Identifying drag performers as gig workers could improve workplace conditions: U of G study
Low compensation and violence at work among concerns
When you think of gig workers, Uber drivers, caterers or musicians may come to mind.
But researchers at the University of Guelph want drag performers to be at the top of that list as well.
Recent graduate and drag performer Matt Sbrissa created a research project called Drag as Werk alongside homas Sasso, assistant professor of Business and Economics at the school. The study aims to learn more about drag performers' working conditions in Canada and the U.S.
In their survey of 141 drag workers, less than 25 per cent said the majority of their income was derived from performing.
"They're often hired per performance … but they're not actually salaried or ongoing employees of the organization, said Sasso, making them gig workers, or those who work temporary jobs on an on-demand basis.
Because of the precarious nature of their work, Sasso says drag performers aren't being compensated properly and experience higher rates of physical, verbal, and sexual assault while at work.
Inability to make living off precarious work
According to their study, 52 per cent of respondents say they want to perform on a full-time basis, but only eight per cent can afford to.
Sasso says many are getting paid in tips or drink tickets, which he says is not enough to live off.
Crystal Quartz is drag queen from Guelph with over 262,000 followers on TikTok. After performing part time for about 20 years, she transitioned to full time during the pandemic.
Three years in, Quartz says making a living off drag is "definitely not the easiest thing to do."
"It's me searching out and getting these bookings as opposed to, you know ... be like, OK, I work there every Saturday or whatever it is."
Violence at all-age drag events
Drag performers have also been subject to violence at their events, especially during drag queen story times, in which performers read to children.
According to the University of Guelph study, nearly one in three drag workers have experienced physical violence on the job, 80 per cent have experienced verbal harassment, and over 80 per cent have experienced undesired sexual attention while working.
Sasso says despite the rising popularity of events like story times, the majority of drag performers work in bars, nightclubs and on social media.
In all-age drag events, he says the nature of the work becomes "tailored to the age of the audience."
In Quartz's experience, most of the venues she performs at get hate mail because of her appearance there.
"Death threats, all kinds of things from people, all people that don't know me," she says.
"If you want security, you have to pay for it yourself," she says, adding "security is not cheap."
How unionization may help
Sasso says the creation of more staff positions and a union could help protect drag performers.
"Right now we're seeing the power of unions being able to be a voice for workers to empower workers to get the protections they need and the safe working conditions that they've largely been denied," he said, pointing to the recent strikes by actors' union SAG AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America as examples.
"When we talk about gig workers, they're often required to pay for all of their resources themselves … their costumes, their makeup, their travel accommodations," he said.
If they're taking on this expense and risk, Sasso says the employer should be able to compensate them appropriately.
LISTEN | Thomas Sasso, a researcher out of the University of Guelph, speaks to The Morning Edition host Craig Norris about the precarious work drag performers do:
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With files from James Chaarani