FEMALE IMPERSONATION & GENDER NORMS

Abstract

This qualitati ve study tends to ex plore th e phenomenon of drag in Pak istan. It aims to deve lop an und erstandin g of how female impersonators revea l th e pe rfo rmati ve nature of gend er through a displ ay of non-normative behav ior. My position on Pak istani Drag in relati on to this th esis is that Female Im pe rsonators in Pak istan chall enge and disru pt heteronormati ve gender norms through their perfo rmance . Being a third world woman, I have in corporated my take on drag from th e feminist lens to ex plore and und erstand how Pak istani Female Im pe rsonators appropri ate drag to make it relata bl e fo r th e peop le of lo ca l cultures. Aim i ng to understand the degree to wh ich perfo rmers ide nti fied with the normati ve femininity they perform ed, this study argues fo r a more compl ex und erstanding of what moti va tes individuals to become drag queens, one that incorpo rates female impersonators' un iq ue subjecti ve und erstand in gs of thei r own gend er identities. Overall , this study ca lls for a more holisti c perspecti ve on female impersonati on, whi ch does not limit itse lf to anyone theoretica l model of drag. The stud y analyzes th e in te rviews and performances of Pak istani female im personators includin g Moee n Ak hta r, Ali Sa leem and Mohammed Mo iz through a cri tica l approach to elaborate that drag queens rebuke hete ronormati ve gender norms and re-shape their id entities whil e adapting a ge nder non co nforming behav ior. Thus, the results of this resea rch he lp us understand how female impersonators revea l the perfo rmati ve nature of ge nder and establish th at gende r and id entity are fluid