This study examines how music is utilized in drag performances to create an oppositional culture that challenges dominant structures of gender and sexuality. I situate this analysis in literature on the role of music and other cultural resources in the mobilization of social movement protest. Drawing from multiple sources of data, I demonstrate that drag queen performers make use of popular songs to build solidarity, evoke a sense of injustice, and enhance feelings of agency among audience members – three dimensions of cognition that constitute a collective action framework, conducive to social protest.
The analysis is based on observations of drag performances; content analysis of the lyrics of drag songs; intensive interviews with drag queens at the 801 Cabaret in Key West, Florida; focus groups with audience members who attended the shows at the 801 Cabaret; and interviews with drag queen informants in Columbus, Ohio. I demonstrate how drag performers use music to construct new alliances and understandings of gender and sexuality among gay and heterosexual members of the audience. The data illustrate that drag performers strategically select songs to evoke an array of emotions among audience members. First are songs that utilize sympathy, sorrow, and humor to build solidarity. These include songs that are intended to educate heterosexuals about gay life as well as songs that parody heterosexuality. Second are songs that express rage and anger over dominant conceptions of gender and sexuality, thus fostering a sense of injustice. Third are songs that heighten audience members’ perceptions of agency by portraying images of powerful women and demonstrating the ability to live one’s life outside of hegemonic gender and sexual constraints.
During drag shows, audience members and performers alike engage in gendered and sexual behaviors that transgress binary categories of homosexual/heterosexual and feminine/masculine. Drag shows thus constitute oppositional cultures, or free spaces, where participants enact behaviors that are suppressed in the dominant culture and build politicized views of gender and sexuality. This study therefore provides an empirical example of how music is used as a cultural resource to challenge dominant institutions and construct collective action frameworks necessary to mobilize political protest.