Building Global Labor Solidarity: Lessons from the Philippines, South Africa, Northwestern Europe, and the United States

ate context-specific gender expectations to embody masculinities that are culturally and geographically legible to others in the American South—both on and off stage (p. 63). At the same time, Rogers takes care to highlight discursive shifts among drag kings in the South that point to gendercritical performances and notes the prevalence of feminist identification and beliefs among the drag kings they interview (pp. 132–33). Ultimately, Rogers’s intersectional approach illuminates the complexities of drag identities and performances in the South while maintaining a macro-level analysis of power. In one section, for example, they analyze how performances by kings of color are perceived through the lens of racial ideologies that frame masculinities of color as performative, while attending to the specific ways that masculinities of color have been constructed against white masculinities in the South (p. 83). In another section, they examine how essentialist gender ideologies inform conflicts over whether drag should be limited to ‘‘other-gender’’ performances (or ‘‘impersonations’’), leading some trans kings to fear that transition will disqualify them from continuing to participate in their drag communities (p. 41). In yet another section, they link the lower pay and subordination of drag kings to drag queens in the South with more widespread patterns of gender inequity and patterned under-resourcing of lesbian spaces at the national level (pp. 39, 125). All these dynamics and more are meticulously excavated and explored throughout King of Hearts, which presents a holistic portrait of drag kinging in the American South and makes a compelling case for the necessity of spatial analysis in studies of identity, performance, and community. A unique look into drag identities and performances, this book is an essential read for scholars of gender and sexuality looking to contextualize their analyses of gender and sexuality. Moreover, Rogers’s clear explanation of complex theories and concepts means that King of Hearts will provide an interesting and informative read for people who are new to the field but interested in better understanding how gender identity is performed and experienced both on and off stage.