Being and performance in RuPaul's Drag Race

Mainstream novelty: Examining the shifting visibility of drag performance

“…The second era, written post-Gender Trouble, focuses similarly on individual lives and identities, but interrogates drag's political protest potential. These works see drag as a site of subversive political resistance at the individual level through audience/performer interactions (Bailey, 2011;Berkowitz and Belgrave, 2010;Brown, 2001;Hopkins, 2004;Rupp and Taylor, 2003;Schacht and Underwood, 2004;Taylor et al, 2004). These works are important in understanding the nuances of individual drag performance and audience reception, yet they overlook the world of drag outside the respective populations of interest.…”

“…Some essays also discuss belonging within drag communities, within the US (Brennan, 2017) and abroad (Castellano and Machado, 2017; Chronaki, 2017; Villarreal et al, 2017). Additionally, several articles investigate inequality on RPDR (Brown, 2018; Collins, 2017; Edgar, 2011; Hermes and Kardolus, 2019; Uphadyay, 2019; Wilson, 2018) as well as capitalism and industry as it is reflected on the show (Chetwynd, 2020; Hankins, 2015; Vesey, 2017). Notably missing from these works is the question of what kind of impact this visibility has for drag communities outside of RPDR, and the broader landscape of drag as a collectivity or “scene” with its own norms and codes.…”