The Drag King Book

Rating:
Summary: Your typical queer subculture fare but otherwise entertainin
Review: ...For most, the material may be groundbreaking and risque - and it should be - but I found it less than satisfying at times... It was more about performance art and I detect overtones of lesbian activism. Which is OK. It was more academic than racy. Which is not what I was looking for. Let's just say the artificial, cabberet-type setting of it all was... anti-climactic. And of course there are also those recurring themes about stretching the limits of the gender continuum, breaking the gender binary, coming up with new catagories to put these people in ect., etc..., But this book is not without its gems.

The photographs rank so-so in shock value but score high on "camp-itude". I think they've got an edge over their drag queen sisters who are limited to portraying 50's movie stars and "divas", very traditional, idealized caricatures of women. Drag kings can be fat, ugly, working-class, Joe Blows... One can quickly see that by just looking at the cover. Two of the models have quickly achieved pin-up status in my mind. Check out Jackie and Stafford on pp. 34-37! Aren't they darling? In one photograph, they are dressed in business suits. In the next two, they are topless and wearing matching (albeit different colored) pairs of Levi's...

I don't quite take to that Halberstam fellow. That scholarly pompitude and high-brow style she writes in is boring at times. Read "Female Masculinity" to really put you to sleep. She has reduced my fetish for butch women to a dry science. Sometimes she gets more technical than a medical journal. Fortunately, she's considerably dumbed down her writing in this book. And you get to read less from her because it's packed with more interviews with the drag performers themselves. I admit I found those a WHOLE lot more fun and informative...

Rating:
Summary: What took you so long boys? Women stand up and be counted!
Review: I bought this book after watching some amazing drag kings on The Maury Show--an experience which really knocked me out! Shows what an absolute obsession we all have with gender and our quest to find some kind of "truth" therein.I'm only half way through the book but just had to tell the world how extraordinary this new(?) subculture is. I loved the images and loved reading the interviews especially. You Go Boys & Girls!

Rating:
Summary: Fantasic photographs, insightful interviews and much more.
Review: I can't believe it's taken this long for Drag Kings to be seen and heard, but THE DRAG KING BOOK more than makes up for the wait. I had never heard of drag kings before I literally ran into this book and my eyes have been wide open ever since. As a novice in this field I found the book to be a very enjoyable read and the photographs pure pleasure. I had no idea that women could so convincingly impersonate such a wide range of men, and more than a few are stunningly sexy, even to a confirmed heterosexual woman such as myself. When are they coming to Texas?

Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to drag kings!
Review: I wanna be a drag king! How cool, how fun! Great pictures and a very easy read. Buy it! be it!

Rating:
Summary: Your typical queer subculture fare but otherwise entertainin
Review: I'm not really interested in the drag king "movement"... For most, the material may be groundbreaking and risque - and it should be - but I found it less than satisfying at times... It was more about performance art and I detect overtones of lesbian activism. Which is OK. It was more academic than racy. Which is not what I was looking for. Let's just say the artificial, cabberet-type setting of it all was... anti-climactic. And of course there are also those recurring themes about stretching the limits of the gender continuum, breaking the gender binary, coming up with new catagories to put these people in ect., etc.,... But this book is not without its gems.

The photographs rank so-so in shock value but score high on "camp-itude". I think they've got an edge over their drag queen sisters who are limited to portraying 50's movie stars and "divas", very traditional, idealized caricatures of women. Drag kings can be fat, ugly, working-class,... One can quickly see that by just looking at the cover. Two of the models have quickly achieved pin-up status in my mind. Check out Jackie and Stafford on pp. 34-37! Aren't they darling? In one photograph, they are dressed in business suits. In the next two, they are topless and wearing matching (albeit different colored) pairs of Levi's. ...

I don't quite take to that Halberstam fellow. That scholarly pompitude and high-brow style she writes in is boring at times. Read "Female Masculinity" to really put you to sleep. She has reduced my fetish for butch women to a dry science. Sometimes she gets more technical than a medical journal. Fortunately, she's considerably dumbed down her writing in this book. And you get to read less from her because it's packed with more interviews with the drag performers themselves. I admit I found those a WHOLE lot more fun and informative. Mo B. Dick and Dred are hilarious.

Rating:
Summary: Great book!
Review: Just want to let others know that this book is wonderful, and worth having on your shelf, for both the insightful commentary and the compelling photos. I'm working on a student film about drag kings in DC, and the book's great photographs have really enhanced the film. I highly recommend it.

Rating:
Summary: chicks with d**ks ... gotta love it!
Review: Run don't walk to the nearest webpage/bookstore and get yourhands on this book! You won't be sorry; see the cutest boyz putting a1990s spin on masculinity and sex like nothing you've seen before. See for yourself; you've seen the imitations: men performing masculinity on the Hollywood screen, reporters passing as men in king for a day workshops. Find the Drag King Book and see the originators; go on, don't be afraid, you know you want to. Girls who identify as boyz, who pass completely as boyz, 'kinging' it up onstage offstage and in and around just about every stage you could dream up! GO GO GO find this book, delight in the superb photographs, learn something and get bent! it changed my life and it'll change yours too!