High-end queens and low-brow bears

Intersections between class and gender in gay male subcultures - This talk examines the discursive construction of gendered identities in gay male communities, focusing on drag queens and bears (a subculture centered around being heavyset and hairy). Research with African American drag queens in Texas in the 1990s is reviewed, showing how language is used to index an upper-class drag queen identity associated with the speech of white middle-class women. In contrast, the emergence of bears in the same period witness the appropriation of working-class Southern stereotypes in the language used by bears. These opposing patterns are used to explore the intersections between class, race, and gender within gay male communities.