"Protesting with my Body"

            In the longest reading, “Chicks with Dicks, Men in Dresses: What It Means to Be a Drag Queen”, Verta Taylor focuses on determining the gender role that drag queens establish for themselves.  His findings do not only suggest that the process of becoming a drag queen help most males find and establish a new identity but through the new identity these individuals are able to do things that they would never do in the gender role of a male, as Robert states:

“As Inga I can do things I could never do as Roger, I would never do” (pg 124).

Throughout the study, Verta Taylor witnesses a variety of reasons to why drag queens decided to follow this particular path. The scale of masculinity, and femininity varies depending on the individual.

            Aside from the main findings, what I found really interesting is how they use their body as a form of protesting. In my opinion, being open and expressing themselves through this identity shows that regardless of the gender norms, drag queens continue to live their lives as they are.  Since our society has always been afraid of the unfamiliar, drag queens portray their identity in a non-violent way to make people realize that what they stand for might be different but it is their way of life. When I thought about the way they protest it made me think about the cool pose, the cool pose was first established in the social structure of African Americans, it was also a way for them to protest in a non-violent way. To this day, despite history, and all the discriminatory circumstances these groups encounter, they used their body as a form as protest because any other way could potentially lead to the reinforcement of stereotypes. Drag queens, and under represented minorities have found ways to use their body to protest and in my opinion the methods used have been successful.

            Lastly, in my notes I clearly state that this particular section of the sociology of the body has made me realize that the readings assigned capture the extremes of gender roles. Any reality show can be used as an example, but Jersey Shore serves as a perfect example for this phenomenon. Throughout the seasons, certain gender roles are established, and the cast treats their bodies in a particular way. Overall, the show got so popular because it portrays the stereotypes of Italians to an extreme.