State University of New York at Stony Brook Stony Brook, NY 11794 Krin Gabbard Chair Comparative Studies 516 632-7460 27-Jan-1997 01:54pm EST FROM: KGABBARD TO: Remote Addressee ( [log in to unmask] ) Subject: Mae West and Drag Queens Dear Colleagues, A friend writes: A Claudia Roth Pierpont article on Mae West in the NEW YORKER cites Marybeth Hamilton's book on Mae West as "pinpointing" West's creation of her sexual persona as taking place while she (West) was watching drag queens in the two gay productions she put on. Is that a fairly common idea or is it Hamilton's own? If the latter, is it now well-enough accepted to mention without defending in detail? All comments welcome. Krin ---- To signoff SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]