Thoughts and Musings on RuPaul’s Drag Race

It’s no secret that I love RuPaul’s Drag Race. It’s no secret that I love pride communities, the LGBTQ family and the pageantry and pain that goes alongside being a drag queen. So with season 9 just around the corner (or already going depending on quickly my chubby fingers finish this post up), here’s some of the thoughts I have after 9 seasons of Drag Race, 2 seasons of Drag Race: All-Stars and drag culture in general. Now, these opinions are mine and I welcome constructive conversation down in the comments.

• I love that RuPaul has built an empire on blonde wigs and raising one arm up in the air.
• Teaching and learning Drag Lingo is absolutely hilarious.
  • Listening to your friends use it casually in conversation is also great.
    • Lookin’ at you, Carlos. Askin’ me about the tea.
• Apparently, I pull off a mean Alaska impression.
• Can we just say that Katya was robbed during All-Stars Season 2?
  • Speaking of Katya, I’d like to think I’m the Katya Zamo of cosplay.
    • Mostly riddled with anxiety but still looking pretty okay.
• Can we all just say that Raven has been robbed twice?
• ALSO can we just say that making Raven and JuJu Bee sing against each other to Dancing On my Own was the purest show of evil?
  • My heart still isn’t fully mended from that.
• Latrice Royale is wonderful and really should have won some kind of crown. I don’t think she was best of her season but someone deserves to give her a crown of some kind.
  • LARGE AND IN CHARGE, DAMMIT. GIVE HER A CROWN.
• I get just as  angry as Latrice did when the girls of her season for WHATEVER reason didn’t know their herstory.
  • Real talk, I was talking to some other members of the pride community and some young lass asked “What was Stonewall all about?” and I just about spilled my drink.
• I really want to know what happened to Ginger Minj and her husband in between her season and the most recent season of All-Stars…
  • Her new beau is cute but like…there’s a story there. I want to know that story.
• Willam is a strange conglomeration of regret and bad choices but like…he looks good.
  • Real talk, if you ever want to see me feel very conflicted about a person Willam is fascinating. He does things FOR attention so you know what you’re getting but also, you can see this is a person who somewhere deep down inside is in pain and probably needs a lot of love and support.
• RELATED TANGENT: how does one gender a drag queen?
  • He when dressed and as a male and she as a female?
    • But yet Ru is still called Mama even when in a bespoke suit…
• Also let’s go over a few things that drag ISN’T:
  • Drag is not cosplay.
  • Drag is not just a man in a dress.
  • Drag is not just doing fierce makeup.
  • Drag is pads and nails and wigs and discomfort and beauty.
  • IF YOU’RE NOT WEARING NAILS, YOU AREN’T DOING DRAG.
    • Moral of the story is: Drag is an Art.
• I’m always a little struck by the misogyny that the gay community still struggles with.
  • Like really, listen to the way these men talk about women sometimes.
• Cosplay still isn’t drag.
• The divide between older drag queens and younger queens reminds me so much of the divide between new cosplayers and old cosplayers (like me).
  • Oh my gosh, I made this whole outfit myself! No, you didn’t. You got it off J-List. That’s cool, girl. No tea, no shade. Just accept the truth.
• Why did no one tell me that Chad Michaels and Morgan McMichaels (drag mom and daughter) are the same damn age?
• I’m surprised by how many of these drag queens have last names.
  • Looking at you, Pearl Liason.
• I do love and hate the divide between comedy queens and pageant girls.
• I still don’t think I understand Sharon Needles. I’m just gonna say it.
• I also still hate Phi Phi O’Hara.
  • There is nothing quite like watching me downward spiral into hatred when being confronted with how awful of a human being or rotted out tree monster Phi Phi O’Hara is.
• If Coco Montrese can forgive Alyssa and vice versa, I can learn to be more forgiving.
• Every time Alyssa does a Death Drop, Redbull does give someone wings.
  • But Redbull does give you back rolls.
• Does Violet eat? Such a tiny waist. Tiny corset…is she okay? Someone give her a burger.
• Watching this show genuinely makes me want to be a better cosplayer, person and artist.
• I want to know who my drag mom would be. Who would drag adopt me?
  • Latrice, please adopt me. Or Katya.
• Please don’t ask me who my favorite queen is…it’s Chad Michaels or Katya.
• I still don’t get Bianca Del Rio…she’s so mean.
  • Please don’t tell her I said that. She will hunt me down like an animal and read me to filth.
• Snatch Game is magical and I have no idea who I would be…
  • Except for the instances where it’s damn near offensive…
    • LOOKIN’ AT YOU TRIXIE MATTEL. TRYIN’ TO BE ANNE FRANK FOR SNATCH GAME.
• RuPaul’s music is very catchy…too catchy….
  • If you have to ask me a favorite RuPaul song…The Beginning is really really good.
• I am curious about the fine line between reading and just being a terrible human being.
• I am also disappointed with how staged the show has been recently.
  • If I wanted a staged reality show, I’d watch something Kardashian or America’s Next Top Model.
• Favorite Season? Season 4, probably. Or Season 7. Don’t make me choose.
• I’m a little curious about the nature of the terrible horrible f*g word. Because when Willam uses it, he’s fine but if someone else uses it, they’re using hate speech. I think it’s hate speech either way.
  • I’m seriously curious about this. It’s sort of like the n-word. That if someone who is WHITE says it, it’s hate speech. If two black people say it to each other, it’s fine.
• I would love to see a Drag King version of Drag Race but I do admit that most biological women who are dressing as men are doing to express gender identity and not just for fun and remember: cosplay is not drag.
• I am also angry that these men in dresses look better than I do on most days and that’s a strange feeling to have as a real human person.

I love any show that makes me want to create. That makes me want to be more. That makes me want to be a better person, creator and queen. The messages can be empowering, self-satisfying and at the same time narcissistic and toxic. But isn’t that any community? Isn’t that any fandom? The LGBT community has come so far and drag has been pivotal to that growth. But the community does still have a long way to go and we will continue to make progress. Let’s move forward together and make herstory.