Queer Analysis

When considering gender or applying a queer analysis to shows, the first thing that comes to mind is RuPaul's Drag Race. Known as a staple in gay culture, RuPaul's Drag Race serves as a progressive form of media that has been slowly seeping into the heteronormative culture that is today's society. Jumping from Logo, a predominantly gay television station, to VH1, RuPaul has succeeded at transcending the social norm that constantly keep homosexuals oppressed and contained in a corner that's still in media's eye but far enough away that it can be forgotten about or avoided. Since the popularity of the show has risen, so has visibility for the LGBTQ community, although mainly focusing on the Gay part of acronym. It's important to note the visibility of all other forms of LGBTQ members because as gay men grow to the center of the light, bisexuals and lesbians fade into the background. I withhold transgendered people from this form of exclusion because, more often than not, they are found in RuPaul's Drag Race as transitioning contestants.
The show is something like the worlds toughest competition. Contestants, drag queens (men who dress as women), have to sing, dance, act, and construct their own outfits to compete for the title of America's Next Drag Superstar. This is done through numerous challenges that require comedy, camp, and a quick wit. This show is important because, as gay men dressing as women and embodying gender ambiguity, the show demonstrates a flippancy towards gender construction. The comedy is achieved through the recognition of gender stereotyping, heteronormativity, and gender performance. The show itself is very comfortable with poking fun at societies constructs and what is considered a norm. With contestants often winning for thinking outside of the box, transformative ideas that push boundaries are often prided and rewarded, making going against the grain of society commendable. What's rather interesting about this show is that it explores sexual othering in a new way. Rather than stigmatizing homosexuality, RuPaul's Drag Race does the reverse and stigmatizes heterosexuality, almost completely ignoring it in the show, or poking fun at it.
To touch back on what I mentioned earlier, what makes this show so incredible can also be it's downfall. Yes, any and all exposure of the LGBTQ community is good, but the loss of bisexual acknowledgment or any lesbian representation can be damaging to the already oppressed sexual deviations. It's interesting to approach this with a feminist perspective: should we be surprised that there is homosexual male representation and no lesbian representation? Have women been pushed into the back seat of LGBTQ representation in media? It's sad to recognize that sex discrimination still plays such a major roll in a progressive show, but it's important to make these distinctions so that even more progress can be made. Hopefully, the next thing we seen in media that boasts LGBTQ visibility is something like drag kings competing.