Rupaul’s Drag Race serving diversity on our televisions
After finishing every season of Jersey Shore and Geordie Shore, my sister and I were on the hunt for a new show to binge watch. We stumbled upon Rupaul’s Drag Race airing on SBS, where drag queens were battling it out in a completely unique and hilarious format. It was love at first sight! Since then, I, along with the rest of the world, have become completely invested in the show and drag as an artform, appreciating its intricacies.
Rupaul’s Drag Race is a reality television show that follows a number of drag queen contestants competing to win the title of ‘America’s Next Drag Superstar’ and a prize of $100,000. A panel including Rupaul, Michelle Visage, Ross Matthew and celebrity guests, judge the contestants on a series of challenges based on humour, wit, creativity and feminine style.
While the show serves as a source of entertainment and comedic relief, it also helps to foster acceptance among the LGBTQIA community. As the show has gained popularity, it has allowed drag queens to be portrayed in the mainstream media. The light-hearted nature of the show has paved the way for drag and the LGBTQIA community to be appreciated and celebrated in society.
For many of the drag queens we know and love today, homophobia and transphobia proved to be obstacles throughout their drag careers. Issues like HIV and the military policy ‘Don’t ask, don’t tell” fuelled discrimination and fear in and of the LGBTQIA community in the 80s and 90s, as has the ongoing influence of religion. Along with a fear of discrimination was a lack of LGBTQIA representation in the media.
GLAAD’s annual ‘Where we are on TV’ report outlines the representation of diversity in American television. In 2009, when Rupauls Drag Race first aired, 3% of broadcast scripted characters represented part of the LGBTQIA community. Representation in the 90s and early 2000s proved to be problematic, as LGBTQIA characters were often stereotypical or limited portrayals.
Presently, representation of LGBTQIA characters has increased to 8.8%, as well as more diversity of ethnicities. With the introduction of streaming platforms and online media like Instagram and Twitter, access to diversity and authentic representations of the LGBTQIA community, as shown in Rupaul’s Drag Race, has increased.
What makes Rupaul’s Drag Race special and unique is that it has helped to break down stereotypes and allowed for an entire community to be showcased to the world. Bless Rupaul himself for that! This representation in the media can serve to empower those in the LGBTQIA community and help influence self-perception, especially for youth.
The humour and talent flaunted on the show engaged viewers while educating them on an artform foreign to most. The show has become a pop-culture phenomenon, popularising language and customs from the drag culture in mainstream society. Use of the terms “reading” or “throwing shade” highlight the influence that Rupaul’s introducing drag culture has had on mainstream society. The popularity of Drag Race has grown in a culture where acceptance and uniqueness are celebrated.
Season 11 queen Nina West takes on a political side of drag, using the artform as a means to raise money and awareness for LGBTQIA causes. After growing up in a conservative, Republican family in America, Andrew Levitt developed his drag persona Nina West to become a spokesperson for the LGBTQIA community. Through drag productions and fundraisers, she has raised over $2.5 million for charity. She also used the Rupauls Drag Race platform to spread messages for equal rights. By engaging viewers in a humorous and fun way, Nina West was able to inform audiences of important political messages.
While acceptance of the LGBTQIA community still has a way to go in terms of discrimination and rights, Rupaul’s Drag Race has been so successful in helping shape the public’s opinion on performing drag, as well as the LGBTQIA community as a whole. In an interview with Drag Race’s judging panel and producers, the benefits of drag representation are clear. The show helps viewers to break preconceived notions, helping people to accept and celebrate the LGBTQIA community. It is important for society to be informed about and understanding of different cultures. Drag Race has helped foster acceptance among a community that was once scrutinised.
