Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret [Hardcover]

Leila J. Rupp (Author), Verta Taylor (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226731588 | ISBN-13: 978-0226731582 | Publication Date: May 15, 2003 | Edition: 1

It's Saturday night in Key West and the Girlie Show is about to begin at the 801 Cabaret. The girls have been outside on the sidewalk all evening, seducing passersby into coming in for the show. The club itself is packed tonight and smoke has filled the room. When the lights finally go down, statuesque blonds and stunning brunettes sporting black leather miniskirts, stiletto heels, and see-through lingerie take the stage. En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" blares on the house stereo. The crowd roars in approval.

In this lively book, Leila J. Rupp and Verta Taylor take us on an entertaining tour through one of America's most overlooked subcultures: the world of the drag queen. They offer a penetrating glimpse into the lives of the 801 Girls, the troupe of queens who perform nightly at the 801 Cabaret for tourists and locals. Weaving together their fascinating life stories, their lavish costumes and eclectic music, their flamboyance and bitchiness, and their bawdy exchanges with one another and their audiences, the authors explore how drag queens smash the boundaries between gay and straight, man and woman, to make people think more deeply and realistically about sex and gender in America today. They also consider how the queens create a space that encourages camaraderie and acceptance among everyday people, no matter what their sexual preferences might be.

Based on countless interviews with more than a dozen drag queens, more than three years of attendance at their outrageous performances, and even the authors' participation in the shows themselves, Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret is a witty and poignant portrait of gay life and culture. When they said life is a cabaret, they clearly meant the 801.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

It's Saturday night in Key West and the Girlie Show is about to begin at the 801 Cabaret. The girls have been outside on the sidewalk all evening, seducing passersby into coming in for the show. The club itself is packed tonight and smoke has filled the room. When the lights finally go down, statuesque blonds and stunning brunettes sporting black leather miniskirts, stiletto heels, and see-through lingerie take the stage. En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" blares on the house stereo. The crowd roars in approval.

In this lively book, Leila J. Rupp and Verta Taylor take us on an entertaining tour through one of America's most overlooked subcultures: the world of the drag queen. They offer a penetrating glimpse into the lives of the 801 Girls, the troupe of queens who perform nightly at the 801 Cabaret for tourists and locals. Weaving together their fascinating life stories, their lavish costumes and eclectic music, their flamboyance and bitchiness, and their bawdy exchanges with one another and their audiences, the authors explore how drag queens smash the boundaries between gay and straight, man and woman, to make people think more deeply and realistically about sex and gender in America today. They also consider how the queens create a space that encourages camaraderie and acceptance among everyday people, no matter what their sexual preferences might be.

Based on countless interviews with more than a dozen drag queens, more than three years of attendance at their outrageous performances, and even the authors' participation in the shows themselves, Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret is a witty and poignant portrait of gay life and culture. When they said life is a cabaret, they clearly meant the 801.

About the Author

Leila J. Rupp is a professor of women's studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of several books, including Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement and A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America.

Verta Taylor is a professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is the author of two books, including Rock-a-by Baby: Feminism, Self-Help, and Postpartum Depression, and the coeditor of Feminist Frontiers VI.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 272 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press; 1 edition (May 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226731588
• ISBN-13: 978-0226731582
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #101,663 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I am a feminist and a lesbian, and those identities have shaped all of my writing. I came to feminism in college in the late 1960s--I read Simone de Beauvoir's The Second Sex in the summer of 1969--and I was hooked. There was no such thing then as women's studies, but my professors were very supportive of my passion for studying women in all of my classes. I majored in history and wrote an honors thesis on women in the labor force in Nazi Germany, and in graduate school I discovered U.S. women's history and wrote a dissertation that became my first book, Mobilizing Women for War: German and American Propaganda, 1939-1945.

After teaching in a temporary position at the University of Pennsylvania for a year, I was fortunate to be hired at Ohio State University, where I stayed for 25 years. That's where I met my partner, Verta Taylor, in 1978. We've been together ever since (and even got married in California for our 30th anniversary as a political statement). In 2002 we moved together to the University of California, Santa Barbara, where she is chair of the Department of Sociology and I am a faculty member in the Department of Feminist Studies (chair from 2003-2007) and now also Associate Dean of Social Sciences.

My first foray into lesbian history grew out of Survival in the Doldrums: The American Women's Rights Movement, 1945 to the 1960s, the first project Verta and I worked on together. I published a piece called Imagine My Surprise in the journal Frontiers about the problem of writing about women who look to us like lesbians and lived in a context in which a lesbian identity was available but who seemed to refuse such an identity. One of my colleagues told me I would be embarrassed by this article, but it remains my most cited piece.

While working on my book Worlds of Women: The Making of an International Women's Movement, which took me back to my roots in European history, Marty Duberman asked me to contribute a book on U.S. gay/lesbian history to the young adult series on gay topics launched by Chelsea House. I was engrossed in my research but attracted to the idea, but then right-wing agitation against the series sent the project down the drain. But the fiasco led me to write A Desired Past: A Short History of Same-Sex Love in America, my first attempt to make queer history accessible.

And then Verta and I ran into Sushi, the Key West drag queen who is now featured every New Year's Eve on CNN inside a giant red high-heeled slipper dangling above Duval Street, ready to drop down at the stroke of midnight. Our first encounter with the drag show at the 801 Cabaret led to our book, Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret. It was a first for me, writing about the present instead of the past.

My new book, Sapphistries: A Global History of Love between Women, grew out of a class I teach by the same name and is also indebted to my involvement in the world history program at Ohio State. It an audacious project: a global history, from the beginning of time to the present, of love, desire, and sex between women, in an accessible style. It brings together my feminism, lesbianism, and commitment to a global vision.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Read for All, January 9, 2007

By 

PhillyMike "Mike" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret (Hardcover)

I just finished reading this book and was very impressed with how well the authors bring you into the lives of the draq queens at the 801. I have been to Key West many times and have been to several of the drag shows at the 801. While reading the book I felt like I was there sharing in the experiences and lives of the 'girls' who do so much good for their community and for the gay community. This book is a must read for all people...gay, straight bi etc. (especially if you don't know much about this facet of the LGBT community). You will get a kick out of all the antics, gain a better understanding of drag queens, and will grow to appreciate & love all of the girls covered in this book. Also...If you love Key West then you will love this book. The authors really express the mood and spirit on this island that makes so many tourists wish they were locals.

4.0 out of 5 stars Great story, December 7, 2008

By 

Lee E. Couchman "He who shops" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret (Hardcover)

I met Susi at the 801 cabaret. Her show "Hush" was the best drag I've seen in years! And I'm from Louisville Kentucky, home of the Connection, and I'm told one of the best drag bars known to gay man. I told her how much I loved the show and she told me about the book.
When I returned from Key West I ordered 2 copies from Amazon. The book tells the stories of the drag queens at the 801 Cabaret. Not always glamorous but fun to read and oddly insightful. When I returned to Key West I took the books and had her Autograph them. I gave one to my brother for his birthday.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining but needed more complex insight, February 27, 2007

By 

J. Perez "JP of SD" (San Diego, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Drag Queens at the 801 Cabaret (Hardcover)

Two profs write 211 pages describing the details including the antics of this fabulous Key West club at the 801 Cabaret. The narratives are descriptive of the relationships between the drag queens, the personal histories of each of them, and vivid descriptions of their performances. You'll be entertained, however, I personally wish they went into more complex detail as to their repeated reiterrations at the end of each chapter that drag queens are questioning gender, femininity, masculinity, etc. We already know this. How about breaking down what all this means instead of quickly glossing over it in the last chapter?