THE DRAG KING SERIES

„Don’t I look sharp?"

„Yeah, sharp, sharp, sharp!“*

The First time I met a Drag King was back in summer of

1995 in a West Village bar in NYC. She stood there all

by herself and seemed kind of shy but composed and

glowing. I say "she" because I didn't really think it was

a man although she wore a moustache, a suit and a bow-

tie. Very elegant. She was this woman as a man. I was

drawn to him and started talking. Then asked if I could

photograph him in my studio. He agreed. Her name

was Moira.

A little after I photographed female to male drag perfor-

mances off and on in various queer places and the late

Diane Torr, alias Danny King, drew my attention. She had

a leading role as a drag performer and, as it turned out

was a pioneer of gender performance. So there a

bigger Drag King scene started to evolve and soon the

first Drag King contest took place at the HerShe Bar.

The room was packed and the show was hilariously

funny, mind bending and interesting.

Then the Club Casanova, a small venue in the East Village,

opened its doors, becoming the meeting point for Drag

Kings every sunday late night. I always went there,

photographing and meeting new Kings. The place was

very crowded, the scene intense, edgy, sassy and ambi-

valent. It was a lot of fun and sometimes confusion and

drama took place not only on stage.

The male personalities the women were performing were

diverse. Often they showed parodies of male stereotypes,

making fun of it, leading it to the absurd and exposing it.

Others were showing their Alter Egos and exploring their

masculine part through Drag. The spectrum of maleness

ranged therefore from dumb, sexist macho to beautiful,

sophisticated Dandy. Quite so often it was a mix. Very

popular were impersonations of pop icons such as Elvis,

Shaft or James Dean.

Among various and individual reasons for each King to

perform, they share and explore the notion of gender and

its representations as fluid, not fix, mainly socially con-

structed and largely performed; so they enter the political

discurs of definatory power by subversive and artistic

means. And they enjoy the pleasure of transformation

and play.

*Quote from "Sex, Drag and Male Roles"; Diane Torr&

Stephen Bottoms Authors, University of Michigan Press,

2010