Drag is not Womanface

This chapter examines the impact of the appropriation of ‘womanhood’ as represented by drag performance. Drag is compared with ‘blackface’ to consider if drag has a negative impact on women, particularly in providing a space for mobilising portrayals of women and stereotypes that deny women agency or are morally offensive and misogynistic. Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of minor literature is presented as a framework to distinguish between appropriation of identity that disempower marginalised social groups and ‘inappropriation’ strategies, which challenge disempowering standards that coercively shape and marginalise on the basis of identity. The implications for rethinking the practice and marketisation of drag performance are subsequently considered through the insights of a ‘minor gender’ lens.