Upon first glance, RuPaul’s Drag Race is an emblem of the liberal and equal society that the LGBTQ society strives for. As a mainstream and increasingly popular reality show, it celebrates the art of male to female gender manipulation in the drag world. For many viewers, those in and out of the community, it initially appears to be a sign of the changing times, bringing the world closer to acceptance and inclusion, no matter who you are.
I’m guilty too. When I first started watching, I was pretty naive to the role of drag in entertainment, and it opened my eyes to a beautiful world of self-expression and art. A few seasons in, I thought that the show made me way more woke, learning about the significance of gender manipulation in entertainment as well as the struggles of the community. It was so refreshing to finally find some TV that seemingly celebrated diversity, in an ocean full of cis male, white dominated shows. For this reason, I think that RuPaul’s drag race is still one of the best, most inclusive shows that gives a voice to a community that is mostly ignored in mainstream TV.
I’m still a fan, and I’m going to keep watching. Honey, I live for those runways. However, for a show that supposedly celebrates bending the rules of society and having fun with gender, its representation of the entirety of the gender spectrum is comparably weak. It seems that if you don’t identify as cisb male, you’re not worthy of representation on this supposedly accepting show.
Let’s start with something that I can personally relate to as a cis female, RuPaul’s blatant sexism in the show. The main, and probably most obvious, way that he does this is in his casting. 99% of the competitors are cis male (or at least appear to identify as this for filming, we’ll talk more on this later), despite the fact that there is a huge pool of talented, femme identifying drag, or ‘faux’, queens in the community. It reminds us that drag isn’t defined as cis men dressing up as women, but a performance of femininity, and by that definition, female and trans drag queens should totally be allowed to compete in the show.
And yet, in something that supposedly celebrates the fluidity of gender, the need to emphasize the differentiation of competitor’s gender identity in and out of drag remains strong. It seems that Ru prioritizes highlighting the difference between the gay man in the workroom and the drag queen on the runway. If there were women involved, this line becomes totally blurred.
Women have always seemingly been disregarded in the LGBTQ community. Gay men always seem to get the legislative wins and recognition first, as well as many more safe spaces to enjoy. Head to any gay district and you’ll find one lesbian bar in the sea of gay ones. In many places I’ve traveled, particularly in Asia, it appears that gay men have many more events and opportunities to express their sexuality than lesbian or bisexual women.
Tenderoni, Drag King
We also see this in the sheer popularity of RuPaul’s show. Drag queens, depicted in the show as mostly cis male performers, are celebrated and popularised, whilst drag kings, a product of the lesbian community, go completely ignored. This highlights what seems to be inherent everywhere, for every twenty drag queen club night there is one drag king show, at least in London. It seems that the patriarchy wins again, with men dominating the mainstream end of drag performances. It’s pretty sad that a show like Drag Race, which brings to light various issues for those in the gay community, disregards the lesbian community completely. It is the perfect opportunity to raise inclusion and awareness of every aspect of the movement, and yet it remains in the frigid patriarchal framework.
Venus Envy, Faux Queen
Okay so I know I’m getting all deep and thoughtful so let’s talk about something that reveals this inherent discrimination- Manila Luzon’s original ‘Curves and Swerves’ look in All Star’s Season 4. After the episode aired, showing her wearing a beautiful modern baroque look, she posted her original planned outfit on Instagram, stating that she was told by the producers that the look was in bad taste. The crazy look that was not appropriate for eyes of viewers who were often subjected to men dancing in g strings, and even the famed nude runway of season seven? A sanitary towel dress. RuPaul basically shutdown one of the most feminist looks that his runway will have ever seen. If this doesn’t highlight the show’s inherent sexism, then I’m not so sure what does.
Manila Luzon, RPDR S3/AS1/AS4
If you’re up-to-date with recent LGBTQ news, you’ll know that RuPaul came under fire last year for his comments in regards to allowing trans/cis women to preform on the show, “drag loses its sense of danger and irony once it’s not men doing it”. He also made comments about the show’s first openly trans competitor Peppermint still fitting the bill as she didn’t have her breast implants until the show was done filming, making her appear more cis male for the show.
Peppermint, RPDR S9 Runner Up
The community was in uproar, and rightly so. Many performers that competed on the show have since come out as trans or non-binary, often explaining that they felt that they had to suppress their true gender identity to be able to compete. See this article for them. RuPaul later came out with an apology for his behavior, and quickly cast Gia Gunn on All Star’s Four, to show how inclusive he really is. And even then, the whole vibe with her got a bit uncomfortable. Of course, she is known for stirring the pot, but I felt that her talent often went ignored by the judges (can we talk about that beautiful kabuki performance in the talent show?!).
Not to mention that the show showed clips of her talking about her struggle with her gender identity. Of course her experience is totally valid and raises important points for the trans community, but as one of two of its representatives on the show, I felt like it almost further hinted that trans queens don’t belong there because it just results in gender confusion. I don’t know, maybe I’m over analysing, but I got some weird vibes.
Charlene Incarnate, Drag Queen
Of course, Gia’s presence was great in starting the discussion over trans queens in the show, but it was long overdue in a platform that celebrates supposed equality. Ru rarely casts trans stars or even talks about the roles of gender identity in the community. And yet, it is the perfect platform to start these discussions. Luckily, competitors have started to outside the show, taking the need for equal gender representation into their own hands. Valentina and Aja, queens who both killed their series and All Stars, have both stated in interviews that they are non-binary and have started to raise discussions on its significance in drag. And yet I wonder, what was stopping them from fully expressing themselves when they starred on the show?
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Gia Gunn, RPDR S4/AS4
I guess, in short, RuPaul’s Drag Race fulfil’s RuPaul’s idea of drag as entertainment dominated and owned by cis men. Despite his recent apologies and attempts at redeeming himself, let’s face it, he totally disregards the representation of genders other than his own– pretty ironic considering what the show claims to be. So, let’s remember that drag is so much more than this, and celebrate queens (and kings!) that don’t fit into RuPaul’s box.
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