View source for Drag king

{{Short description|Mostly female performance artists who dress and behave in masculine way for performance}}
{{distinguish|Female queen (drag)}}
[[File:Sackville Gardens.jpg|thumb|A drag king performer|275x275px]]
{{Crossdressing}}
{{LGBTQ sidebar}}
'''Drag kings''' have historically been mostly female [[performance artist]]s who dress in [[masculinity|masculine]] [[Drag (clothing)|drag]] and personify male [[gender stereotype]]s as part of an individual or group routine.<ref name="Competitive Drag Kings Strut Stuff">{{cite web |last=Aronoff |first=Jen |title=Competitive Drag Kings Strut Stuff: With some spit and polish, women perform in growing world of cross-dressing pageantry |publisher=[[The Daily Gamecock|The University of South Carolina Daily Gamecock]] |date=2005-10-19 |url=http://media.www.dailygamecock.com/media/storage/paper247/news/2005/10/19/TheMix/Competitive.Drag.Kings.Strut.Stuff-1025370.shtml|access-date=2007-07-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016152029/http://media.www.dailygamecock.com/media/storage/paper247/news/2005/10/19/TheMix/Competitive.Drag.Kings.Strut.Stuff-1025370.shtml |archive-date=2007-10-16 }}</ref> As documented in the 2003 ''Journal of Homosexuality,'' in more recent years the world of drag kings has broadened to include performers of all gender expressions'''.'''<ref name="Surkan 161–186">{{Cite journal |last=Surkan |first=Kim |date=2003-04-01 |title=Drag Kings in the New Wave: Gender Performance and Participation |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1300/J082v43n03_10 |journal=Journal of Homosexuality |language=en |volume=43 |issue=3–4 |pages=161–186 |doi=10.1300/J082v43n03_10 |pmid=12769278 |s2cid=24470462 |issn=0091-8369|url-access=subscription }}</ref> A typical [[drag show]] may incorporate dancing, acting, [[stand-up comedy]] and singing, either live or [[Lip sync|lip-synching]] to pre-recorded tracks.<ref name="Drag King Contest by Dujour">{{cite web |last=Dujour |first=Dick |title=Drag King Contest |work=[[San Francisco Bay Times]] |date=2006-08-24 |url=http://www.sfbaytimes.com/?sec=article&article_id=5448 |access-date=2007-07-29 |archive-date=2022-09-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922063432/https://sfbaytimes.com/?sec=article&article_id=5448 |url-status=live }}</ref> Drag kings often perform as exaggeratedly [[Machismo|macho]] male characters,<ref name="Best of Sacramento - Drag King: Buck Naked">{{cite web |last=Beckner |first=Chrisanne |title=Best of Sacramento - Drag King: Buck Naked |work=[[Sacramento News & Review]] |date=2005-09-29 |url=http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=44107 |access-date=2007-07-29 |archive-date=2022-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921220757/https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/Content?oid=44107 |url-status=live }}</ref> portray characters such as construction workers and rappers, or impersonate male celebrities like [[Elvis Presley]], [[Michael Jackson]] and [[Tim McGraw]].<ref name="Bring Out the Kings!">{{cite web |last=Long |first=Cris |title=Bring Out the Kings!: Gage Gatlyn |publisher=Out Impact |date=2007-07-22 |url=http://www.outimpact.com/foldeddollarbillsready/dragkings/gagegatlyn.html |access-date=2007-07-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929120809/http://www.outimpact.com/foldeddollarbillsready/dragkings/gagegatlyn.html |archive-date=2007-09-29}}</ref> Drag kings may also perform as personas that do not clearly align with the gender binary. Drag personas that combine both stereotypically masculine and feminine traits are common in modern drag king shows.<ref name="Surkan 161–186"/>

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, several drag kings became British [[music hall]] stars and British [[pantomime]] has preserved the tradition of women performing in male roles. Starting in the mid-1990s, drag kings began to gain some of the fame and attention that [[drag queen]]s have known.<ref name="GAGE FOR YOURSELF">{{cite web |title=Gage For Yourself |publisher=Watermark Online |date=2005-09-22 |issue=#1219 |url=http://www.watermarkonline.com/content.php?cid=313 |access-date=2007-07-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070824144740/http://www.watermarkonline.com/content.php?cid=313 |archive-date=2007-08-24}}</ref><ref name="Inside Sydney's drag king culture">{{cite web |last=Caceda |first=Eden |title=Inside Sydney's drag king culture |publisher=Hijacked |date=2015-01-13 |url=http://hijacked.com.au/inside-drag-king-culture-with-sexy-galexy |access-date=2015-01-20 |archive-date=2022-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220920171924/http://hijacked.com.au/inside-drag-king-culture-with-sexy-galexy}}</ref>

==History and terminology==
[[File:HettyKingDark.jpg|thumb|175px|A 1907 sheet music cover of "I'm Afraid to Come Home in the Dark" featuring singer and male impersonator [[Hetty King]].]]
[[File:Wild Side Story "America" 1977.jpg|thumb|Drag king character ''Macho'' (far right) in the "America" number of ''[[Wild Side Story]]'' in Los Angeles in 1977.]]

While the term ''[[:wikt:drag king|drag king]]'' was first cited in print in 1972,<ref>Oxford English Dictionary cites {{Citation | last = Rogers | first = Bruce | title = The Queen's Vernacular: A Gay Lexicon  | publisher = Straight Arrow Books | year = 1972 | isbn = 9780879320263 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=aQtjAAAAMAAJ}}</ref> there is a longer history of female performers dressing in male attire. In China, the practice of "female men [characters]" (''kunsheng''; see also [[Sheng role|''sheng'' roles]]), in which women portrayed men in stage performances, was first documented during the middle [[Tang dynasty]] (617–908 CE).<ref name="explained">{{cite web |url=https://www.vox.com/23190129/drag-kings-masculine-performance-gender |title=Drag kings, explained by drag kings |last=Chakraborty |first=Ranjani |date=June 30, 2022 |website=Vox |access-date=June 24, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630185018/https://www.vox.com/23190129/drag-kings-masculine-performance-gender |archive-date=June 30, 2022}}</ref><ref name="history">{{cite web |url=https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/drag-kings-history/ |title=Drag kings: a brief history of male impersonators |date=February 23, 2022 |website=History Extra |access-date=June 24, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223173126/https://www.historyextra.com/period/general-history/drag-kings-history/ |archive-date=February 23, 2022}}</ref> This continued through to the early [[Qing dynasty|Qing]] dynasty, when the [[Qianlong Emperor]] banned actresses from performing in 1722. It was revived in the late 19th and 20th centuries as the ban on actresses was loosened.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hui-ling |first=Chou |date=1997 |title=Striking Their Own Poses: The History of Cross-Dressing on the Chinese Stage |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1146629 |journal=[[TDR (journal)|TDR]] |volume=41 |issue=2 |pages=130–152 |doi=10.2307/1146629 |jstor=1146629 |issn=1054-2043 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=2023-09-22 |access-date=2022-09-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230922205159/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1146629 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In theatre and opera, there was a tradition of [[breeches role]]s and [[en travesti]].<ref>{{Citation  | last = Senelick | first = Laurence | title = The changing room: sex, drag and theatre| publisher = Routledge | year = 2000 | isbn = 978-0-415-15986-9}}</ref>  In France and Italy in the 17th century, women would play male roles in a form of theater called ''commedia dell'arte''.<ref name="history" /> Actress and playwright [[Susanna Centlivre]] appeared in breeches roles around 1700.<ref name="history" /><ref>{{Citation  |last1=Pix |first1=Mary |last2=Finberg  |first2=Melinda |title=Eighteenth-century women dramatists |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2001 |page=xviii  |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3GkyRMvh348C&pg=PR18  |isbn=978-0-19-282729-6}}</ref> The first popular male impersonator in U.S. theatre was [[Annie Hindle]], who started performing in New York in 1867.<ref name="explained" /><ref>{{Citation  | last = Ferris | first = Lesley  | title = Crossing the stage: controversies on cross-dressing  | publisher = Routledge | year = 1993  | page = 90 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=lDBlGeCHjj0C  | isbn = 978-0-415-06269-5}}</ref> In 1886, she married her dresser, Annie Ryan.<ref>{{Citation  | last = Duggan | first = Lisa | title = Sapphic slashers: sex, violence, and American modernity  | publisher = Duke University Press | year = 2000  | page = 147 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ino_gj6djj8C&pg=PA147| isbn = 978-0-8223-2617-5}}</ref>

British music hall performer [[Vesta Tilley]], who cites American male impersonator [[Ella Wesner]] as an inspiration,<ref name="explained" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Fuller |first=Sophie |title=Queer episodes in music and modern identity |last2=Whitesell |first2=Lloyd |date=2002 |publisher=University of Illinois Press |isbn=978-0-252-02740-6 |location=Urbana, [Illinois] |pages=127}}</ref> was active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries as a male impersonator.<ref name="history" /><ref>{{Citation  | last = Maitland  | first = Sarah  | title = Vesta Tilley  | publisher = Virago  | year = 1986  | isbn = 0-86068-795-3}}</ref> Tilley gave her last performance in 1920, and retired until her death in 1952.<ref name="history" /> Other male impersonators on the British stage were [[Ella Shields]] and [[Hetty King]].<ref>{{Citation  | last = Slide  | first = Anthony  | title = Great pretenders: a history of female and male impersonation in the performing arts  | publisher = Wallace-Homestead Book Co.  | year = 1986  | isbn = 978-0-87069-474-5}}</ref>  Vaudeville entertainer [[Florence Hines]] was popular for her act in the 1890s.<ref name="Abbott">{{cite book |last1=Abbott |first1=Lynn |title=Out of Sight: The Rise of African American Popular Music 1889-1895 |date=2009 |publisher=University Press of Mississippi |isbn=978-1-4968-0004-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IwSiDwAAQBAJ&q=%22Florence+Hines%22}}</ref><ref name="Ryan">{{cite book |last1=Ryan |first1=Hugh |title=When Brooklyn Was Queer |date=2019 |publisher=St. Martin's Publishing Group |page=57 |isbn=978-1-250-16992-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZZ9aDwAAQBAJ&q=Florence+Hines |access-date=January 13, 2024}}</ref> Blues singer [[Gladys Bentley]] performed in male attire in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco from the 1920s through 1940s.<ref name="explained" /><ref>{{Citation  | title = Gladys Bentley articles  | date = June 2004  | publisher = Queer Music Heritage  | url = http://www.queermusicheritage.us/jun2004gb2.html  | access-date = 2009-11-27  | archive-date = 2010-05-12  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100512022259/http://www.queermusicheritage.us/jun2004gb2.html  | url-status = live  }}</ref> In the early 1900's, Go-won-go Mohawk was "likely the first Indiginous male impersonator."<ref name="explained" />
[[Stormé DeLarverie]] performed in male drag as the [[MC]],<ref name="explained" /> and sole female performer, of the drag troupe the [[Jewel Box Revue]] in the 1950s and 1960s. She is featured in the documentary ''Storme: The Lady of the Jewel Box''.<ref>{{Citation  | last1 = Klotman | first1 = Phyllis Rauch | last2 = Cutler  | first2 = Janet K. | title = Struggles for representation: African American documentary film and video  | publisher = Indiana University Press  | year = 1999 | page = 168  | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=9egX1te2g7cC&pg=PA168  | isbn = 978-0-253-21347-1}}</ref> While the [[Stonewall riots]] of June 1969 were a series of spontaneous uprisings by many people, DeLarverie—who was the first to fight back against the police brutality—is believed to have provided the spark that ignited the riot.<ref name=StormeAdvocate>{{Cite news|url=https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/people/2014/05/27/stonewall-veteran-drag-king-icon-storm%C3%A9-delarverie-dies-93|title=Stonewall Veteran, Drag King Icon Stormé DeLarverie Dies at 93|date=May 27, 2014|access-date=October 12, 2017|archive-date=October 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171012202353/https://www.advocate.com/arts-entertainment/people/2014/05/27/stonewall-veteran-drag-king-icon-storm%C3%A9-delarverie-dies-93|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=NYTobit>Yardley, William (May 29, 2014) "[https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/nyregion/storme-delarverie-early-leader-in-the-gay-rights-movement-dies-at-93.html?_r=0 Storme DeLarverie, Early Leader in the Gay Rights Movement, Dies at 93] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210629051822/https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/30/nyregion/storme-delarverie-early-leader-in-the-gay-rights-movement-dies-at-93.html?_r=0 |date=2021-06-29 }}" in ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Rick | first = Bragg | title = From a Night of Rage, the Seeds of Liberation | newspaper = New York Times | date = 1994-06-23 | url = https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/23/nyregion/from-a-night-of-rage-the-seeds-of-liberation.html | access-date = 2009-09-12 | archive-date = 2010-07-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100702211732/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/23/nyregion/from-a-night-of-rage-the-seeds-of-liberation.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Elsie Saldana, otherwise known as El Dana started performing in 1965, and as of 2024 was still performing.<ref name="explained" /> 

Drag king culture in Australia flourished in [[lesbian bar]]s from the 1990s and 2000s, but began to fade in the 2010s.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Drysdale|first=Kerryn|title=Strapped, packed and taking the stage: Australia's new drag kings|url=http://theconversation.com/strapped-packed-and-taking-the-stage-australias-new-drag-kings-79747|access-date=2020-09-26|website=The Conversation|date=17 July 2017|language=en|archive-date=2017-07-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170717214229/http://theconversation.com/strapped-packed-and-taking-the-stage-australias-new-drag-kings-79747|url-status=live}}</ref> In the UK, Drag Couple [[Adam All]] and Apple Derrieres set up Drag King Cabaret night 'BOiBOX' in 2013 in Soho’s Candy Bar, a queer women’s venue that closed in 2014. While they were worried about finding enough performers to make their talent night work ‘Because there were barely any stages for us to perform [on], very few drag kings were actively pursuing gigs,’ BOIBOX inspired a new wave of budding kings<ref>{{Cite web|last=Levine|first=Nick|title=Meet the founders of Boi Box, London's vital drag king talent showcase|url=https://www.timeout.com/london/news/meet-the-founders-of-boi-box-londons-vital-drag-king-talent-showcase-091818|access-date=2024-04-27|website=TimeOut|date=18 September 2018 |language=en}}</ref> and celebrated ten years in 2023 with a show at The Phoenix Arts Club in London's Westend, with a surprise appearance from [[Landon Cider]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=BOiBOX Drag King Cabaret - 10th Anniversary Show|url=https://broadwaybaby.com/shows/boibox-drag-king-cabaret-10th-anniversary-show-/800691|access-date=2024-04-27|website=Broadway Baby|language=en}}</ref>

The term ''drag king'' is sometimes used in a broader sense, to include female-bodied people who dress in traditionally [[Masculinity|masculine]] clothing for other reasons. This usage includes women temporarily attempting to [[Passing (gender)|pass]] as men and women who wish to present themselves in a masculine [[gender role]] without identifying as a man. [[Diane Torr]] began leading Drag King Workshops in 1989 that offer women a lesson in passing as men.<ref>{{Citation | last = Halberstam | first = Judith | title = The Subcultures Reader | chapter = Drag Kings: Masculinity and Performance (1998) | publisher = Routledge | year = 2005 | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=USl1G-903EwC&pg=PA410 | isbn = 978-0-415-34416-6}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last1 = Rapi | first1 = Nina | last2 = Chowdhry | first2 = Maya | title = Acts of passion: sexuality, gender, and performance | publisher = Routledge | page = 237 | year = 1998 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ZD0yi6a7od0C&pg=PA237 | isbn = 978-0-7890-0370-6}}</ref> Torr was featured in the 2002 film on drag kings ''[[Venus boyz|Venus Boyz]]''.<ref>{{Citation | last = Kramer | first = Gary | title = Independent queer cinema: reviews and interviews | publisher = Routledge | page = 165 | year = 2006 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=tiw7ET-wCWwC&pg=PA165 | isbn = 978-1-56023-343-5}}</ref>

Drag kings have historically been more marginalized by [[pop culture]] than [[drag queen]]s, who began playing a larger role in mainstream pop culture from the late 20th century onwards.<ref name=Vogue /> Drag kings have also historically been marginalized in academic [[LGBT studies]].<ref>{{Cite thesis|title=Identity construction and community building in Austin's drag king culture|url=https://repositories.lib.utexas.edu/handle/2152/47276|date=May 2006|degree=Thesis|first=Melissa Suzanne|last=Koonce}}</ref> Recently,{{when|date=July 2023}} drag kings have started to play a slightly more visible role in the [[LGBT community]]. ''Sleek Magazine'' described this renaissance of drag king culture in a 2019 article titled "What's behind the drag king revolution?"<ref>{{Cite web|title=What's behind the drag king revolution?|url=https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/the-drag-king-revolution/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=www.sleek-mag.com|language=en|archive-date=2020-09-19|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200919032449/https://www.sleek-mag.com/article/the-drag-king-revolution/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The British drag king collective 'Pecs', a troupe made up entirely of women and [[Non-binary gender|non-binary]] people, was founded in 2013 and went on to perform at [[Soho Theatre]] and The Glory.<ref>{{Cite web|title=These Drag Kings Are the Only Royalty We Acknowledge|url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/drag-kings-pecs-photos/|access-date=2020-09-26|website=Vice.com|date=14 March 2019 |language=en}}</ref> In 2016, director Nicole Miyahara produced ''The Making of a King'', a documentary film chronicling the lives of contemporary drag kings in [[Los Angeles]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Nichols|first=James Michael|date=2016-09-28|title=You May Know About Drag Queens.. But Do You Know Your Drag King History?|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-making-of-a-king-indiegogo_n_57ec01a6e4b024a52d2c3607|access-date=2020-09-26|website=HuffPost|language=en|archive-date=2021-02-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210208083036/https://www.huffpost.com/entry/the-making-of-a-king-indiegogo_n_57ec01a6e4b024a52d2c3607|url-status=live}}</ref> The first drag king to appear in a television show was New Zealand artist and comedian [[Hugo Grrrl]] who won the inaugural season of the New Zealand [[reality competition]] [[House of Drag]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|last=george.fenwick@nzherald.co.nz|first=George Fenwick George Fenwick is an entertainment writer for The New Zealand Herald|date=2018-12-20|title=House of Drag winner Hugo Grrrl on his 'life-changing' win|language=en-NZ|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12179574|access-date=2020-03-11|issn=1170-0777|archive-date=2020-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205045758/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=12179574|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2019, American artist [[Landon Cider]] was the first drag king and cisgender woman to appear on a televised US drag competition when he won the third season of ''[[The Boulet Brothers' Dragula]]''.<ref name="history" /><ref>{{Cite magazine|date=2019-10-29|title='Dragula' Season 3 Winner: Landon Cider Takes The Crown|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8541256/dragula-season-3-winner-landon-cider|access-date=2020-07-15|magazine=Billboard|archive-date=2020-08-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200813024908/https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/pride/8541256/dragula-season-3-winner-landon-cider|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="wratten" /> In June 2022, three drag kings made a guest appearance in series one of ''[[Drag Race France]]'',<ref>{{cite web |title=Queen Pour Cent |url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21115238/ |website=IMDb |publisher=IMDb.com Inc |access-date=2 June 2023}}</ref> the first time the [[Drag Race (franchise)|''Drag Race'' franchise]] included drag kings.

==Drag community==
[[Image:Murray Hill by David Shankbone.jpg|thumb|[[Murray Hill (performer)|Murray Hill]], [[New York City]] comedian and downtown [[performance artist]].<ref name="wratten" />]]

A British lesbian [[cabaret]] organization called [[Lesburlesque]] made it part of their mission to promote drag kings on the wider British cabaret circuit. Their founder Pixie Truffle gave an interview to the ''Guardian'' newspaper in the United Kingdom on her desire for drag kings to close the gap with queens and with male stand-up comedians.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/shortcuts/2012/aug/26/drag-kings-standup-women-comedy |title=The Guardian Interview with Pixie Truffle about the rise of Drag Kinging |work=[[The Guardian]] |date=26 August 2012 |access-date=26 August 2012 |archive-date=17 December 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141217195923/https://www.theguardian.com/stage/shortcuts/2012/aug/26/drag-kings-standup-women-comedy |url-status=live }}</ref>

Similar to some drag queens who prefer to be seen as actors—like [[Justin Bond]] and [[John Epperson|Lypsinka]]—some drag kings prefer not to be pigeon-holed by the ''drag king'' label. "I think when people assume that somebody is [[queer]], or different, or [[transgender|trans]], they always want to put something before their name," said [[Murray Hill (performer)|Murray Hill]] in an interview. "And that is what drag king has been. Why can not you just call me a [[comedian]] like [[Jerry Seinfeld]] is called a comedian?"<ref>{{Cite news|last=Brune|first=A. M.|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/mar/28/murray-hill-comedian-drag-king-transgender-performance|title=Murray Hill: 'I'm more than a drag king. Why can't you just call me a comedian?'|date=2016-03-28|work=[[The Guardian]]|access-date=2020-03-07|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=2019-04-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190414025822/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/mar/28/murray-hill-comedian-drag-king-transgender-performance|url-status=live}}</ref>

In recent years,{{when|date=July 2023}} some drag king performers have adopted other terms to describe their own performance styles, particularly if they deviate from the more traditional forms of "kinging". Common names including "gender blurring" acknowledge the merging of both male and female traits in the performances. Vancouver performer Rose Butch adopted the ambiguous label "drag thing".<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/kings-of-the-night-new-era-of-gender-dynamics-offers-drag-kings-a-brighter-spotlight-1.3467418|title=Kings of the night: New era of gender dynamics offers drag kings a brighter spotlight|last=Friend|first=David|date=June 20, 2017|website=CTV News/The Canadian Press|access-date=June 26, 2017|archive-date=February 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210213134755/https://www.ctvnews.ca/entertainment/kings-of-the-night-new-era-of-gender-dynamics-offers-drag-kings-a-brighter-spotlight-1.3467418|url-status=dead}}</ref> Long-time performer Flare called the stage of drag king styles that emerged in Toronto's scene in the mid-2010s as "unicorn drag".<ref name=":0" />

==Tools of gender illusion==
{{Main|Methods of passing as male}}'''Face:''' One method drag kings use to modify their facial features is burning a wine cork and smudging it along the jaw to create the illusion of a beard or stubble.<ref name=":02">{{Cite web|last=Stortz|first=Sarah|title=Kings of Drag: The secrets behind the fake beards|url=https://dailyiowan.com/2018/09/05/kings-of-drag-the-secrets-behind-the-fake-beards/|access-date=2020-07-28|website=The Daily Iowan|archive-date=2018-11-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113003944/https://dailyiowan.com/2018/09/05/kings-of-drag-the-secrets-behind-the-fake-beards/|url-status=live}}</ref> Kings may aim to deepen the colour of their eyebrows or create a fuller look with dark eyeliner or other makeup. Similarly some methods call for layering liquid eyeliner over the cork ash, or dark makeup, base.<ref name=":02" /> When trying to achieve a realistic look, drag kings may add crepe hair over the makeup using glue, thus completing the illusion of a full beard.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web|title=Watch: BuzzFeed Video - Women Transform Into Drag Kings|url=https://www.buzzfeed.com/watch/video/14258|access-date=2020-07-28|website=BuzzFeed|language=en|archive-date=2020-07-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728201145/https://www.buzzfeed.com/watch/video/14258|url-status=live}}</ref>

'''Look:''' Drag kings also make use of items such as socks and silicone prosthetics when packing,<ref>{{Citation|last=Stevens|first=Phillips|title=Culture and sexuality|date=2014-11-17|encyclopedia=The International Encyclopedia of Human Sexuality|pages=1–8|place=Oxford, UK|publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd|doi=10.1002/9781118896877.wbiehs110|isbn=978-1-118-89687-7|doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|editor1=Whelehan, Patricia|editor2=Bolin, Anne|title=The international encyclopedia of human sexuality|year=2015|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |isbn=978-1-78684-299-2|oclc=985403957}}</ref> creating the illusion of a phallus between the legs.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shapiro|first=Eve|date=2007|title=Drag Kinging and the Transformation of Gender Identities|journal=Gender and Society|volume=21|issue=2|pages=250–271|doi=10.1177/0891243206294509|jstor=27640961|s2cid=145789681|issn=0891-2432}}</ref><ref name=":13"/>

'''Stage Presence and Performance:''' An important part of gender illusion, this refers to the way a drag performer utilizes body language and takes up space on stage. Some kings will incorporate more aggressive choreography into their routines to emulate or expand on stereotypical masculine characteristics.<ref name=":02"/> Accessories, rhinestones and elaborate costumes contribute to a drag king's performance.<ref name=Vogue>{{Cite web|last1=Mitchell|first1=Stef|last2=Phelps|first2=Nicole|date=2018-03-08|title=Gender Renegades: Drag Kings Are Too Radical for Prime Time|url=https://www.vogue.com/projects/13541679/drag-kings/|access-date=2020-07-28|website=Vogue|language=en-US|archive-date=2023-05-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230526203957/https://www.vogue.com/projects/13541679/drag-kings/|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Breast binding===
Body shaping apparel, most commonly binders, kinesiology tape, and sports bras, are used to create the look of a flat chest.<ref name=":13"/> For hiding one's breasts some use a method involving cutting a hole in the crotch of [[pantyhose]] for the head and making sleeves out the legs.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/community/how-to-be-a-drag-king/ |title=How to: be a drag King |date=April 25, 2008 |website=Lesbilicious |access-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-date=May 24, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524012127/http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/community/how-to-be-a-drag-king/}}</ref> Some drag kings use silicone chest plates that are pulled over the head to create a muscular, masculine chest shape and cover the breasts.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==In entertainment==
===In film===
* The 1941 musical movie ''[[Babes on Broadway]]'' included [[Judy Garland]] in black male drag singing a song "Franklin Delano Jones", about a fictional first black president of the United States.<ref>{{cite book |last=Dennis |first=J. P. |title=We Boys Together: Teenagers in Love Before Girl-craziness |year=2007 |publisher=[[Vanderbilt University Press]] |isbn=9780826515575| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jHn_xT0f3pgC&q=%22Franklin+Delano+Jones%22&pg=PA149 }}</ref>
* ''[[Victor/Victoria]]'' (1982)
* ''[[Connie and Carla]]'' (2004)
* ''[[Rebel Dykes]]'' (2021)<ref name="history" />

===In TV===
* ''[[The Boulet Brothers' Dragula]]''<ref name="history" /><ref name="wratten" />
* ''[[King of Drag]]'' (2025-)<ref name="wratten">{{cite web |url=https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/28/king-of-drag-cast-release-date-judges-host-drag-race/ |title=Is King of Drag the new Drag Race? Everything we know about the groundbreaking new drag king reality show |last=Wratten |first=Marcus |date=May 28, 2025 |website=Pink News |access-date=June 24, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250528160656/https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/05/28/king-of-drag-cast-release-date-judges-host-drag-race/ |archive-date=May 28, 2025}}</ref>

===In literature===
* In the manga ''[[Moriarty the Patriot]]'', [[Irene Adler]], an associate of [[Sherlock Holmes]] and the titular [[Professor Moriarty|Moriarty brothers]], has a drag king persona of a [[Espionage|spy]] named [[James Bond (literary character)|James Bonde]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbr.com/moriarty-the-patriot-episode-16-james-bonde-trans-rights/ |title=Moriarty the Patrot Takes a Positive Stance on Trans Rights |last=Collins |first=Hannah |date=April 27, 2021 |website=CBR |access-date=July 1, 2021}}</ref>

===In music===
* [[Little Mix]] presented as drag kings in the music video for their 2021 song "[[Confetti (Little Mix song)|Confetti]]".<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9565650/little-mix-saweetie-confetti-video/ |title=Little Mix and Saweetie Flip the Gender Script in 'Confetti' emix Video |last=Kaufman |first=Gil |date=April 30, 2021 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=July 1, 2021 |archive-date=July 11, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210711112111/https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/pop/9565650/little-mix-saweetie-confetti-video/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

== See also ==
<!-- PLEASE NOTE: See also lists are for wikilinks not yet added to the article, please keep these in alphabetical order and remove whenever they are introduced into the text -->
{{div col}}
* [[AFAB queen]]
* [[Genres Pluriels]]
* [[Lesbianism]]
* [[Lesburlesque]]
* [[List of drag kings]]
* [[List of transgender-related topics]]
* [[Pepi Litman]]
* [[Postgenderism]]
* [[Principal boy]]
* [[Queer]]
* [[Takarazuka Revue]]
* [[Tomboy]]
* [[Transvestism]]
* [[Travesti (theatre)|Travesti]]
* ''[[Of Drag Kings and the Wheel of Fate]]'' (novel)
{{Div col end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book|last1=Halberstam|first1=Judith "Jack"|last2=Volcano|first2=Del LaGrace|title=The Drag King Book|date=1999|publisher=[[Serpent's Tail]]|location=London|isbn=978-1852426071}}

== External links ==
;Drag king resources
<!-- Please Note: these links are for actual resources for drag kings and those interested in learning more about the art; other links added will be removed if not clearly belonging in this category -->
* [http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/community/how-to-be-a-drag-king/ 'How to be a drag king' by London king Lenna Cumberbatch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090524012127/http://www.lesbilicious.co.uk/community/how-to-be-a-drag-king/ |date=2009-05-24 }}
* [http://www.andersontoone.com Anderson Toone's drag king time-line with photos and events]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070422210924/http://www.dantedifranco.com/TheBook.htm Art of Drag Kinging by Dante DiFranco]
* [http://www.dragkingdom.de Drag Kingdom, Germany king networking and events site]
* [http://www.sfdragkingcontest.com/ San Francisco Drag King Contest, the oldest (and possibly largest) drag king event]
* [http://citizenwangstudio.com/ UK and Irish Drag Kings, Drag King Photography]
* [https://archive.today/20130203145901/http://www.technodyke.com/drag/default.asp Technodyke's drag king archived articles and interviews]
* [http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyofeaturestoriesarchive249/245/tokyofeaturestoriesinc.htm Girls will be boys] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911053646/http://archive.metropolis.co.jp/tokyofeaturestoriesarchive249/245/tokyofeaturestoriesinc.htm |date=2016-09-11 }}: an article on the otokoyaku, or male role players, of the all-female Japanese [[Takarazuka Revue]]
* Radio Documentary, ''The Drag King Show'', produced by JD Doyle for [http://www.queermusicheritage.us/aug2011.html Queer Music Heritage] including interviews with Anderson Toone and Leigh Crow.

{{Drag performance}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drag King}}
[[Category:Drag (entertainment)]]
[[Category:Drag kings| ]]
[[Category:Gay masculinity]]
[[Category:Gender roles]]
[[Category:Gender roles in the LGBTQ community]]
[[Category:Performance art]]