ABSTRACT
This chapter explains why mask and masquerade is a queer strategy, and deals with the gaze in more detail and also with the strategies as to how the gaze can be deceived. Nietzsche came upon the idea of the mask through his engagement with Greek tragedy. Foucault's central thesis is that power starts in the gaze. The psychoanalytical perspective shifts the emphasis onto the idea of gendered power relationships. The disciplinary gaze originated with the modern, the fragmented gaze is postmodern and the transmodern paradigma offers us a total gaze, the transparency is constantly present regarding the absence. Riviere admits that she sees no difference between the masquerade and femininity. The discussion of masculinity and femininity was opened by the differentiation between 'sex' and 'gender'. Annie Lennox masters the game of the mask and the masquerade of both genders. The queer music burlesque Orlanding the Dominant serves as an example for female masquerade.
