Indexing Polyphonous Identity in the Speech of African American Drag Queens

Abstract

Abstract In this chapter, I examine the presence and use of a “white-woman” style of speaking among African American drag queens (hereafter AADQs). I hope to demonstrate that a close examination of this language use suggests an ambivalent, sometimes critical, sometimes angry, view of white-ness that does not lend itself to a simplistic explanation of “wanting to be white.” After discussing the issue of drag itself, I will discuss the ways in which AADQs create a “white-woman” linguistic style. However, this style of speaking is only one voice used by AADQs. The complete set of linguistic styles together index a multilayered identity that is sometimes strongly political with regard to issues of racism and homophobia.