is for Drag Queen.  Although they are entirely dissimilar, drag is often mistakenly conflated with transvestism.  Suffused with self-deprecating irony, drag is a farcical prank, a laughable hoax for Halloween, while transvestism is the ultimate swindle, the calculated and desperately earnest impsoture of an accomplished illusionist who undertakes an act of sexual self- effacement. The stylistic ideal of the transvestite, who attempts to blend seamlessly into the general public, is the understated look of the cautious centrist who prefers unobtrusive clothing that is tastefully subdued and unassertive and therefore unlikely to draw attention to the inevitable imperfections of his disguise, his suspiciously masculine jaw, husky voice, and square shoulders.  The stylistic ideal of the drag queen, on the other hand, is screaming vulgarity, the overstated look of the balloon- breasted tramp in the leopard-skin micro-mini skirt who strives to be loud, tawdry, and cheap.  The transvestite, in short, tries to tone it down; the drag queen, to tone it up.