CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2024
| Author | Cox, Bethany |
|---|---|
| Title | Who the fuck can genderfuck: navigating disability and intersectional identities in the United States drag scene |
| Summary | In this paper, I will aim to answer how disabled drag performers with multiple marginalized identities navigate the drag scene in the United States through data gathered from interviews with drag artists who embody multiple identity intersections. Drawing on disability feminist theory, I will reiterate the importance of including disability as an intersection of analysis in feminist praxis and practice, arguing that incorporating disability deepens, expands, and enriches feminist theories. As disability is rarely a topic of discussion in many fields, my research will add to scholarship (or lack thereof) on the intersections of disability, multiple marginalized identities, sexuality, and gender performance. Framing my research in the theories of genderfucking by June Reich (1993), cruising utopia by José Esteban Muñoz (2009), visibility from Petra Kuppers (2001), and intersectionality by Kimberlee Crenshaw (1989), my research questions include: how do disabled drag performers navigate their intersectionality in the United States drag scene? What constraints and possibilities does this marginalization provide? How do disabled, queer, trans, performers of color create their own spaces within the scene? My methodology includes semi-structured qualitative interviews with current disabled drag artists in California, USA to establish the effects and implications of embodying disability and multiple minority identities in the United States drag scene. The findings suggest that the drag scene in the United States is a space for visibility for individuals who face barriers to equality in society; however, these spaces are not always equitable for full inclusion and participation for artists with intersectional identities. The research finds that navigating disability and multiple intersectional identities has pushed drag artists who identify within these intersections to create their own spaces, or “utopias,” outside of, but within, the mainstream drag scene. |
| Supervisor | Yoon, Hyaesin |
| Department | Gender Studies MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2024/cox_bethany.pdf |
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