Just enjoy the show : drag performance in Singapore

• Main Author: Leong, Joelle Wei Qing
• Other Authors: Ian Rowen
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Social sciences
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/73703
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

Drag queens, who are gay men, generally fall out of place in society since they do not conform to the dominant boundaries that have been demarcated for them. The category of being a queer individual is illegitimate in as much as gay marriage is not legalized here. Hence the struggle they face is a lack of an acknowledged identity and therefore a denial of legitimacy and power as a homosexual individual in a heteronormative society. This research explores how doing drag in Singapore is more than just a show, it is a negotiation strategy for gay men to find their place and identity. Following a social constructionist and symbolic interactionist perspective, coupled with a framework by Bourdieu, we explore how the social process of negotiating identity, legitimacy and power plays out in the domains of space, the body and persona as well as social interactions for drag queens.