Gender Performance

From the Freak Show to Modern Drag

Abstract

This paper explores how gender performance in
the freak show grew into the modern drag scene
as we know it today. By examining some of the
modern elements of drag, it is possible to see how
these performers circumvented the laws, prejudices, and discrimination aimed towards them to
create a booming industry where drag queens
appear on national television and are treated with
the respect that they had previously been denied.