RuPaul's Drag Race

RuPaul’s Drag Race is a schlocky, tacky, cheap production of reality television. With that said, it is... well, faaaaabulous. RuPaul first gained fame as a drag queen and club performer in the early 1990s and subsequently went on to appear in television and films. His importance in the realm of drag performance is paramount and his mainstream accessibility is not to be understated. He has made himself a paragon for any hopefuls to come and that is the basis of his drag race, contestants compete with each other in sort of a attempt to knock the rhinestone tiara from his head. 

RuPaul’s Drag Race follows a vein similar to shows like Project Runway and Top Chef in that it is a reality show where more is required of the participant. A strong stomach for beetles and bile or a penchant for vulgarity is not enough. And more than sheer nerve is needed, though it helps to have plenty of that too. Mostly what seems to be asked of contestants is talent, ingenuity and work ethic. They are expected to design and sew most of they’re own costumes, do their own make-up and are usually put through the ringer with some sort of physical exertion whether it be a dance routine or otherwise. And of course, in the final showdown every week, the grown men competing to be “America’s Next Drag Superstar” must sashay down the runway in their stilettos.

What’s interesting about the show is for the majority of it, the contestants are out of their glitzy garb and the men, most of them solidly built, are carefully calculating and plotting on how they can lose all effects of masculinity and be the most feminine each week. Preconceived notions of masculinity aren’t even notions in this arena and it’s expected that these men will drop any remnants of that as easily and effortlessly as they slip on a wig. There’s a good heaping of camp that goes with the drag, and naturally, sequins are de rigueur,  but each of the men seem to be paying a serious salute and a honorable homage to the women who have inspired them. 

It’s hard to talk seriously about something which holds no reverence for anything except maybe glamour, nonetheless RuPaul’s Drag Race, for all it’s fun and frivolity, is doing something serious. It’s very existing is permission for others to do the same thing, to redefine what masculinity or femininity is, to rediscover it on their own terms and to celebrate it. And while, this viewer may not be slipping on a wig anytime soon, perhaps I could put a little more bass in my walk...