Since this was written by a PhD holder, I'm going to ask what I hope is perceived as a academic question regarding current drag aesthetics. As an old fart, I was part of the early 1980s disco scene - vivid memories of the release of "It's Raining Men". Half of the gay men I knew were into drag, and I attended many of their shows.

I would never attend a drag show today - and here's why: the early 80's queens I knew looked like they walked off the red carpet of the Oscars. Elegant, Understated. Like "real" women - if you didn't notice the Adam's Apple or the near 7' height - you'd honestly think a glamorous celebrity had come to town.

Now? I'm not sure what this is - this over the top, garish excess of make up and wigs. It is merely another example of humans pushing the envelope as far as it will go? The evolution of beauty products with so many more products available? Or, it just seems like excess to a tomboyish straight girl such as myself, totally out of the loop as to what women are wearing at clubs these days - maybe many women DO look like this and I'm merely unaware? In the early 80s, the drag queen model appeared to be a typical Hollywood actress/Broadway star in formal dress. What is the model today?

I welcome a link to a scholarly article as I'm keen to discuss art/creativity/design even if I don't like it. I HATE Chagall with a passion, yet I'll study his paintings anyway.

@1. If Water's Divine and the Gordon of Greek myth had a baby, this is what it would look like.

Why? Who knows? But the aesthetic has been accompanied by gender ideology. Perhaps creating a serious, representational illusion of the female form is considered passe. What is presented seems purposely sloppy, or exaggerated or ambiguous, and that may be the point. After all, we are living in a time when women have penises and men might menstruate, so perhaps our current crop of drag queens are the Adonis, the talisman of the church of a 1000 genders.