--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Although drag has a long cultural history…" description: "\"Although drag has a long cultural history in America, it remained largely underground till the late 1980s.\" — Jenna Wortham" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/jenna-wortham-5508_1980s_although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-histor_1556721.jpg" --- # Although drag has a long cultural history in America, it… ![“Although drag has a long cultural history in America, it remained largely underground till the late 1980s.” quote by Jenna Wortham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/jenna-wortham-5508_1980s_although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-histor_1556721.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/jenna-wortham-5508_1980s_although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-histor_1556721.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/jenna-wortham-5508_1980s_although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-histor_1556721.jpg) > “Although drag has a long cultural history in America, it remained largely underground till the late 1980s.” [Jenna Wortham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-wortham/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Drag evolved from subcultural roots to mainstream visibility, especially after the 1980s when it began emerging from underground venues. **In simple terms:** Drag moved from hidden to mainstream after the 1980s. Key Takeaway Recognize and celebrate cultural shifts. Themes culture identity performance LGBTQ+ history Mood proud reflective Type observational historical When to use this quote - nightlife - pride events - media coverage - academic study Key Concepts subculture visibility media representation Questions to Reflect On - How has mainstream exposure changed drag’s community? - What challenges remain for drag artists today? A Different Perspective Mainstream acceptance can mask ongoing marginalization. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [1980s](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [America Remained](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america-remained-1286113/) [Drag](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drag/) [Drag Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drag-long-1331987/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Largely Underground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/largely-underground-3122616/) [Late](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/late/) [Late 1980S](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/late-1980s-1112002/) [Long](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long/) [Underground](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/underground/) ## Related quotes > [Colonel Otto, do you have a, perhaps, fuller and more detailed account than your preliminary one of why my Imperial Security building is now…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lois-mcmaster-bujold/colonel-otto-do-you-have-a-perhaps-fuller-and-more-detailed-account/) [Lois McMaster Bujold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lois-mcmaster-bujold/) > [By the late 1980s people realized that houses did not always appreciate and that they could fluctuate like any other market commodity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-chernow/by-the-late-1980s-people-realized-that-houses-did-not-always/) [Ron Chernow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-chernow/) > [Red Dust was about the late 1980s; it was a time of burgeoning hopes and opening up and people searching for new ways.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ma-jian/red-dust-was-about-the-late-1980s-it-was-a-time-of-burgeoning-hopes/) [Ma Jian](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ma-jian/) > [Mexico has experimented with political change since the late 1980s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enrique-pena-nieto/mexico-has-experimented-with-political-change-since-the-late-1980s/) [Enrique Pena Nieto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enrique-pena-nieto/) > [It was through watching documentaries on the BBC in the late 1980s that I first became interested in art and history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-olusoga/it-was-through-watching-documentaries-on-the-bbc-in-the-late-1980s/) [David Olusoga](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-olusoga/) > [It's not my thing to dance in my living room on a livestream, so I'm really having to figure out ways to elevate the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/violet-chachki/it-s-not-my-thing-to-dance-in-my-living-room-on-a-livestream-so-i-m/) [Violet Chachki](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/violet-chachki/) > [“The whites were right to be afraid. 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It feels like that again,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-f-tompkins/i-haven-t-seen-comedy-as-popular-as-it-is-now-since-when-i-started-in/) [Paul F. Tompkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-f-tompkins/) > [The recession of the late 1980s was a very visible humiliation. Cities across Britain had become the victims of botched battlefield surgery - surgery…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-beaufoy/the-recession-of-the-late-1980s-was-a-very-visible-humiliation-cities/) [Simon Beaufoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-beaufoy/) > [Republicans were more pro-choice than Democrats up until the late 1980s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-lepore/republicans-were-more-pro-choice-than-democrats-up-until-the-late/) [Jill Lepore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-lepore/) > [Like leggings, comedies created by women came into vogue in the late 1980s, exploded in the early '90s, went mainstream in the mid-'90s, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nell-scovell/like-leggings-comedies-created-by-women-came-into-vogue-in-the-late/) [Nell Scovell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nell-scovell/) ## More by Jenna Wortham > [We are being conditioned, as a population, to never wait, to never delay our gratification, to accept thoughtless, constant 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tweet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/the-types-of-ideas-protected-by-intellectual-property-law-typically/) [Jenna Wortham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-wortham/) > [Online, there is an irresistible social currency to being a user who has thousands of followers, who starts memes, who comes up with an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/online-there-is-an-irresistible-social-currency-to-being-a-user-who/) [Jenna Wortham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-wortham/) > [Someday, maybe we'll recognize that queer is actually the norm, and the notion of static sexual identities will be seen as austere and reductive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/someday-maybe-we-ll-recognize-that-queer-is-actually-the-norm-and-the/) [Jenna Wortham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-wortham/) [Explore all 100 Jenna Wortham quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-wortham/) ## More 1980s quotes > [There was a time in the 1980s when I worked in 22 films a year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/radha-ravi/there-was-a-time-in-the-1980s-when-i-worked-in-22-films-a-year/) [Radha Ravi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/radha-ravi/) > [“Everything worth knowing about the 1980s I learned from obsessively reading Bloom County collections when I was nine and Derek Jarman's diaries when I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruadh-n-j-mcelroy/everything-worth-knowing-about-the-1980s-i-learned-from-obsessively/) [Ruadhán J. McElroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruadh-n-j-mcelroy/) > [“Dilettantes,’ Art3mis said. ‘It’s their own fault for not knowing all the Schoolhouse Rock! lyrics by heart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernest-cline/dilettantes-art3mis-said-it-s-their-own-fault-for-not-knowing-all-the/) [Ernest Cline](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernest-cline/) > [I was a safari guide in the 1980s in Kenya.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/don-winslow/i-was-a-safari-guide-in-the-1980s-in-kenya/) [Don Winslow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/don-winslow/) > [“As he defended the book one evening in the early 1980s at the Carnegie Endowment in New York, I knew that some of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/as-he-defended-the-book-one-evening-in-the-early-1980s-at-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Nuclear power will be the Vietnam issue of the 1980s.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-brown/nuclear-power-will-be-the-vietnam-issue-of-the-1980s/) [Jerry Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-brown/) > [The 1980s were all about synths for me, and it never went away after that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-grant/the-1980s-were-all-about-synths-for-me-and-it-never-went-away-after/) [John Grant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-grant/) > [The 1980s was the era of the blonde cheerleader.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winona-ryder/the-1980s-was-the-era-of-the-blonde-cheerleader/) [Winona Ryder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winona-ryder/) > [In the 1980s and the 1990s, when HIV hit its peak, the gay community was at the forefront of the fight against the silent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-flock/in-the-1980s-and-the-1990s-when-hiv-hit-its-peak-the-gay-community/) [Elizabeth Flock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-flock/) > [The 1980s really ended for me in 1992 with the film Kika.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pedro-almodovar/the-1980s-really-ended-for-me-in-1992-with-the-film-kika/) [Pedro Almodovar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pedro-almodovar/) > [Eventually, our kind of music, whether it's us or Motley or Poison of whoever, will define the 1980s. That's something to be proud of.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jani-lane/eventually-our-kind-of-music-whether-it-s-us-or-motley-or-poison-of/) [Jani Lane](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jani-lane/) > [Back in the 1980s, state-of-the-nation fictions were all set in Manhattan. Now, they're all in Trump country. Early in 'S-Town,' we're introduced to an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hepworth/back-in-the-1980s-state-of-the-nation-fictions-were-all-set-in/) [David Hepworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hepworth/) > [“Reading about Bordertown was the first time I saw people like me in speculative fiction. Messed-up kids, making messsed-up choices. I couldn't be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/holly-black/reading-about-bordertown-was-the-first-time-i-saw-people-like-me-in/) [Holly Black](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/holly-black/) > [I was kind of freaked out by the art world in the 1980s. Just the money thing. All the competition over artists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-gordon/i-was-kind-of-freaked-out-by-the-art-world-in-the-1980s-just-the/) [Kim Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-gordon/) > [I remain extraordinarily proud of the Vaughan Williams symphonies I recorded with the LSO, and in the 1980s and '90s, I made an almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andre-previn/i-remain-extraordinarily-proud-of-the-vaughan-williams-symphonies-i/) [Andre Previn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andre-previn/) [Browse all 91 1980s quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/zz-1980s-459/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Although drag has a long cultural history in America, it remained largely underground till the late 1980s.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jenna Wortham" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-history-in-america-it-remained/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "1980s" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-history-in-america-it-remained/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/jenna-wortham-5508_1980s_although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-histor_1556721.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/jenna-wortham-5508_1980s_although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-histor_1556721.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f5d/jenna-wortham-5508_1980s_although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-histor_1556721.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Although drag has a long cultural history in America, it remained largely underground till the late 1980s.” — Jenna Wortham", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Jenna Wortham", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenna-wortham/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Although drag has a long cultural...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-history-in-america-it-remained/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenna-wortham/although-drag-has-a-long-cultural-history-in-america-it-remained/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```