Identity construction and community building in Austin's drag king culture

Simple item page
dc.contributor.advisorGilbert, Dorie J.
dc.creatorKoonce, Melissa Suzanne, 1975-
dc.date.accessioned2017-06-20T14:14:47Z
dc.date.available2017-06-20T14:14:47Z
dc.date.issued2006-05
dc.description.abstractDrag king performance is a recent phenomenon in the United States. While the practice of drag itself is not new, modern drag kinging has received little attention in academic literature. This thesis employs a multi-disciplinary approach to envisage modern drag king performance as a site of identity construction and community building. Utilizing qualitative feminist methods, the study is grounded in a sociological framework, drawing also from gender studies, queer studies, cultural studies, and performance studies. Based on participant observation, in-depth interviews, and audience surveys, the study's findings extend the existing research on drag king culture in three significant ways. First, it considers various drag king identities, acknowledging categories that have been neglected in previous literature, specifically trans identity and "femme queens." Second, it explores drag king performance as a possible site of community. Findings suggest that community is established through creating space, perceived inclusivity, and dialogue through socio-political productions. Finally, the study considers a southern locality (Austin, Texas), a geography missing in drag king literature, and thus, captures a specific geographical moment in drag history by archiving the current queer performance community in Austin, Texas. The next phase of this study will shift the focus to explore the role of the audience in this performance community and expand the scope of this project by considering Austin's local drag king community in relation to and in the context of the international drag king community.en_US
dc.description.departmentWomen's and Gender Studiesen_US
dc.format.mediumelectronicen_US
dc.identifierdoi:10.15781/T2TQ5RK87
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2152/47276
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.relation.ispartofUT Electronic Theses and Dissertationsen_US
dc.rightsCopyright © is held by the author. Presentation of this material on the Libraries' web site by University Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin was made possible under a limited license grant from the author who has retained all copyrights in the works.en_US
dc.rights.restrictionRestricteden_US
dc.subjectIdentityen_US
dc.titleIdentity construction and community building in Austin's drag king cultureen_US
dc.typeThesisen_US
dc.type.genreThesisen_US
thesis.degree.departmentWomen's and Gender Studiesen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineWomen's and Gender Studiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Texas at Austinen_US
thesis.degree.levelMastersen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Artsen_US

Access full-text files

Original bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
txu-oclc-70824468.pdf
Size:
624.69 KB
Format:
Adobe Portable Document Format
Description:
Access restricted to UT Austin EID holders
Download

License bundle

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
No Thumbnail Available
Name:
license.txt
Size:
1.66 KB
Format:
Item-specific license agreed upon to submission
Description:
Download

Collections

UT Electronic Theses and Dissertations