Zamora 1

Yesenia Zamora
Professor Beadle
English 115
1 November, 2016
gender expectations are such a DRAG
In and out of media, men have certain expectations and criteria that society expects them
to meet. Out of the media and in normal society, from a young age boys are taught to be tough, to
play with masculine toys, to not show any kind of weakness, and to not act feminine. In the
media men are either set to portray powerful business men with successful careers, or shown to
appeal to a female audience with sexualizing their bodies and being praised for looking tough
and masculine. But in certain instances these ideals for media representation are broken.
For example, looking into Danny Noriega's photo spread for Queen Magazine as his alter ego
Adore Delano, a well known drag queen who placed 2nd on the sixth season of the competitive
reality television show Rupaul's Drag Race. Who broke out of traditional masculine portrayals
and stepped on new ground to break gender norms in the media.
As an artistic artist who first appeared as his male self on American Idol he gained
popularity back in 2014 as the charismatic Adore Delano. Danny performs and appears as Adore
due to being able to put on make up and express his creativity as if he were using a super heroes
mask. Being able to embrace his own femininity and creativity which isnt easily achieved when
being his normal male self. He felt that his creativity stemmed out so much to be bottled up into
one gender, and it makes him feel liberated to be something/ someone else for a change instead
of living life normally through societies boxed ideas of what a man should be. His ideals come to
life in his photo shoot for Queen Magazine. Breaking away from the average male photo shoot

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such as showing a savvy professional business man or a handsome sex symbol. Stepping
down from the clich media half naked photo-shoots, he instead appears in full makeup, with his
hair done up, and dressed in elegant gowns. Giving the audience the full illusion of a typical
elegant woman. Just in the imagery and color scheme it sets up the mood to show what isnt
always quite seen in any type of photo-shoot, male or female. Set in cool colors of different hues
of blue and purples gives the shoot a stern and sophisticated drive to go along the elegant and
powerful concept done for this shoot. Visually being used to show the growth one can make
when being watched by a larger audience, and that even when being a punk rock symbol ones
individuality can break away from sexualized media. Danny chose to show a mature
and statuesque version of himself and his self-growth. Shown in two different gowns to show a
beautiful feminine figure on a six-foot-tall man. Dripped in jewels from his head down to his
body embodying a luxurious woman. This photo-shoot exposes its target audience that female
characteristics can be a form of art, growth, and creativity in ones self. Also that it shouldnt be
used exclusively for women, creating gender fluidity between any gender as self-expression. It
breaks out of traditional masculine portrayals by using the art of drag to be proud of
a males feminine characteristics. Although most drag queens use their appearances as
exaggerated forms of femininity for comedic purposes not all do. Similar to Danny Noriega drag
art form, some queens use it to stray away from the male physique and into showing their
appreciation for female beauty and strengths. This presents the public their gratefulness for that
beauty to the rest of the world mostly for the gay community, revealing that lately there is a
narrow definition of what masculinity should be.
Not long ago the concept of masculinity has found itself as a focus in the gay
community. Male gays althoughcategorizedas a whole, it contains its own subcultures. One

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being the most taboo and less looked upon, the Drag community. The Drag community consist
ofcisgenderand transgendered individuals who perform and entertainwithinthe community as
drag queens or kings. Mostly found at late hours of thenightperforming in gay nightclubs, Drag
performers impersonate the opposite gender, performingexaggerated characteristics and features
of that gender through musical, comical, and theatrical shows.Although being well known for its
creativeness it is still highly looked down upon. Dominance and masculinity is looked for and
praised within the gay community just as it is in society in general. Showing how reinforced the
stereotype of the ideal man is in any type of community. It begins to notify the world that no
matter what type of person you are, if you identify as male there is some certain
criteria youd have to meet. This concept in the gay community has its own name, categorized as
straight-acting. Which in the LGBTQ+ community straight-acting is one who does not show
the typical appearance or mannerisms found within the gay community. In The Association
Between Gay Men's Stereotypic Beliefs AboutDrag Queens Their EndorsementofHyper
masculinity by CJ Bishop, Mark Kiss, Todd Morrison, Damien Rushe, and Jaqueline Specht
pinpoints the concepts consequences: "A masculine disposition ("straight acting") and antifeminine attitudes have become desirable traits among some members of the gay community
(Clarkson, 2006). As a result, drag queens have yet to experience the same level of acceptanceas
"straight-acting" gay men; indeed, some have expressed feeling minimized and discounted by a
gay community that now seemingly prefersmasculineideals (Berkowitz&Belgrave, , 2010)
(Bishop, Kiss, Morrison, Rushe, Specht 555). Further shows the reader that the community that it
lately leans more towards a more masculine and strong type of man versus one who is more
flamboyant and feminine. Also that no matter the kind of category, people are constantly looking
for a masculine figure to look up to and be like.

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Society has been impacted to gain a fear of having any type of feminine features and/or
characteristics which begin to causea situation calledFemi-negativity.It has society think that
anything associated with femininity is bad or isnt up to par with concepts associated with being
a man or masculine. This quote from No Way My Boys Are Going To be Like That: Parents
Responses toChildren'sGender Nonconformity" by Emily Kane touches on parents antifeminine views on their sons: "Along with these icons of feminine gender performances, and
arguably directly linked to them, is the other clear theme evidentamongsome parents' negative
responses toperceivedgendernonconformityon the part of their sons: fear that a son either
would or would beperceivedas gay." (Kane, 96). Begins to givean example that before a young
boy can decipher whether or not he is gay, there is a fear brought upon from early age showing
that hyper masculinity needs to be practiced. Evenwithinthe gay community. Holding onto
ideals from the heterosexual community begins to create more barriers for the men who come
out as homosexual and do not want to be overlooked as more feminine apart from being gay.due
to drag consisting ofportrayinga femaleappearance,they are looked down upon by "straightacting" gays similar to the way the gay community is looked at by the heterosexual community.
It begins to start a never ending cycle of having a negative aspect on the idea offemininityand
trying to make it purely a manly mans world. Looking at Becoming Members of Society: The
Social Meaning of Gender " by Aaron Devor we see that: Societydemandsdifferentgender
performances from us and rewards, tolerates, or punishes us differentlyfor conforming to, or
digression from, social norms" (Devorp. 35). If one strays away from following this masculine
identity, they are held onto to certain consequences. Young boys are encouraged not to be
feminine because straying away from masculine characteristics can come with punishments.

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Such as punishment from a parent, being bullied by classmates, or even beginning to obtain selfhatred.
Well into adult hood these social norms are branded into a males brain and taught to stay
away from being perceived as feminine, giving back into this constant cycle of anti-feminine
characteristics or roles in men. Although there can be benefits into having these traditional roles
of practicing masculinity which can help strengthen our communities. It should not be forced
upon and punished into our society by both men and women, to then be practiced by our
children. Instead of being harsh and strict on how it should be practiced, it should be left upon as
a choice and be practiced more flexible and in a safe manner.It is becoming a concept thats
learned and absorbed through every generation. Following up into the article Advertisinginduced Social Comparison and Body-image Satisfaction: The Moderating Role of Gender, Selfesteem and Locus of Control by HaroldOgden, we learn why society tends to follow one
another on these bias ideals: " According to the original social comparison theory, human beings
have a drive to evaluate their opinions and abilities throughcomparisonswith others, especially
in the absence of objective standards" (HaroldOgden, p. 52),showing that thesestraightacting
gay men act and present themselves in this light of amanlyman in order to compare
themselves within the views that heterosexual men are looked up to be, and use this to disregard
flamboyant and expressive gay males the way heterosexual men might do to women or to gay
men. Looking at a community that is built on being prideful and different is still stuck on longestablished social patters and have adjusted it to become their own norms. Those norms being
that the only way to be heard, make a difference, or be taken seriously by others is to be a
masculine well brought up man.

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Although running along those lines of teachings there isnt much truth to them. Between
all these new ideals, flexibility in gender, and its vast spectrum, even those who do not meet
these masculine requirements have begun to make a difference. Even though the drag subculture
and its femininity in the media is looked down upon by both the heterosexual and its very own
homosexual community it has always aught to shed light on various topics. Now becoming a part
of the main stream its fulfils impacts from within and outside of its own community. Thanks to
the platform such asRupaul'sdrag race and social media, Drag has now made it into the main
stream and educating the viewers around the world about the beauty of drag, self-love, and
acceptance. This acceptance being welcomed by family, one's self, or your very own
community. Drag and Drag queens have brought awareness to topics of homelessness, trans
issues, self-love/ help, and processing to end the fight within the gay community to spread that
same equality with the rest of society. These influences can spark change in the community and
start a wider spectrum of acceptance. Being able to fluidly express ones self to not push gender
so harshly on how a community need to be seen. Straying away fromhavingthe media depict
menandwomen the way that it does. Just as in the simple action Danny Noriega and his own
magazine spread on Queen Magazine and how many others on other platforms have shown that
although there is no reason not to have the benefit of traditional roles, being able to find fluidity
in the spectrum of masculinity and femininity doesnt have to be foreign within society. We as
people should learn that there does not have to be a black and white category where one category
one ups the other.
Genderrepresentationshould go beyond just having a good looking woman, a wellbuilt professional man and vice versa. All and every type of people from various hues of the
gender spectrum should be out and represented. From feminine men, to strong masculine and

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hardworking women,to androgynous and gender fluid individuals. Ones way of expressing
themselves shouldnt becategorizedand molded into a box of what can and cannot be done and
felt. Showing boys and men to learn to have fun in whichever way they chose to do so such as
playing with trucks to playing with dolls, letting boys show emotions and cry and letting girls
play rough if they wantto, andto not bring upon punishment or be looked down upon for
showing characteristics thataren'tassociated with ones sex or gender.Letting one fit the role of
the everyday manly man and letting one stray away from those ideals altogether wont harm
anyone. The world needs to begin to educate themselves on the benefits of just being themselves
and expressing their very own creative self.

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Work cited
Bishop, CJ, Mark Kiss, Todd G Morrison, Damien M Rushe, and Jaqueline Specht. The
Association Between Gay Mens Stereotypic Beliefs About Drag Queens and Their
Endorsement of Hyper masculinity. Journal of Homosexuality, 61.4, 2014, pp. 554-567
http://www.tandfonline.com.libproxy.csun.edu/doi/pdf/10.1080/00918369.2014.865464?
needAccess=true
Devor Aaron. Becoming Members of Society: The Social Meaning of Gender. Composing
Gender, edited by Rachel Grener and John F. OHara, Bedford St Martins 2014, pp. 3543

Kane, W. Emily. no Way My Boys Are Going to Be Like That: Parents Responses to Children
Gender Non conformity. Composing Gender, edited by Rachel Grener and John F.
OHara, Bedford St Martins, 2014, pp. 91-97
Ogden, Harold. Advertising-induced Social Comparison and Body-image Satisfaction: The
ModeratingRole of Gender, Self-esteem and Locus of Control. Journal of Consumer
Satisfaction, Dissatisfaction and Complaining Behavior, 15, 2002, pp. 51-67

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http://search.proquest.com.libproxy.csun.edu/docview/204706840/fulltextPDF/5A3BCC5655654
0B7PQ/1?accountid=7285