The Effect of RuPaul’s Drag Race on the Discovery of Trans* Identities and Non-conformity on the Gender Binary

Introduction

There are a few queens that come to mind when someone mentions the term ‘drag’ which is, to give a dull definition to a lively and colorful art form, the act of dressing up in clothes not associated with your identified gender for the sake of entertainment. RuPaul, Divine, Lady Bunny, Courtney Act, and Trixie Mattel are just a few of the names that either have been or are starting to break into the mainstream media. As the drag scene becomes increasingly more popular, it is evident that the amount of people who start to explore their own gender identity increases consequently. It is impossible to refute the idea that representation of your own identity in the media increases not only the likelihood of people coming out as that identity, but also it increases the likelihood of just thinking and reflecting on one’s own identity in the first place. As representation of identities become shown more, critical thinking is inspired in those who might agree or disagree with that idea. That is what happened in me, I began to question my own gender only when an unfamiliar identity on the gender spectrum was shown to me, when RuPaul’s Drag Race was shown to me. Before I began to watch the show, I lived in a typical 21^st century, American, heteronormative society that did not leave room for gender expression against the binary of being either man or women, and barley left any room for the trans people that still fell on that binary. After I was exposed to Drag Race, I was much more open and accepting of an entire spectrum of gender identities, and, in a general sense, the rest of my world was not too far behind.

 

A Personal Connection to Drag

Something about the show RuPaul’s Drag Race caused it to have a special place in my heart. For me, the ability that I have to sit around with a group of friends on a Thursday night and watch a bunch of drag queens lip sync, death drop, and just generally be dramatic, all while not caring about gender norms and rules, the ability to just be myself, is amazing. It was through my exposure to Drag Race, and my subsequent obsession with anything drag queen related, that led me to discover my own identity as gender non-binary. I began to cling to the regal queens I saw on my TV screen, living vicariously through their ability to dress up in hyper-feminized outfits in one moment and then embrace their masculinity the next. Green with envy, I watched them, my nose practically touching the screen, wishing I would one day be able to discover that part of my identity that was so confusing. It was confusing only because I didn’t have the words to express it. It wasn’t until I saw a video of crowned queen, Violet Chachki, discussing the inefficiency and inaccuracy of the gender binary that I even began to realize there was more than just being a man or a woman. On top of gracing us with her timeless beauty and impossibly thin waist, she shows a deeply personal side of her own gender identity and the struggles that came along with it. So much of what she said resonated within me that I had to research more to find out what it all meant. But that one video wasn’t the be all, end all in the search for my own gender identity. It wasn’t until a few years later when I moved a thousand miles away from home that I began to truly vocalize my trans* identity. I left my small bubble in Arkansas for college, a rather queer-inclusive college at that, and came into contact with other people like me, people that help validate my feelings I had held back for so long. I started identifying as gender non-binary and started using they/them/their pronouns as well. And instantly a weight was lifted off my shoulders and I started to feel more and more in touch with my true self.

 

Defining the Drag Community

Though there are many settings in which the art of drag exists, it is important that a definition of the drag community, as it pertains to my story, is defined. My main focus is on the TV show RuPaul’s Drag Race, and its spinoff RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars, taking into consideration the social media and YouTube presences of alumni of the shows as well. Through the nine seasons of Drag Race and the three seasons of All Stars, the TV show has gained quite the large following, gaining almost one million weekly viewers in the ninth season of the original series. In addition to the TV show, individual queens have gained huge followings on social media platforms like Instagram, Twitter, and a large number of views on various YouTube videos, including anything from makeup tutorials to parody music videos to sit down chats about politics and society. These two facets of the much larger community as a whole are what I am using as my basis for connecting drag’s exposure and the increasing retaliation against the gender binary, mainly because that is where I originally found my strength and comfort. I wanted to share an analyze the place that inspired me so much to show that these queens are more than just men in wigs. Though I would like to note, not all drag queens feel that they fall under the trans* umbrella, I am using them as both general (queens as a whole) and specific (queens who are out as trans*) inspiration. Just like in the real world, there are all different types of genders present as performers of drag.

 

RuPaul’s Drag Race

RuPaul’s Drag Race, the show that has been mentioned so many times so far, deserves its own section of a definition. At the start of the competition anywhere between nine and fourteen drag queens enter into the ‘Werk Room.’ As the queens are all starting to warm up to each other and figure out their initial standing in the competition, they are presented with their first challenge. Episodes consist of, usually, and continuation of the previous weeks’ episode right after the elimination, a mini-challenge (sometimes), a maxi-challenge, and a runway theme. Through the many seasons, the producers and writers of the show had begun to notice certain challenges that the viewers really liked, and ones that just made for good TV. Challenges are repeated across seasons and sometimes within the same season, just using the same bones with different inspiration. There are sewing challenges in which the queens have to make their own costumes, acting challenges in which they have to act in a dramatic or comedic scene, lip sync extravaganzas in which they are assigned characters in a musical-esque show, and, most peoples’ favorite, Snatch Game which is a parody of the Match Game in which the queens impersonate another celebrity in a mainly comedic challenge. The queens compete in these challenges from week to week and RuPaul chooses a winner, who wins fabulous sponsored prizes, and a two bottom queens, who must compete in a “Lip Sync For Your Life.” These epic battles are the queens’ last chance to show RuPaul that they deserve to stay in the competition. At the end Ru chooses one (or more) of the queens to be eliminated. And then the whole process starts up all again the next week.

There are a few different twists though when it comes to the All Stars spinoff, a show dedicated to giving queens who had already been on the show a second chance at the crown. The first season featured many of the same types of challenges and elimination styles, but the queens had to compete in the same teams of two for the entire competition instead of just by themselves. The second and third seasons introduced a new twist. Instead of the bottom two queens (or teams in the case of All Stars Season 1) lip syncing to stay in the competition, the top two All Star queens “Lip Sync For [Their] Legacy” in which the winner of that lip sync gets the ability to send one of the bottom queens home, on top of a $10,000 cash tip from RuPaul herself.

 

Visibility

One of the most important aspects of Drag Race breaking through into mainstream media is that it provides visibility of trans* or gender nonconforming identities to a much broader audience. The presentation of gender-bending artists makes people like me begin to question gender as a whole, and even within themselves. No matter whether people figure they are cis-gendered or trans* after such introspection, this opportunity the show gives is amazing. In cases such as mine, seeing these queens led to further research into gender expression in a non-binary sense. One of my favorite examples of how the show impacts people is a video of this little kid who, after watching the show, dressed up in drag for Halloween inspired by the winner of Season 8. The child identifies as gender neutral, but still likes to dress up like the drag queens they see on TV. It makes me so happy that someone so young can find the strength to be themselves, and even more happy that it came from a show like Drag Race, in which I found my own strength to be myself.

 

Vocalization of Trans* Identities

In the drag community, it has become more and more acceptable to experience and come out with a trans* identity. The sentiments of season nine alumna, Peppermint, showcase this perfectly. In an interview with RuPaul, Peppermint expresses that for years she kept her drag persona and her life as a trans-woman separated from each other, in fear of getting kicked out of either community for associating with the other. Furthermore, it is important to remember the amazing platform that up and coming and mainstream drag queens have. Not only is it important to have a visual representation of you identity readily available in order to start to feel more comfortable in the expression of a ‘rebellious’ identity, it is important that those who have the platform and who are expressing these identities and being a voice for the community actually stand up and state their identity. Some of the most tender moments from Drag Race are when some of the girls have come out as transgender on the show. When, for example, Monica Beverly Hillz came out as a trans-woman on the main stage during an emotional breakdown in season five, we got to see a real, human moment from a queen having rather universal feelings, or at least universal to the trans* community. Seeing the struggle that these supposed strong characters have with expressing their own true self reminds us of how hard it is to experience an identity that is outside the social norm. The fact that these drag queens, who are up on a much larger stage than most of us, can come out and express their true selves, helps their audience to possibly find the courage to start showing their true selves, even if it’s just admitting in to themselves.

 

Conclusion

For me, the ability that I have to sit around with a group of friends and watch a bunch of drag queens lip sync, death drop, and just generally be dramatic, all while not caring about gender norms and rules, the ability to just be myself, is amazing. The drag community truly opens up so many doors for research, self-discovery, and self-acceptance. It has helped me, and so many others, be able to express our true selves without fear, and for that reason it will always have a special place in my heart.

 

Ryan Glover, They/Them, WM 2021