Drag Culture

Sontag, S. (1964). Notes on “Camp.” Retrieved November 12, 2007, from

http://interglacial.com/~sburke/pub/prose/Susan_Sontag_-_Notes_on_Camp.html

Rogers, M. (1999). Hetero Barbie? In G. Dines & J. Humez, (Ed.), Gender, race, and

class in media (pp. 94-97).

Cohen, B. (Producer), Beane, D. (Writer), & Kidron, B (Director). (1995). To Wong

Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar [Motion picture]. United States:

Universal Pictures.

Mulroy, T., Snell, C. (Writers), & Roberts, B. (Director). (1997). New York and Queens
Television series episode]. The Drew Carey Show. Los Angeles: American

Broadcasting Company.

Machlis, N. & Danon, M. (Producer), May, E. (Writer), & Nichols, M (Director). (1996).

The Birdcage [Motion picture]. United States: MGM Distribution Company.

November 12, 2007
Due to drag culture’s emphasis on extravagance and being glamorous it can be considered camp. Media examples of drag culture include To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar, The Birdcage, and an episode of The Drew Carey Show titled “New York and Queens.” These examples show the importance of costumes and props and emphasis on character.
In To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything Julie Newmar the opening scene reveals all the preparation needed to look female including hair, make-up, and undergarments. The wardrobe was representative of each of the main character’s personas. This relates to Sontag’s (1964) “Notes on Camp” and the idea that camp is the glorification of character. Vida Boheme was representative of classic beauty wearing elegant ball gowns and carrying herself in a stately way. Noxeema Jackson was adventurous, wild, and full of attitude represented by her gold and animal print wardrobe. Senorita Chi-Chi showed off her Latina roots with her vibrant colored outfits. The drag queen beauty pageant in the beginning of the film allowed the three main stars and other drag queens to show off their personas.
The Drew Carey Show episode titled “New York and Queens” portrayed the feud between competing drag shows, The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Priscilla Queen of the Desert. The over-the-top viewers’ costumes support the notion that the “hallmark of camp is the spirit of extravagance. Camp is a woman walking around in a dress made of three million feathers” (Sontag, 1964). The Rocky Horror Picture Show side had overtly sexual costumes and yet felt uninhabited to do the “time warp.” The Priscilla Queen of the Desert side had feathered head pieces as well as glittered and sequined costumes while “shaking their groove thing.”
The opening sequence in The Birdcage introduces the audience to the club environment and entertainers. The entertainers at first glance could pass as females as a result of “femininity being a manufactured reality entailing a lot of artifice, a lot of clothes and a lot of props” (Rogers, 1999, p.99). It is not until the wardrobe change where the performers undress and reveal their stuffed bras, genital constricting underwear, and masculine physique that the audience knows they are male.