About

The study:

This research is affiliated with the Department of Sociology & Criminology at the University of Iowa. It is being conducted as a part of a graduate dissertation project focused on the experiences of women drag queens & femme drag performers. It is a qualitative project collecting data in the form of participant interviews & observations.

The researcher (in his own words):

My name is Jay Sorensen and I’m a PhD candidate in the Dept. of Sociology at the University of Iowa. I’m pursuing my PhD in sociology because I want to contribute to the documentation and study of our evolving social landscape. My primary research interests are gender & sexualities, identity & boundary work, media & popular culture, qualitative methodologies, & harm reduction processes.

I invite interested parties to ask any questions about myself, my own identities, and my intentions behind this study: drag-study@uiowa.edu; (319) 346-4490; DM on Instagram.

Examining our social world through the critical lenses of gender, race, and class is essential to the further progress of women, trans identified folks, and those living outside of established binaries of gender. We live in a time of uncertainty and fear surrounding social issues and I believe that academics and researchers have an integral role to play in the creation of a more just society. This dissertation project is an important first step in achieving that goal.

Why drag? Why women in drag?

I’m originally from Denver, CO, the first city I saw and fell in love with drag performance. Since sneaking into my first show underage at a now defunct gay bar (r.i.p. JR’s…), seeking out drag performance of any kind quickly became a mainstay in my social life as a queer young adult. I was fortunate to be in a city with a rich drag history and LGTBQ nightlife, so I was able to enjoy drag performances of all kinds during my time in the mile high city. Drag performance has fascinated me from a sociological standpoint because it presents opportunities to push against established gender norms, yet also reveal even more about what is under the surface of such gender norms during the process.

Drag queens & drag performance have gained unprecedented mainstream popularity in the recent decade, so it is important that social research presents an accurate portrait of the diversity of drag performance. Though women have a storied history in the world of drag, popular culture portrayals & understandings have focused primarily on the experiences of cisgender gay/bisexual/queer male performers.

Given the recent politicization of and attack on drag and drag performers, amplifying voices of all drag artists is essential. Though this project is being produced for the purposes of academic study, collected data and results will be analyzed with a public audience in mind. Upon completion of this project, information and experiences shared by study participants will not simply disappear behind an academic publication paywall and will be readily available to all interested parties once I am able to share the final product.