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1. Everyday transgender and cross dressing people around the world, including drag queens, are verbally and physically harassed, robbed, beaten, and killed, despite their own best efforts to protect themselves. Few of these cases are prosecuted and many murders remain unsolved.

2. RuPaul’s Drag Race, like much drag in general, does…[Read more]

1. Drag Race was the first TV show to show Drag Queens in a good light. TV shows before usually depicted drag queens as victims. However, Ru Paul waited for the best time to premiere the show.

2. The show also showed difficulties with their parents and siblings, as well as the hardships of staring drag as young as middle school.

3. Unlike…[Read more]

1) Over the years, television has become more accustomed to showing transgender individuals. Sonny and Cher’s son, Chaz, was on Dancing with the Stars and Project Runway before beginning his own fashion television show.
2) RuPaul has been waiting for YEARS for the chance to bring RuPaul’s drag race to television. I had no idea how long this show…[Read more]

“A frequent on-camera question answered while not in drag is how and when a contestant first got interested in doing drag. All this results in what i consider the most drag-safe space in television” -Mary Marcel

RuPaul’s provides a space where drag queens can be themselves, showcasing who they are, and not feel threatened. This is so important…[Read more]

1. RuPaul’s Drag Race can be perceived as problematic because of its celebration of hyperfemininity and possibly it’s emphasis on gay stereotypes (i.e. gay people are dramatic, catty). In addition, in the past it has laid in the gray area as to whether or not support transgender queens as they are.
2. Even with it’s problematic elements, RuPaul’s…[Read more]

Ru Pauls drag race parallels many reality tv shows that focus on women and femininity. The parallels between these two programs allows the audience to better understand the nature of drag. It normalizes drag appearance and equates it with that of other contestant based shows like Americas next top model.

1. Drag creates an outlet where gay men can be comfortable expressing both the masculine and feminine parts of their personality.
2. However, it poses some problems for male-to-female transgender women as contestants are required to appear off camera out of drag and looking like a regular male.
3. The show also celebrates various races and…[Read more]

1. “Drag” Race was the first television show to put Drag Queens in a good light. Shows before typically showed drag queens as victims or antagonists. However, Ru Paul had to wait for the opportune time to premiere the show.

2. I’ve never given thought to the fact that Ru Paul also needs to be concerned about feminists’ critique. After all, the…[Read more]

Ru Pauls drag race sets the stage for drag women to be their own voices in popular media culture. As Ru Paul says, Drag Race is a mechanism for education, awareness, and identity expression. People from everywhere can turn on the show and learn about alternative gender and gender identity while others who experience this struggle themselves can…[Read more]

While celebrities like lady gaga and Madonna have tried to give voice to the LGBTQ community, their portrayals of the community actually limit and quiet those very voices they are attempting to represent. As cisgendered women, they cannot successfully portray and advocate for the LGBTQ community without being able to directly relate to the…[Read more]

1. I had no idea that November 20th is Transgender Day of Remembrance. I also was not educated at all about the history of transgenders and how common murdering people who identify that way was. I find it heartbreaking that there are people in this world who have lost their lives simply because of their preference and unpopular opinion. One guy…[Read more]

Even celebrities like Lady Gaga and Madonna, known as advocates for the lgbtq community, tend to show their privilege and have to be regarded with a critical eye. Gaga adopts the drag aesthetic but doesn’t represent the irony, hyperbole, pain and fear intrinsically linked with the drag performance. Madonna adopted “voguing” and made it mai…[Read more]

1) “It seems reasonable to think that it will be a long time before the majority of Americans will have attended a live drag show, in the way that a vast majority of Americans can say they have attended a professional sporting event or a Broadway show.” This is a reasonable statement because the acceptance of drag and drag shows isn’t happening…[Read more]

“Representing Gender, Race, and Realness: RuPaul’s Drag Race”
1. Public figures need to gain a better understanding of their privilege to have a voice and speak not only for, but with, people with marginalized voices in society. RuPaul’s television show creates a virtual safe space for people who face rejection in society in general, but also f…[Read more]

1. Transgender and cross-dressing people are often victims of violence inflicted upon them based on their perceived “otherness” and the way they present themselves to the world which conflicts from the social norm. When cisgender artists borrow aesthetic aspects of the transgender or cross-dressing experience for gain with none of the…[Read more]

1. Artist like Madonna and Lady Gaga capitalized off of these cultures yet the people in the culture are still marginalized. This is a familiar sentiment to cultural appropriation of other oppressed groups. People enjoy the culture but have a problem with the people.

2. The point about there being many feminist critiques about Ru Paul’s Drag…[Read more]

1. RuPaul’s Drag Race provides an example of cross gender and bisexual lives to audiences that may not have a real life example to look to personally.

2. Television is largely responsible for reinforcing gender roles and glorifying white standards of beauty. RuPaul’s Drag Race provides a diverse vision of feminine beauty by including many…[Read more]

It is presumed that the producers of RuPaul’s Drag Race have but a limited interest “in personal journeys of identity construction,” and that over time it could become more about the creativity and art of the performance alone.