Writing Check-in: Common Errors to Avoid
• Generalize time periods
• Passive Voice
• The Universal “We”
• Tense agreement when referencing media and writing
Generalizing Time Periods
When talking about different points in history try to be as specific as
possible, even if you’re talking about an era.Try and avoid general terms
like “in modern society” or “nowadays.”
• Avoid: In modern society people are more dependant on technology.
• Instead say: People in the twenty-first century are generally more
dependant on technology than they were in the past.
• Avoid: The radio was popular in olden times.
• Instead say: The radio was popular in the early decades of the 20th
century.
Passive voice
Passive voice is vague. It tends to obscure cause, responsibility
and agency.
• Avoid: “The pie was eaten
• Instead say: “He ate the pie”
• Avoid: "The ball was thrown"
• Instead say: “Samhia threw the ball”
The Universal “We”
• Like passive voice, the Universal We tends to obscure the subject of a
sentence and can undercut the specificity of your writing
• Avoid: “We can see a woman sitting in a chair”
• Better: “A woman is sitting in a chair” or
“The scene opens with a woman in a chair”
• Avoid: “We can see that this is an example of racial appropriation”
• Better: “This is an example of racial appropriation”
Tense Agreement when referencing media
and writing
When referencing a piece of writing or a media text always refer to its
content in the present tense.
• “Sam goes the party in the pilot episode.”
• “Stryker writes that trans identity came under increased scrutiny in the
late nineteenth century.”
Drag in Popular Culture
CULT 100- Thursday November 21
Key Terms
• Drag
• Paris is Burning
• Drag Mothers
What is Drag?
• A performance based on stylized depiction of
gender
• Drag’s depiction of gender can be heightened,
exaggerated, funny, critical, personal, or realistic.
• Usually draws on elements of music and dance,
comedy, performance
art, and/or fashion
• Strong connection to queer culture and identity
• Usually not scripted, not narrative
• Short form entertainment, solo performance
• Usually not in a traditional “theatre” setting;
associated with nightclub, cabaret, and/or queer
social spaces
Who Can do Drag?
• Drag is often defined as “a cis man in a dress” but people of all
genders can and do perform drag
• Drag is NOT an acronym for “Dressed as a Girl”
• Drag can be:
• a cis man doing a female character
• a cis woman doing a male character
• a trans woman doing a female character
• a trans woman doing a male character
• a trans man doing a female character
• a cis man doing a non-binary character
• a nonbinary person doing a female character
• anyone of any gender identity
Some Drag Styles and
Traditions
• Ballroom
• Bar/club
• Pageant
• Camp (comedy)
• Genderfuck
• Punk Carnivale Drag
Different drag styles emerge from different
subcultures. These styles are not necessarily strict
boundaries and many artists work in multiple
“genres”
Drag in the 1920s: Speakeasies, “The Pansy Craze,” Drag Balls
• Drag as underground culture that some audience seek
out as taboo and exotic entertainment during prohibition
Drag in the 70s: Indie Film and Glam Rock
• Drag as a symbol of rebellion and a rejection of social norms.
• Drag as a symbol of self invention and self expression
• Overlap between drag and punk culture: early groundwork in “genderfuck” drag
Drag in the 1990s
• Drag as a part of a larger trend of
queer content in mainstream
media
• Indie and Hollywood movies
about drag queens, staring
mainstream actors RuPaul’s
music career and a celebrity
• Paris is Burning (1990)- a documentary
about the world of drag balls (ballroom)
in New York.
• Underground community/competition in
which drag queens compete in categories
• Almost exclusively black and Latinx
performers
• Exposed the world to “the house
system,” voguing, and ballroom
Houses and Drag Mothers
• Drag houses are essentially a familial network of artistic
training and social support. Houses work like a team in drag
balls. Drag houses often serve as chosen families
• Drag Mothers are often the head of drag houses. Lead and
mentor their drag “children.”
• Drag mothers also exist in other drag contexts (pageants,
nightclubs, etc.)
• Many drag artists observe special rules about their drag mother
is (often first person to put one in drag) and potentially name
their children
• Drag mothers pass down specialized cultural and artistic
knowledge and help orient drag children to the community
• Drag mothers can also function as a surrogate mother for queer
youth and young adults with no support or connection to their
birth family.
21st century: Drag Race: Cultural Impact
• The Drag Race Baby Boom
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•
•
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Bigger Audiences; Broader Audiences
More Money
More aspiring performers
Drag Race as an International Franchise (16 versions)
Drag Race as a cottage industry: tours, merchandise, conventions
More accessible shows: drag brunch, drag queen story time
Drag Queens in Hollywood films, other television programs,
Broadway, podcasts, books, marketing campaigns
• Influence on slang and language: spill the tea, being “read,”
throwing shade.
Who Gets Left Out?
• Drag Kings (drag that performs masculinity)
• Non-binary drag performers
• Trans performers- From the 1990s until
recently Trans performers were stigmatized
in the drag community
Homonormative
• “Heteronormative” The idea that heterosexuality is normal and
natural and anything outside of that experience is unnatural.
• “Homonormative” The idea that LGBTQ2+ people and characters
are acceptable only if they conform to the ideals of heterosexual
culture. Focus on family, marriage, capitalist friendly career paths,
moderate politics. “Assimilationist”
• In media: depicts gay characters as highly respectable and none
threatening- often desexualized, depoliticized.
• Criticisms of mainstream culture, or politics/activism too far from
the mainstream are not permitted.
• Tended to focus exclusively on depicted the experience of white,
affluent, cisgender gays. Lack of intersectionality.
Discussion Questions:
Canada’s Drag Race, “The Prom”
Viewing questions
• Is this episode an example of homonormativity?
• What does this episode say about the relationship between queerness and
youth?
• What is the cultural value/function of drag, as presented in this episode?
Makayla Couture
Why is drag so popular today?
Theories
• Drag’s popularity has slowly been increasing amongst mainstream
audiences since the 1970s and tends to parallel progressive attitudes
towards LGBTQ2+ people.
• Drag works well with both reality tv and social media: Drama, creativity,
performance, a balance between authenticity and artificiality.
• Drag integrates well into a capitalist system (self expression through
consumption)
• Drag’s use of queer coded and camp humor (highly citational and meta)
appeals to media saturated audience of the 21st century
• Drag’s ethos of self-expression and independence is very marketable even
when its watered down
• Drag is fun and people like it.