GIRLFRIEND

A lively and eye-opening look at drag scenes around the world by a dynamic writer-photographer duo. Drag is out there, and most of us know what it’s about. Or do we? From La Cage aux Folles to k.d. lang, drag has been part of the entertainment mainstream for some time, but in a limited way. In an attempt to push the boundaries of our understanding of drag, New York Times Magazine style editor Brubach has teamed up with photographer O’Brien. Why, Brubach ponders, is drag currently celebrating its heyday in America? Her answer—at a time when men and women freely wear clothing of the opposite sex and when “the culture of exhibitionism . . . and the fitness craze have legitimized people’s urge to make a spectacle of themselves,” drag has become attractive and compelling. It is where “art, performance, and fashion converge.” Brubach puts her thesis and her questions about gender assumptions to a cross-cultural test, exploring drag’s local and universal features. Individual chapters read like New Yorker pieces (no coincidence, as part of the book appeared in that magazine), characterized by a fluid style and an ironic distance coupled with seriousness of investigation. Each covers the scene, the personalities, and the cultural particularities of drag centers such as Rio de Janeiro, Berlin, Tokyo, New York, Bangkok, and Miami. In each, our perceptions of both drag and the locale are stretched by the world Brubach evokes. Kabuki and Japanese drag come together in her essay on Japan, as do Berlin’s decadent culture and the fall of the Berlin wall. We meet professional drag queens, drag party organizers, occasional drag dressers, and women attending a course for drag kings. With the exception of the latter, who appear more confused than anything, everyone is having lots of fun. Attuned to the power of the visual in modern life, Brubach proves an astute reporter on men’s bid for womanly beauty. (80 color photos) (Author tour)