A drag queen is a person, usually male, who dresses in drag and often acts with exaggerated femininity and in feminine gender roles. Often they will exaggerate certain characteristics such as make-up and eyelashes for comic, dramatic or satirical effect. While drag is very much associated with gay men and gay culture, there are drag artists of all sexualities. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly in dedication, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once, or those who simply prefer clothing and makeup that is usually worn by the opposite sex in their culture. Drag queens can vary widely by class and culture. Other drag performers include drag kings, women who perform in male roles and attire, faux queens, who are women who dress in an exaggerated style to emulate drag queens, and faux kings, who are men who dress to impersonate drag kings.

Robert Rodi (born 1956 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American novelist, playwright, comic book writer, essayist, and performance artist.

Biography

Much of his fiction centers on gay themes and several of his novels are named after archetypes of gay male culture. Rodi himself is openly gay. The Chicago settings of his books also reflect his background.

Rodi's short fiction is collected in a number of anthologies, including Men on Men 5 and Neil Gaiman's The Sandman: Book of Dreams. His comic book work has appeared in Marvel Comics, the DC Comics imprint Vertigo, and other independent publishers. He was also well known in comic book circles during the '60s and '70s as a prolific writer of "letters to the editor" (as Bob Rodi).

Rodi was a founding member of the Chicago-area performance group The Pansy Kings and contributed plays and performed at the Live Bait Theatre.

His novel Kept Boy is in post production and scheduled for a 2016 release.

Bibliography

Novels