A BRIEF HISTORY OF DRAG KINGS

From Ancient China’s Yuan Dynasty to the music halls of Victorian England to activist Storme Delarverie, who was at the forefront of the Stonewall riots in New York, drag kings have been around for centuries. Typically performed by women and nonbinary people, drag kinging probably began simply as an entry point for women performers to get on stage, and evolved to impersonate, critique, and often caricature masculinity.

In 2019, the final of Europe’s biggest drag king competition, Man Up, sold out a 750-person venue. Drag kings, although not as recognized as queens, have in recent years been gaining popularity across the UK. In this talk by a London-based king, we will explore what is at the route of this art form and where it originated.

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Yas Necati is a British/Turkish writer, trainer, drag king, and queer history nerd based in London. They explore themes of queer and trans identity, migrant identity, mental health, recovery, community, and resistance in their work. They have performed at The Jago, The Glory, The Yard Theatre, and Stratford’s old town hall for nights including Turkish Delight, Queer Cinema, Queer Newham, and Speak=. They have written on drag for publications including The Independent and emerging drag culture magazine, Louche. Outside of getting creative, they campaign on gender-based and queer based-rights, run workshops on self-care, and hang out with their three excessively fluffy cats.

OTHER CLASSES THIS TERM INCLUDE!ONLINE NOW!

11TH JAN – EMPRESS THEODORA: Goddess, Slave, Wife, Whore? – Dr George Bartlett

18TH JAN – ENVISIONING BLACK WOMANHOOD IN ART AND POETRY – Amanda Holiday

25TH JAN – THE VULVA’S PILGRMIAGE: Medieval Genitalia Badges – Dr Noam Yadin Evron

1ST FEB – A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE VAGINA DENTATA – Flora Bradwell

8TH FEB – A BRIEF HISTORY OF DRAG KINGS – Yas Necati

15TH FEB – MIRROR MIRROR: A History of Female Self Portraits – Maria Bonner

THESE CLASSES WILL BE PUBLISHED IN EARLY JANUARY

22ND FEB – FEMINIST ARTISTS AND THEIR ALTER EGO’S – Lena Chen

1ST MARCH – WOMEN WHO KILL: GENDER AND MURDER BIAS PART 2 – Dr Kimberly Baltzer Jaray

8TH MARCH – THE LEGACY OF THE FEMME FATALE – Dr Katie da Cunha Lewin

15TH MARCH – BRUJA: LIVING WITCHCRAFT IN LATIN AMERICA – Paola Lindo

22ND MARCH – THE WOMEN WHO SPEAK WITH PLANTS: How plant-knowledge breaks patriarchal archetypes – Anna Souter

29TH MARCH – ENVIRONMENTAL COLLAPSE AND THE RISE OF MODERN WITCHCRAFT – Anna Titov