6CTA1110-0905-2019 - Degree Essay (Film & Television Production)

RuPaul’s Race - Shift from margins to mainstream.

Lucy McCutcheon

16046740

Submitted to the University of Hertfordshire in partial fulfilment of the

requirements for the Degree of Bachelor of Art (Honors) Film and Television

Production

Contents

Abstract……………………………………………….…...…..…. page 2

Introduction………………………………………….….……...… page 3

Essay………………………………….………………….………. page 4

Conclusion……………..…………….……………..….………. page 22

Bibliography……………..………….…………….……………. page 24

List of Illustrations………………….……………..……………. page 30

Lucy McCutcheon - 16046740 1 ​

ABSTRACT

RuPaul’s (Logo TV, 2009) has been instrumental over the last ten years in ​ changing the perception of drag and drag culture in modern mainstream media. This

degree essay will examine, as a primary focus, the evidence relating to the success of

RuPaul’s Drag Race, the reality television series, the career of its creator RuPaul Andre ​ Charles and the growing franchise that he has developed, which has moved beyond its

original television platform. It will delve into the history of drag and assess the impact of

pertinent performers, including Danny La Rue and Divine, and compare the different

elements of their drag performances. The evolving role of drag performances within

cinema will be considered and the impact and legacy left by some iconic movies will be

evaluated. With added insight into historical and modern queer culture and the

examination of Judith Butler’s theories of gender and performance and gender roles, it

will also consider Raymond Williams’ notions that the complexity of culture can be

described through a cultural system including a dominant, residual and emergent

ideology. This degree essay will utilise available literature, journal and newspaper

articles, as well as relevant episodes from the television series and other salient

sources, to evaluate the extent of RuPaul’s Drag Race’s influence and impact in ​ ​ changing the face of drag from the margins to mainstream. It will conclude with the

arguments for more diversity and development within the show and further progression

towards inclusion of the many members of the varied queer communities.

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Over the past ten years drag has evolved, it has moved from its origins in the world of

pantomime and underground theatre into the modern day drag culture, with all its

associated merchandise and franchises. This dissertation will consider how it has

shifted from the margins of drag performance as a base for comic caricature, into the

more mainstream, with drag represented as a specific, recognised and celebrated art

form. It will be analysing the history of drag culture in film and television beginning with

comedic caricature within pantomimes, films and television, and live performances,

where drag was portrayed as a ‘disguise’.

It will highlight some of the influential individuals that have made an impact within the

drag community and who have been significant in pioneering its shift from the margins

into the mainstream. The essay will also be analysing Raymond Williams’ theory of

ideologies and Judith Butler’s theory of gender as a performance and discussing how

everyone is performing a gender while drag is taking that extra step into a performance

based artform. In addition, the format of reality television shows will be explored and

referenced, including one of the main sources for this essay, RuPaul’s Drag Race. The ​ ​ work and career of RuPaul Andre Charles will be reviewed and will examine how he has

transported and promoted drag over the past ten years within the film, television and

music industry and provided a platform to empower and support drag performers

through his own show and the empire he has been instrumental in creating throughout

his career.

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The origins of drag are hard to ascertain but cross-dressing performers were a central

theme in the ancient Greek tragedy, The Bacchae, by Euripides (405 BC) (Doonan, ​ ​ 2019, p103). The practice of men dressing up in women’s clothing was commonplace

on stage in the late 16th and early 17th centuries and William Shakespeare, out of

necessity, cast most of his plays with males playing the female roles. The stage at that

time had strong links to the church and with that came strict rules that only men could

tread the boards (Doonan, 2019, p114). The Baroque period that followed brought

‘ornate styles in painting and dress’ and the infamous parties of Phillippe, duc

d’Orleans, found him ‘regularly frocked up’ and covered in ‘rouge’ (Doonan, 2019,

pp121) as in fig. 1).

Figure 1, Philippe duc d’Orleans, in a frock in the series Versailles (2017). ​ ​

Drag by this time was closely connected to disreputable ideals, ‘most notably the crime

of homosexuality, which was punishable by hanging’ (Doonan, 2019, p122). In London

‘police and gossiping lampoons’ were focusing their attention on the ‘notorious molly

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houses’, which were a gay and transgender ‘subculture of clubs and brothels’ (Doonan,

2019, p122). Establishments such as Mother Clap’s infamous Molly House were ‘filled

with cross-dressing gays’ and became the ‘subject of scandal’ and regular police raids

(Doonan, 2019, p122). Many vaudeville acts of the early 1880’s until the early 1930’s

provided a mixture of acts that appealed to the mainstream public, some of which

included female and male impersonators on their bill, such as the hugely popular Julian

Eltinge (Doonan, 2019, p18). The actual term ‘drag’ is believed to have originated in

19th century British theatre when women were still not allowed to be in shows and so

the men would perform as the female characters and their dresses would literally drag

across the floor (Deron, 2018).

One of the most prominent female impersonators within British theatre and television

was Danny La Rue. Born in Ireland in 1927, the son of an interior designer and a former

nurse, he began his career at a time when drag acts were considered a ‘seedy and

suspect’ ‘area of show business’ (Hayward, 2019). Some of his earliest appearances in

the 1950’s included cabaret at Churchill’s nightclub in Bond Street, London and the

stage characters he created for pantomime such as a geisha girl, a teenage rocker and

a striptease artist (Hayward, 2019). La Rue ‘elevated his performance to an art form’ by

dressing in the most expensive and glittering costumes, therefore adding an element of

sophistication and ‘sending drag up rather than playing it straight’ (Hayward, 2019) as in

fig. 2). As he took to the stage he would open the show with “Watcha, mates!” in a very

masculine voice, making it abundantly clear that what the audience were about to see

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was definitely not a woman (Hayward, 2019). Doonan (2019) goes on further to state

that La Rue despised the term and much preferred to refer to his on stage

persona as a ‘comic in a frock’.

Figure 2, Danny La Rue, 15 December 2000, Martin Godwin/Getty Images. ​ ​

Prolific in America in the late 1960’s and early 1980’s, Harris Glenn Milstead, better

known by his stage name Divine, was an actor, singer and drag queen born in

Baltimore, USA in 1945 to a conservative middle-class family. Millstead developed a

name for himself as a female impersonator known for behaving in a disreputable

manner and he featured in many of the early John Waters films, including Female ​ Trouble (1974) and Hairspray (1988) (see fig. 3). Divine became an icon among gay ​ ​ ​ audiences and performed live at some of the world’s biggest gay clubs, including

Heaven in Central London. However, it is widely reported that Divine was not happy

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with being known primarily for his drag persona and once stated that his favourite part

of drag was changing out of it (Jay, 1993, p128). He referred to his drag costumes as

his work clothes, that he would only put on if someone was paying him (Jay, 1993,

p128). Drag in the 1980’s began to evolve and movie drag, in particular, had become

‘family-friendly’ and ‘upbeat, non-sexual, non-homicidal and worthy’ (Doonan, 2019,

p195).

Figure 3, John Waters and his muse Divine.

Dr Frank-N-Furter, the transvestite from The Rocky Horror Picture Show (Jim ​ ​ Sharman,1975), Julie Andrews’ character in Victor/Victoria (Blake Edwards,1982) and ​ ​ ​ ​ The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Stephan Elliott, 1994) provided a ​ ‘celebration of transvestism’ and these films were pivotal in the exploration of sexual

subversion within mainstream cinema (Farmer, 2004, p82). Another example of an

iconic film is Tootsie (Sydney Pollack, 1982), in which Dustin Hoffman portrayed an ​ ​ overwrought actor, who was driven to perform in drag. ‘He transforms himself into a

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beloved soap queen, Dorothy Michaels, aka Tootsie’ in a bid to continue his floundering ​ ​ career in acting (Doonan, 2019, p195). Doonan goes on to state that following the

success, and acceptance, of Tootsie, dragging up was now recognised as ​ ​ ‘consciousness-raising’ and not equated ‘with madness and death’ (Doonan, 2019,

p195). Although it must be argued that the movie that changed drag into the ‘global

consciousness’ was Some Like It Hot (Billy Wilder, 1959) (Doonan, 2019, p187) (see ​ ​ fig. 4). Director and writer Billy Wilder’s story of the reluctant cross-dressing male lead ​ ​ characters, forced to dress in drag to evade rampant criminals in the Roaring Twenties,

stunned the audience of ‘conservative mid-century America’ because it played with

homosexuality and featured cross-dressing (Doonan, 2019, p187). Wilder’s inclusion of

the famous, risque final scenes added a ‘little extra provocation’ as Jack Lemmon

ripped off his wig and shouted “I’m a man” and his potential suitor, Osgood Fielding III,

replied, “Well, nobody’s perfect!” and the ‘happy consenting males boat off into the

sunset (Doonan, 2019, p188).

Figure 4, Some Like It Hot stars Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon pose for a publicity shot. ​ ​ ​

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The modern era of drag now sees many more forms of drag performers emerging

including non-binary, cisgender, drag kings and female drag queens. However, many

members of the larger Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual +

(LGBTQIA+) community would argue that the mainstream drag scene, including the

cast of RuPaul’s Drag Race, is ‘still dominated by cis, white men, the same ​ ​ demographic that has the most power in mainstream society’ and takes a purely

‘tokenistic approach to diversity’ (Gomes, 2019).

Queer culture is intertwined with many factors including anatomical sex, gender, sexual

orientation and sexuality and central to this must also be personal identity (Chambers,

2009). From the earliest discussions around gay liberation and gay rights in the 1970’s,

identity has been strongly fought for and the understanding that someone’s right to

freely express their own sexual orientation should be protected (Chambers, 2009).

Raymond Williams (1977) says that the complexity of culture can be described through

a cultural system including a dominant, residual and emergent ideology. This dominant

ideology is upheld and followed by the majority of society (Williams, 1977). Williams

goes on further to state that the residual ideologies are more often some part, or version

of, current dominant ideas that have been adapted to suit the current culture. He goes

on to describe the emergent ideology as being in direct opposition to the dominant,

where the emergent fights against the dominant leading to social change and ‘new

meanings and values, new practices, new relationships and kinds of relationships

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continually being created’ (Williams, 1977). This emergent ideology sits perfectly with

the rising growth and popularisation of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender

plus (LGBT+) communities and their fight against the majority of society for inclusion

and acceptance. Historical events such as the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City

and ‘in 1999 a nail bomber’ attack at the Admiral Duncan in London are events that

have had significant impact on the LGBT+ communities both locally and worldwide

(Sinfield, 2005, pXI). Drag has been an element of the LGBT+ community for many

years, through live, on stage performances as well as on film and television screens.

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK (BBC3, 2019) recently aired in the United Kingdom showcasing ​ the best of British drag culture to the wider world, notably it was aired in the same year

that Stonewall celebrated their 50-year anniversary.

Drag was becoming more prevalent in the eighteenth century and Britain saw its first

gay bar open for business around the early 1900’s, but it was not until the 1970’s when

homosexuality was slowly becoming more socially acceptable that further bars and

clubs began to open up around the country (Doonan, 2019, p122). By the 1990’s Soho

in Central London had established itself as the centre of London’s gay scene and live

drag acts began to flourish here. Live drag performances started off as nightlife

attractions in these underground bars and clubs, where performers depended ‘upon an

understanding of the semi-closeted gay atmosphere of many of the pubs and clubs

where they performed, and the ambiguous relationships of the men in the audience to

the man/pseudo-woman on the stage’ (Dyer, 2012, p17). A pivotal time in American

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drag history, which attracted ‘crowds of thousands by the 1920’s’, was when the New

York ballroom scene emerged out of ‘Harlem’s cross-dressing masquerade parties of

the mid-19th century’ (Faber, 2019). Common participants amongst the ballroom scene

culture were African Americans or Latin-Americans from the LGBT+ community. The

voguing culture evolved in these balls and is itself, an expression of the flexibility of

one’s identity, and of being shaped within the moment (Faber, 2019). Indeed, Faber

(2019) argues further that the ballroom scene was ‘an explosion of unabashed joy’ and

provided voguers and ball-attendees with a place where they belonged, where they felt

safe and were seen. Many of the attendees had to contend with ‘homelessness, sex

work and abuse’ and the community created by the ballroom scene gave them the

feeling of inclusion, safety and belonging that they craved (Faber, 2019).

This particular cultural aspect has been a key element in many LGBT+ films and

television shows, notably in the documentary Paris is Burning (Jennie Livinston,1990) ​ ​ (fig.5) and the Netflix series Pose (20th Television, 2018). ​ ​

Figure 5, Film Poster of Paris is Burning in a Vanity Fair article. ​ ​

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The RuPaul’s Drag Race productions used clear ballroom references within its own ​ ​ format with challenges named after the categories, including

or femme queen realness. ‘Realness’ meaning how convincing the participants

look within this category rather than a real image (Evans and Gamman, 2004, p218).

Within drag culture queens are often categorised by their artistry and style of drag, for

example pageant queens, Instagram queens, club queens and comedy queens. Where

once ballroom attendees and voguers were themselves influenced by fashion models

and designer houses, now fashion looks to the ballroom scene and drag culture for

inspiration (Faber, 2019).

Drag plays with the notion that gender is a performance as Judith Butler discusses in

Gender Trouble (1990), where she states it is a lesson people learn from a very young ​ age. She goes on further to elaborate on gender identity being, ‘often parodied within

the cultural practices of drag, cross-dressing, and the sexual stylization of butch/femme

identities’ (Butler, 1990, p187). She continues to argue that within feminist theory these

‘parodic identities’ have been widely described and believed to be demeaning to

women, ‘in the case of drag and cross-dressing’ (Butler, 1990, p174). Turning

specifically to the performance of drag Butler further argues that it attempts to decipher

between the physical anatomy of the performer and the ‘gender that is being performed’

(Butler, 1990, p175). The suggestion is that reality is split into three aspects: anatomical

sex, gender identity and gender performance. If the gender of the performer is already

different to the anatomy of the performer and both of these differ from the gender of the

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actual performance, then the performance indicates an inconsistency between sex and

performance, and gender and performance (Butler, 1990, p187). The distinction

between these is very important for understanding feminist and queer theory and the

many varieties of human identity. It can be defined clearly that biology does not in fact

determine gender differences, but culture does (Butler,1990). It is further argued that

gender should be seen as ‘a fluid variable’ which can morph and modify ‘in different

contexts and at different times’ instead as being perceived as ‘a fixed attribute to a

person’ (Gauntlett, 2002, p139).

RuPaul Andre Charles was born and raised in San Diego, California in 1960, his mother

worked in a registrar’s office in San Diego City College and his father was an electrician

(Aguirre, 2019). His mother, Toni, believed her son would be a star, as a psychic had

told her this before he was born and RuPaul grew up with this knowledge (Aguirre,

2019). RuPaul’s parent’s marriage broke down and they separated when he was only

five, his mother became depressed and RuPaul and his younger sister, Rozy, were

raised by his older twin sisters, Renetta and Renae (Aguirre, 2019). From an early age

RuPaul’s mother was ‘accepting of her son’ and he would play with makeup and wear

his sister’s clothes without reprimand (Aguirre, 2019). Indeed, Aguirre’s article (2019)

clearly states that RuPaul ‘never had to come out, because he was never in’. The twins

taught RuPaul everything about Diana Ross and Cher and Renetta showed him how to

walk a runway (Aguirre, 2019). At the age of fifteen, he moved to Atlanta, Georgia with

his sister, Renetta and her new husband, where he studied theatre at the North Atlanta

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School of Performing Arts (RuPaul, 2018). During this period in his life, RuPaul saw The ​ Rocky Horror Picture Show, attended his first disco and saw his first drag performance, ​ it was a pivotal time for him (Aguirre, 2019). He began a career in the music industry

and by the mid-eighties had moved to New York City and in 1989 RuPaul had been

crowned, on the underground scene, ‘The Queen of Manhattan’ (RuPaul, 2018).

Aguirre’s (2019) article states that there was ‘nobody like him in mainstream culture’

when he burst into ‘public consciousness’ in 1992. Whilst there was a number of

‘androgynous popstars’ like David Bowie and Prince on the scene, none ‘bent gender

nearly as far’ as RuPaul (Aguirre, 2019). In 1993 his single, Supermodel (You better ​ work) (1993) was competing for the number one spot in America’s Billboard charts with ​ Whitney Houston’s I’m every woman (1992) (Baker, 1994, p258) (fig. 6). By 1994, ​ ​ ​ ​ RuPaul was the face of MAC Cosmetics, the first drag queen to ever secure a major

makeup deal (Aguirre, 2019) (fig.7).

Figure 6, The cover of Figure 7, RuPaul in MAC Cosmetics' first ​ Supermodel (You Better Work), Viva Glam campaign, 1994 ​ 1992

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After that, his television career took off and The RuPaul Show (VH1, 1996) aired one ​ ​ hundred episodes and ‘placed him on the cusp of the mainstream’ (Aguirre, 2019).

RuPaul’s Drag Race first broadcast on Logo TV in 2009 with ‘content oriented toward ​ lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer/questioning audiences’ (eds. Brennan

and Gudelunas, 2017, p1). The show takes form as a reality television show where the

contestants are put through weeks of challenges and tasks, with eliminations taking

place until one contestant is crowned the winner. The format of Drag Race is similar to, ​ ​ and can be placed alongside, other popular mainstream television shows such as

America's Next Top Model (UPN, 2003) and Project Runway (Bravo, 2004) where ​ ​ ​ contestants live together shut off from outside communications (eds. Brennan and

Gudelunas, 2017). The producers of RuPaul’s Drag Race were keen from the outset ​ ​ that they would pay homage to drag heritage throughout the production and within a

number of specific episodes. In ‘Black Swan: Why it gotta be black?’ (5:4) the cast ​ ​ members star in a musical showcasing the life, and rise to fame, of RuPaul himself,

from his earliest roots to his mainstream popularity and self-proclaimed reign as

‘’ as seen in fig.8 (eds. Brennan and Gudelunas, 2017, p3). In

another episode ‘Divine Inspiration’ (7:9) the cast members perform in a musical ​ ​ highlighting the work of the legendary filmmaker John Waters and RuPaul’s idol, Divine

as shown in fig.9. Waters is invited on as a guest judge for this episode.

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Figure 8, Contestants perform in Figure 9, Contestant impersonates Divine RuPaul’s Drag Race episode 4 in RuPaul’s Drag Race episode 9 ‘Divine ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ ‘Black Swan: Why it gotta be black?’ Inspiration’ ​

The popularity of RuPaul’s Drag Race has been ‘tremendous’ and its influence on ​ ​ ‘popular culture’ has seen catchphrases from the show, including “Condragulations!”

and “Sashay away” being brought to ‘public discourse’ and the ‘golden age of drag into

the zeitgeist’ (eds. Brennan and Gudelunas, 2017, p1). RuPaul’s Drag Race has ​ ​ influenced many spin off shows that are closely related to the show itself, such as

Untucked (Logo, 2010) and RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars (Logo, 2012) where previous ​ ​ ​ ​ ​ contestants return to compete for the all-star crown (eds. Brennan and Gudelunas,

2017). It has also inspired further spin offs, including AJ and the Queen (Netflix, 2020). ​ ​ Although the show features RuPaul, and many of the queens who competed in Drag ​ Race, AJ and the Queen is a completely stand alone show and follows the life of ​ ​ ​ RuPaul’s fictional drag queen character called Ruby (fig.10).

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Figure 10, RuPaul and the queens at the premiere of AJ and the Queen 2020. ​ ​

A further example of a spin off show would be Skin Wars (Game Show Network, 2014), ​ ​ which searches for makeup and body painting skills and features RuPaul as a judge. In

addition to these spin offs the queens of RuPaul’s Drag Race have also gone on to ​ ​ make their own music, perform in live shows, write their own biographies or, for a

certain few, made their own television series or films based on the characters they had

portrayed in the RuPaul’s Drag Race series. Some examples are the film Hurricane ​ ​ ​ Bianca (Kugelman, 2016) starring the Season 6 winner and Dancing ​ ​ Queen (Netflix, 2018), a series starring , which follows the trials and ​ tribulations of the dance company she already owned before joining the cast.

RuPaul’s Drag Race has just broadcast its twelfth season, and while the concept has ​ evolved slightly every year, its format is what makes it ‘addictive’ (Aitkenhead, 2018).

Each season introduces the audience to a new set of professional drag queens, some

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are plus sized, others comedy queens, some ‘straightforward glamour girls’ and the

different elements of each episode pull the audience in and leave them wanting more

(Aitkenhead, 2018). The contestant’s life stories are told, some of which have RuPaul

acting as a self-help guru, and it is ‘his unexpected humanity which both defines and

elevates the show’ (Aitkenhead, 2018). In ‘Bitch Perfect’ (8:2) , a South ​ ​ Korean/American contestant opens up to fellow participants in the workroom about his

concerns regarding body image and what it took for him to feel comfortable in his own

skin (as in fig.11). These are pivotal moments which allow the audience to get to know

the person behind the drag character and encourages an emotional connection to form.

These group dynamics ‘break all the rules of reality television’ by advocating solidarity

and togetherness over quarrels (Aitkenhead, 2018).

Figure 11, Kim Chi discussing body issues in RuPaul’s Drag Race episode 2 ‘Bitch Perfect’. ​ ​

The extravagance and outlandishness of some of the queen’s outfits is in direct contrast

to their out of drag poignancy, vulnerability and heroism (Aitkenhead, 2018). However,

RuPaul’s Drag Race is a vehicle for, unashamedly, ‘plugging and promoting’ RuPaul’s ​

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own brand of merchandise, together with other drag related and ‘queer-friendly

products’ (Brennan, 2017, p40). The series is Logo TV's highest rated programme and

in 2016 RuPaul won an Emmy for ‘outstanding reality television host’ (eds. Brennan and

Gudelunas, 2017, p2). RuPaul’s Drag Race also received an Emmy award for ​ ​ Outstanding Competition programme in 2019 (fig.12).

Figure 12, RuPaul and the creators of RuPaul’s Drag Race winning an Emmy in 2019. ​ ​

Certainly, the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise has moved beyond the conventional ​ ​ television platform and branched out into many different fields, including ‘digital and real

life,’ such as LGBTQ+ bars and nightclubs, to Facebook and Instagram and into the

annual drag convention, Drag Con, a multi-million dollar drag extravaganza, which is

‘modelled on the iconic Comic Con events’ (Gudelunas, 2017, p240) (fig.13). These

conventions allow the audience to experience a live action performance but in a similar

format of the much-loved show. The performing queens begin each event with a

catwalk, similar to the runway segment of RuPaul’s Drag Race, and then meet and ​ ​ greet sessions allow fans to interact with their favourite queens, at a cost, and of

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course, provides further opportunity for fans to purchase additional merchandise

(Gudelunas, 2017, p240).

Figure 13, RuPaul at the first RuPaul’s DragCon UK in London’s Olympia January 2020 ​ ​

RuPaul’s Drag Race UK has built on the success of the original American version but ​ has encompassed the charm and audacity of the British drag scene. Indeed, many

people have discovered RuPaul and drag culture for the first time since watching the

show and a record 6.5 million viewers watched at the midpoint of the series (Bromwich,

2019). O’Keefe (2019) explains how her fascination for the show has come as ‘a

complete surprise’. She goes on further to define the appeal, ‘the bizarre range of skills

required of the contestants, from constructing tailored skirts out of rubber to imitating

Donald Trump, the extravagantly bitchy behaviour and the sheer quantity and colour of

the foundation’ (O’Keefe, 2019) (fig. 14).

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Figure 14, Contestants impersonate Donald Trump and Margaret Thatcher in Rupaul’s Drag ​ Race UK episode 4 . ​

For many of the audience members Drag Race is a reminder that ‘being a woman can ​ ​ be fun’ (O’Keefe, 2019). However, as Kucharski (2018) states there is an argument for

alternative drag and performers who want to ‘remain dangerous, un-family friendly and

queer in their art’. This is because although it is clear that drag has carved itself a new

notch into mainstream media, same-sex relationships continue to be criminalised in at

least seventy-two countries and territories worldwide, with twelve of those imposing a

death penalty (Duncan, 2017).

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In conclusion, the evidence available appears to highlight the facts that drag has

evolved and adapted over centuries, with its earliest roots firmly in ancient Greek and

Shakespearean tragedies, to the vaudeville acts and pantomime dames where it

became accepted as the mainstream entertainment of its time. Forced to become a

deep underground movement in view of its close connections to the molly houses of the

18th and 19th centuries and other scandalous establishments, drag became

marginalised in the early to mid 1900’s in view of its close ties to the LGBT+ community

(Doonan, 2019, p122). Speed forward towards the Jazz Age of the Roaring Twenties

and later onto the ballroom culture and finally the LGBT+ community found a place to

belong and be safe. All of these important historical elements are the foundations upon

which RuPaul has created his persona and empire and he has taken drag back into the

mainstream and embraced a much wider audience than was ever imagined. However,

the show has also met with unavoidable criticism, with commentators claiming it is ‘too

competitive, fake and reduces gay people to catty stereotypes’ (Abraham, 2019).

Questions are still being raised regarding the lack of diversity in the casting and whether

the representations of queer individuals are superficial and shallow (Abraham, 2019). It

is further argued that we are still some way from ‘seeing the world of drag kings’, taking

a prominent place within the show, as this would appear to be an ‘even bigger step for

television, even a cable television network with a relatively small viewing base’ to take

at this point in time (eds. Brennan and Gudelunas, 2017, p2). These arguments have

been further fueled by RuPaul’s own comments referring to the ‘dichotomy of the trans

movement versus the drag movement’ and the underlying assumption that there can be

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no interchange between the two, as if trans people are satisfying ‘gender norms’, while

‘drag is inherently subversive’ (Abraham, 2019).

Whilst for centuries it would seem that drag is a rebellion against gender roles, it is also,

concurrently, a celebration of them. In this modern emergent society, with a more

enlightened and complex understanding of gender and sex, drag takes on a role for

individuals to express their gender in a personal way, with no set rules (Kucharski,

2018). Although, the value of subversive drag performers is in their power to shock and

it must be strongly argued that its power as a form of art can be lost when it’s

mass-produced and inevitably santised (Kucharski, 2018).

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Bibliography:

1. ABRAHAM, A. (2019). ‘Finally! A sport for us gay people!’: how drag went

mainstream. The Guardian. [Online] 10 August 2019. Available from: ​ ​ https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/aug/10/how-drag-went-mainstream

--karen-from-finance-drag-sos [Accessed: 21 April 2020]. ​ ​ 2. AGUIRRE, A. (2019). How the world fell head over heels for RuPaul. Vogue. ​ [Online] 15 April 2019. Available from:

https://www.vogue.com/article/rupaul-interview-may-2019-issue [Accessed: ​ ​ 19 April 2020].

3. AITKENHEAD, D. (2018). RuPaul: ‘Drag is a big f-you to male-dominated

culture’. The Guardian. [Online] 3 March 2018. Available from: ​ ​ https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/mar/03/rupaul-drag-race-big-f

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List of Illustrations:

Figure 1, BBC2, Versailles, Series 2 Episode 3, 15 May 2018, 640 x 360, DOONAN, S. ​ ​ (2019) Drag: The Complete Story. ​

Figure 2, Martin Godwin/Getty Images, Danny La Rue, 15 December 2000, 790 x 533, New ​ ​ Victoria Theatre in Woking, DOONAN, S. (2019) Drag: The Complete Story. ​

Figure 3, Ian Shultz, A Dirty Shame: John Waters Interviewed, 17 February 2017, 546 x ​ ​ 339, The Quietus.

Figure 4, Oscars Highlights Collection, Some Like It Hot, 1959, 221 x 228, Oscars.org ​ ​

Figure 5, Vanity Fair article, Paris Is Burning, 1990, 1200 x 651, Vanity Fair Magazine. ​ ​

Figure 6, RuPaul, Supermodel (You Better Work), 17 November 1992, 300 x 300, CD ​ ​ Single Cover.

Figure 7, MAC Cosmetics Viva Glam Campaign, 1994, 675 x 610, Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Figure 8, Black Swan: Why it gotta be black? (2013). RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 5, ​ ​ Episode 4 [Video File] 960 x 600, Netflix.

Figure 9, Divine Inspiration (2015). RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 7, Episode 9. [Video file] ​ ​ 500 x 279, Netflix.

Figure 10, AJ and the Queen, 10th January 2020, 1124 x 733, Tom and Lorenzo, Netflix. ​ ​

Figure 11, Bitch Perfect (2016). RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 8, Episode 2 [Video file] 2430 ​ ​ x 1178, Netflix.

Figure 12, Emmy Award Ceremony, RuPauls Drag Race, 2019, 1350 x 760, The Hollywood Reporter.

Figure 13, DragCon UK, RuPaul DJ set, 18 January 2020, 1200 x 900, Daily Record.

Figure 14, BBC3 iPlayer, Rupaul’s Drag Race UK Season 1, Episode 4, 3 October 2019, ​ ​ 1200 x 630, Metro.co.uk

Lucy McCutcheon - 16046740 30 ​