RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Shifting Visibility of Drag Culture : The Boundaries of Reality TV

This volume identifies and interrogates the ways in which RuPaul's Drag Race (RPDR) has transformed the visibility of drag culture in the US and internationally, as well as how the program has changed understandings of reality TV. The collection entails works whose aim is to address how drag has become a significant aspect of LGBTQ experience and identity globally vis-à-vis RPDR, and how RPDR has altered a media landscape in which competition and reality itself are understood as given. Read more... Abstract: This book identifies and analyzes the ways in which RuPaul's Drag Race has reshaped the visibility of drag culture in the US and internationally, as well as how the program has changed understandings of reality TV. Read more... RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Shifting Visibility of Drag Culture Acknowledgments Contents List of Figures List of Tables Drag Culture, Global Participation and RuPaul’s Drag Race References Part I Representation and the Parameters of Drag Identity The “RuPaulitics” of Subjectification in RuPaul’s Drag Race “Start Your Engines!” Ru-Presenting Drag Culture A Foucauldian Xtravaganza! “The Bitch Turned It!”: Transforming the Subject “Light a Fire under Your Ass”: Inventions and Interventions Conclusion: Ru-flections and Further Directions References Contradictions Between the Subversive and the Mainstream: Drag Cultures and RuPaul’s Drag Race Introduction Authenticity, Competition and Consumption, in and out of Drag Methodological Note The Library Is Open: Reading Authenticity, Consumption and Competition in RPDR Conclusion References “Pick up a book and go read”: Art and Legitimacy in RuPaul’s Drag Race Serena’s Persona on RDPR Elevating Drag and Elevated Language Artistic Legitimacy, Reality, and Extra Dramatic Sound Effects References North American Universalism in RuPaul’s Drag Race: Stereotypes, Linguicism, and the Construction of “Puerto Rican Queens” Race and the Universal Subject Latinadad Media Representation and Stereotyping Racialized Humor and Linguicism Refutations of Latinx Cultural Capital Conclusions References Spicy. Exotic. Creature. Representations of Racial and Ethnic Minorities on RuPaul’s Drag Race Feminist Theory, Intersectionality, and Domains of Power “Creature”: BeBe Zahara Benet as the “Exotic” Other “Escandalo!”: RPDR’s Puerto Rican Contestants “Doesn’t Mean You’re Racist. You Hate Everybody, Including Your Own Race”: Cultural Appropriation and (Acceptable?) Racist Stereotypes Implications of Racial and Ethnic Stereotypes and Exoticization References The Werk That Remains: Drag and the Mining of the Idealized Female Form Television Realness Bodies The “Large” Drag Queen Drag U Conclusion References Big-Girls Don’t Cry: Portrayals of the Fat Body in RuPaul’s Drag Race “Reading Is Fundamental” “Big Girl Is in the House” Cooperation “Funny Funny Kid” “When I Don’t Shave, I’m a Bear” “Plus Size Barbie” Emphasizing Other Traits “Can I Get an Amen?” References Part II Drag Culture, Community and Belonging “I Am the Drag Whisperer”: Notes from the Front Line of a Cultural Phenomenon Sissy That Performance Script! The Queer Pedagogy of RuPaul’s Drag Race You Betta’ Represent! Stroll Down the Runway (Methods) Confronting the Glamazon The Main Event RuPaul’s Best Friend Race Can I Get an Amen? References Super Troopers: The Homonormative Regime of Visibility in RuPaul’s Drag Race The Trajectory of Drag Queen Representation From the Drag Mother... ...To the Drag Fatherland Expanding Rather than Concluding References “Please Come to Brazil!” The Practices of RuPaul’s Drag Race’s Brazilian Fandom Gentlemen, Start Your Engines, and May the Best Woman Win! The Brazilian RPDR Fandom Conclusion References Reception of Queer Content and Stereotypes Among Young People in Monterrey, Mexico: RuPaul’s Drag Race Mexican Culture and the LGBTQ Community Monterrey Society Reception Theory and RuPaul’s Drag Race Social Learning Theory and Identification with Contestants Method Results Reception of RPDR Acceptance and Rejection of Contestants Monterrey and the LGBTQ Community Conclusion References Mainstreaming the Transgressive: Greek Audiences’ Readings of Drag Culture Through the Consumption of RuPaul’s Drag Race RPDR: An “Authentic” Reality Show The Proliferation of Gay Culture in Greece and the Appearance of Drag Methodological Note Experiences with Live Drag Shows RPDR in the Greek Context RPDR’s Chances in Greek TV... Conclusions References RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Reconceptualisation of Queer Communities and Publics Reading – for Difference – Is Fundamental The “Female or She-Male” Controversy References Part III RuPaul’s Drag Race, Globalization and Social Media Digital Extensions, Experiential Extensions and Hair Extensions: RuPaul’s Drag Race and the New Media Environment References What Can Drag Do for Me? The Multifaceted Influences of RuPaul’s Drag Race on the Perth Drag Scene Settings and Data Drag in Perth, a Brief History Lack of Knowledge and the Context of Drag Personal Histories and Family Structures The RuPaul Complex “Keeping up” with the (new) Queens References “If You Can’t Love Yourself, How in the Hell You Gonna Love Somebody Else?” Drag TV and Self-Love Discourse Drag and Neoliberalism: Subcultures of Consumption and Celebrity Affective Spaces, Television, and Social Media Affect, Family, and the Straightening of Queer Culture Logo TV, Mimicry, and Representational Risk Extended Family: The WOW Network Online Conclusion: Mimicry and the Future of Drag References “We’re All Born Naked and the Rest Is Drag”: The Performativity of Bodies Constructed in Digital Networks Performativity in Social Networks The Spreadable: Final Considerations References Index Annotation This book identifies and analyzes the ways in which RuPaul's Drag Race has reshaped the visibility of drag culture in the US and internationally, as well as how the program has changed understandings of reality TV. This edited volume illustrates how drag has become a significant aspect of LGBTQ experience and identity globally through RuPaul's Drag Race, and how the show has reformed a media landscape in which competition and reality itself are understood as given. Taking on lenses addressing race, ethnicity, geographical origin, cultural identity, physicality and body image, and participation in drag culture across the globe, this volume offers critical, non-traditional, and first-hand perspectives on drag culture