From Questioning Madonna to “Reading” Rupaul’s Drag Race (Core Post)

I really like the way in which Ann Cvetokovich related Madonna to drag queens. I had never thought of comparing Madonna to drag queens, so I was fascinated to see how similar they are to each other in the way that they both perform a spectacle of femininity and “open up a distinction between being a woman and performing as a woman” (Cvetokovich, 157) as they imitate female performers instead of real women. The way in which the excess of femininity in Madonna’s performance reveals how gender is a constructed artifice is also very relevant to drag queens. With Drag, characteristics of femininity are so emphasized and exaggerated – especially in the makeup –, that it exposes the constructedness of femininity.

Bell Hooks’ article, however, brought my attention to the issue of lack of criticism. In the article, she discusses how everyone criticized the way Madonna tapped into religion and how even though everyone noticed her use of race and blackness, specifically in the “Like a Prayer” music video, no one really criticized/analyzed Madonna’s use/appropriation of race. Hooks also asks if Madonna was really progressive in relation to gay men, given that “she insists on primarily representing gays as in some way emotionally handicapped or defective” (164).

Reading these questions made me go back to Drag and ask similar questions. The same incident of people praising some aspects of Madonna and not questioning others is similar to what I see happening with Rupaul’s Drag Race. With each season, the show becomes more and more popular, more and more a behavior influencer among gay men. In the show’s first seasons, I could see that it was shaped around gay culture as a way to establish its “brand”. However, in the latest seasons, as the show is more popular, the roles have switched. Rupaul’s Drag Race is now constructing and influencing gay culture more than being shaped by it. As its audience is more and more influenced and interpellated by the show, there is less questioning and criticizing around Drag Race.

There are a few blog posts on the Internet questioning how stereotypes of race and ethnicity are appropriated in the show, but they never get a lot of attention. I have also seen a few comments about Drag lingo being offensive towards women, but they also don’t get a lot of attention as the show is so well protected by its huge audience of gay men supporting this lingo.

Is it acceptable that Rupaul’s audience gets away rudeness and name calling by naming it shade and “reading” others? As Queens are praised for “serving looks”, is it really ok to call them fishy? What is that saying about women and male superiority? That definitely doesn’t smell good…