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TheGaygency

Glossary

Drag

Drag is a performance art in which someone uses clothing, makeup, and character to play with and exaggerate gender for entertainment and self-expression.

Drag is the art of performing an exaggerated, theatrical version of gender. A performer who plays up femininity is usually called a drag queen and one who plays up masculinity a drag king, though drag today spans every gender and many styles in between. The term appeared in this sense in English theater by around 1870, and by the early twentieth century it was tied to gay culture and to the underground drag balls pioneered by Black and Latino performers in U.S. cities. Drag ranges from lip-sync numbers and comedy to pageantry and political protest. It is a performance and an art form, distinct from a person's gender identity, though some drag artists are also transgender.

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