Everything wrong with the universe of Rupaul’s Drag Race
Ladies, gentlemen and genderqueer individuals, start your engines, because today we are going to be diving deep into the phenomenon we know as “Rupaul’s Drag Race”. This series has given us so many unforgettable moments that are staples in mainstream culture, including Sasha Velour’s rose petal reveal extravaganza and Shangela’s iconic sugar daddy monologue. But with such success, comes plenty of controversy, and Drag Race is not without its fair share of problematic facets. To say that the fandom and culture surrounding “Rupaul’s Drag Race” is extremely toxic is a gross understatement. The racism, transphobia, and cyber-bullying that has erupted over the past few years due to the show’s success is incredibly startling and speaks to the true nature of people. The controversy can be summed up by the poet laureate Ms. Jasmine Masters’ famous statement; “Rupaul’s Drag Race has fucked up drag”.
Much like one of Rupaul’s many overlooked songs, let’s start from “The Beginning”. Rupaul’s Drag Race is, it’s a reality television competition series that takes a handful of drag queens from across the country and forces them in a pressure cooker like no other, where they have to sing, dance, lip-sync, act, and sashay their way through a variety of different challenges each week as they are eliminated one by one. The show gained much popularity after society realized how “cool” & “fun” drag queens were. That coupled with the huge doses of manufactured drama the show has given us over the years has made it one of the reality tv shows that is beloved by anyone that has seen at least seen 1 episode. I mean c’mon, men in wigs & gowns lip syncing to parody songs, right after arguing with one another and sharing the story of their dead mother? At this point I’m sure they have secured an Emmy delivery system.
Alas, it wasn’t always like this, drag actually used to be a form of rebellion and a way to break free from the societal gender norms set by traditionalists. Rupaul herself, the host and creator of the show, was one of the individuals that shined a light on the genderfuck movement back in the 80’s, which challenged the lines that separate gender & identity politics. Along with Rupaul, were a slew of transgendered women who also led the fight for drag to taken seriously by their heterosexual and even queer counterparts. Not too long ago, drag queens were seen as clowns, or viewed as men who were mentally damaged and found no other way of self expression other than putting on women’s clothing and singing along to women’s songs. Now decades later, you can see a drag queen on tv just as easily as you can see a commercial for Macy’s. This is in large part due to the hard work of Rupaul Charles, who clawed his way to the top from nothing and created an iconic persona worshipped by queer folks all over the world.
However, many people and former contestants of the show have criticized Rupaul’s lack of inclusivity on the show, and his rule of not allowing transgendered individuals the opportunity to compete on the show. He’s made comments comparing trans women competing on Drag Race to olympic athletes taking steroids. First off momma they do, and second trans women were right there alongside Rupaul in the dressing rooms of clubs and in the streets while protesting, so why not make room for the people that helped you get to where you are now? Some say that the world isn’t ready just yet to see trans people on that kind of platform, and to that I only have 2 words. Bye Felicia. Instead of hiding a huge section of the queer community in fear of polarizing opinions, this would be a great way to educate people on the lives of transgendered individuals and give them an opportunity to showcase their skills to people who otherwise would never see it. Girl in my eyes, trans or cis gendered, talent is talent and none of it should be denied. And while there are other television and online platforms that highlight alternative styles of drag and trans talent, it would still be nice for momma Ru to give them a chance to shine on her stage.
And while the prospect of having trans talent on Rupaul’s Drag Race seems more and more like an idea that’ll never come to fruition, perhaps they are dodging thousands of tiny little bullets that come in the form of online comments. It’s no surprise that a show of that stature has such a devout following, but the fans of the show have created such a toxic environment that the only thing that scares the queens more than being eliminated from the show, is dealing with the backlash of how they’re portrayed on the show. When it comes to reality television shows, Drag Race takes the cake to how passionate the fans can be towards the contestants on the show; if the fans love you, you will be showered with love & devotion, and if they do not care for you, you will be showered with malicious messages and harsh death threats. And while many queens love to blame the edit on why they were portrayed negatively, as Nene Leakes would say; You said what you said. However, reality tv show producers have no issues warping what is caught on camera in order to make a compelling story, and with each story, there has to be a villain, and drag race is notorious for creating some of the most memorable villains in the history of television.
When you look at people like Phi Phi O’hara & Roxxy Andrews, notable figures in drag race history, their runs on Drag Race are most notable not for how many challenges they won or how fierce they were on the runway, but how villainous they were portrayed during the show. They were talented queens and great people, but unfortunately were some of the few that let the competition get the best of them, and they succumbed to nasty mental warfare and catty antics. And even though they might not have been the most likeable characters, the backlash that came their way after the show was extremely terrifying to say the least. Phi Phi O’hara, top 3 finalist from season 4, talked about how she was afraid to leave her house for months after the show premiered due to the very detailed and personal death threats she received. While Roxxy Andrews, top 3 finalist from season 5, received just as much backlash and said it was hard for her to get gigs for awhile after the was on the show since promoters thought she was rude and “hard to work with” after seeing how she was portrayed on the show. Even after her return to All stars years after season 5 aired, the legacy of her bitchy antics followed her throughout the competition, despite her being able to redeem herself by showing her sweet and likeable side on All stars. Unfortunately, we cannot say the same for Ms. O’hara, who also returned to the same All Stars season as Roxxy Andrews, but only made her reputation even worse by continuing her underhanded moves. What can we say, at least she tried to redeem herself, even though she failed miserably.
Roxxy and Phi Phi were perfect examples of how much your life can change for the worst once millions of people watch you act like an asshole on national television, but there is something else that contributed to the harshness they received, something that no tv producer could change, edit, or cut out. The color of their skin. Drag Race has acquired a very particular type of fan base over the past few years, and that fanbase happens to be very young, and very white. Over the years as well, it has been revealed over time that many of the queens that are popular on the show happen to be white, blonde, skinny, while also being an attractive boy out of drag which only gets you more brownie points. White queens tend to be received the best by the fans, receive the most following on social media, and also get the least amount of repercussion when they do something not so great on the show. I suppose when the fanbase is predominantly white, they tend to lean towards people that remind them of themselves or people that they can relate to. However, when it comes to POC and black queens, they are not given the benefit of the doubt, and tend to have lighter following and receive less adoration and more criticism compared to their white counterparts.
This was evident when it came to Phi Phi and Roxxy, since the victims of their mental torture in the competition were mainly directed towards likeable white queens, which caused the white fans to hop up off their futons and did what they could to protect their girls. How dare this brown skinned girl come for the poor little white girl? even if it is just for the sake of television. These are the kind of thoughts that circulate the minds of the young fans sitting at home watching, which is problematic on so many levels.
A perfect example of this was in season 10, when we had one of the most controversial queens in Drag Race history grace our screens and drop some heavy truths onto us. The Vixen, a black activist queen from Chicago, came into the workroom saying “I’m just here to fight”, and that bitch fought alright. Although she did not do that great on the show, finishing in 7th place, she is most remembered for her spicy altercations with fellow contestant Eureka O’hara (still not sure if there is any relation to Phi Phi) and fellow contestant and eventual winner, Aquaria.
She was a feisty queen full of spunk, and let it be known when she was not feeling what anyone had to say. And even though she may have come off as abrasive to others, much of the black community rallied behind her because she brought up important topics many were too afraid to bring towards the light. This happened when in one of the episodes of Untucked, the RPDR after show, The Vixen and Aquaria got into an argument about a fight they had previously that day. Whilst they were having a conversation, Aquaria inexplicably burst into tears which took the entire room by surprise since they were having a civil conversation. At that moment, The Vixen immediately called out the random hysteria from Aquaria and broke the fourth wall by exposing how their situation would be portrayed on camera. The Vixen, a strong black queen, knew if she was filmed for just one second yelling Aquaria, the frail white girl, she would immediately insert herself into the trope of the angry black women scarring off the little white girl. The other queens also acknowledged that even though Aquaria was the one who antagonized the tufts they had in the workroom, she would still be seen as the victim only because she is white and the person she just so happens to be beefing with is a proud black person. The Vixen steered clear of that narrative by uttering in a stern tone “Leave me alone” to Aquaria, but the brevity of that moment weighed heavy on many of us.
The fact one of the contestants were self aware enough to see the micro-aggression unfolding in front of them and halt it knowing what was on the other side of the incident, goes to show you the immense amount of racism that exists within a community meant to lift people up. The Vixen was one of the people who called out the prejudice black queens faced on the show, and made no apologies for what she did since many of her outburst were in response to negative things thrown her way. It’s unfortunate that the person who had to bring this to light was a contestant on the show rather than the host, who you would think would care more about this being a black queer person themselves. But alas, Momma Ru has continued to stay silent on this matter and has merely shown the slightest of care towards the subject by using one of her song lyrics as a pseudo-inspirational quote. We saw what you did there Ru. Forever plugging.
You would think that a show based on the motto “Everybody say Love” would be known for nothing but that, love. Instead, the show plays into the catty, drama-obsessed, segregated landscape that the queer community has made prevalent in today’s society. I think a few things that all of us should remember when viewing this program is as Thorgy Thor would say, “Drag is fun. Woo!” It’s a show meant for pure fun and queer expression, so don’t take what happens to heart. At the end of the day, we’re lucky to live in a world where men are praised on television for exaggerating the female persona, so let’s open our minds and always remember that. Whatever your opinion is about that person, should perhaps stay your opinion and not turn into a mean comment forever living on the web. And honestly, let’s see how wholesome any of us would be after standing in heels for 10 hours of taping while you have your genitals taped between your legs under a bunch of camera lights. I’ll wait.
