too timid to stray too far out of the box. Even though one might not believe that femininity is inferior, they may be wary of the criticism from those who do.

Gender binary and fashion

There is so much more to analyse and explore within the system of the gender binary and fashion. There are so many factors that have influenced the way people choose to dress today. There are so many questions we need to ask ourselves and society, reevaluating these systems as we go along. The fashion-gender matrix is intricate and complex, these intricacies and complexities cannot hope to be addressed in the course of a single article, let alone start an attempt to dismantle them. So, how do we begin building a society that doesn’t crucify a man for wearing a skirt?

How do we begin building a society that doesn’t crucify a man for wearing a skirt?

My answer: We focus on what fashion is meant to be, beyond what it has become. Fashion should be used as a medium for all to express themselves. Be it through a barrage of color, or muted palettes, the possibilities are endless. Endless ways for the 7.8 billion people of the world to express themselves. Limiting our self-expression according to prescribed constraints based on gender denies us of the opportunity to experience the beauty that arises from diverse expression.

The journey of dismantling the fashion-gender matrix

The journey of dismantling the fashion-gender matrix is a long and arduous one, but perhaps we can begin by creating an understanding that clothing as well as all inanimate objects do not have genders. We must work to create a safe, kind, loving environment for everyone to explore their self-expression in whatever way makes them comfortable and confident. Because just as Sen. Kamala Harris looks bomb in a pantsuit, so too does Harry Styles slay in a skirt.

References:

1. Sue Jenkyn Jones (2011). The uses of clothing’ in Fashion Design

2. Mary Ellen Roach and Joanne Bubolz Eicher (2007). The Language of Personal Adornment

3. Thorstein Veblen (2007). Dress as an Expression of the Pecuniary Culture

4. Thompson et al. (2011). Comparison of Masculine and Feminine Traits in a National Sample of Male and Female Nursing Students

5. Harmful masculinity and violence. (2018, September). Retrieved from https://www.apa.org/pi/about/newsletter/2018/09/harmful-masculinity

6. Levant, R. & Wilmer, D. (2011). Masculinity constructs as protective buffers and risk factors for men’s health