Q: How many feminists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
A: That's not funny!

--old joke popular among liberal arts students

My friend, Kate was recently molested in public by a drag king. Although it was part of a public performance, no one knew it was going to happen. I couldn't help but feel guilty and even slightly jealous as this display of PDA was occurring just inches away from my naïve yet curious eyes. Needless to sayafter such a display we were all shocked and taken aback. It was events like these that made me think of the possible reasons the religious fanatics would have for opposing "the gay agenda."

Drag queens have always been the center of the drag world. Let's face it - they're glamorous, fun and certainly not hard to come by. My firsthand experience with drag kings is unfortunately limited to theaforementioned incident. And as open as I (and many others like me) try to be to kings, we have very little to draw on. Most of the female cross-dressers in the public eye (Brandon Teena) tend to don men's clothing more as a way to feel comfortable, yet without the desire to be discovered. There isn't anything ostentatious about the need to feel safe in one's own skin. To see drag kings take the stage, laughing with the audience at the man she has created is a new and often uncomfortable experience as Venus Boyz documents.

The film starts off slow, but it draws us in with the fascinating myriad of kings and their stories. The film transforms into an informative, intelligent, poignant look at the world of drag kings, answering many never-before asked questions. It's difficult to be critical of a film that covers a timeless subject, which is still widely ignored if even discovered. As the people (the labeling of ones gender varies) reveal their connections to performing in drag, the line between us and them all but disappears.

The few noticeable inanimate technical aspects of the film play a supporting role to the interviewee. The New York skyline is a constant backdrop in several interviews; it is almost impossible to ignore the Twin Towers; a constant reminder of the universal phallus - an obvious, yet seldom acknowledged part of our society that runs deep in the blood of the world and especially America.

Perhaps the reason that a lot of these kings are not as fun as the queens is that their transformation into the opposite sex is more of a release, a shift of power and escape from living as the "inferior" gender. One king commented that women spend their lives trying to please others; they are expected to be attractive and nice; if they're loud or abrasive they're called bitches. Dressing as a man offers an escape. It is a way to walk in someone else's (much bigger and probably uglier) shoes, to feel the power as well as laugh at the absurdity of it.

A few kings who remained in drag after leaving the stage noticed changes in the way they were treated. They felt that as "men," they were taken more seriously and treated more respectfully. I can not help but feel that this is a central point as to why queens have more fun, it seems it's easier to take on the role of someone with lower status knowing that it is just a performance and moments later your inborn power will once again take control of your life.

In my few (yet not infrequent) experiences as being mistaken as male, I too, have felt a sudden burst of strength and self- importance (even more than usual). It's thrilling and satisfying, yet I realize it's not going to last. As good as it feels there is a certain amount of pain and longing involved. Not what that cock sucking cigar-smoker Freud would call penis-envy, but the desire to be treated equally.

One could go on for hours about the topic of transvestitism and gender roles. Venus Boyz brings some of these questions and ideas to the forefront in a very candid, yet good-humored way… that even an ardent self-righteous feminist like myself can find it heartwarming, entertaining and above all, funny.

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