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Abstract
Critical theorists argue that a dialectical materialism exists between ideology and culture and the material conditions of society. The same can be said for the production of sexuality and gender on television. Representations of drag queens in mainstream media have appeared in Hollywood films such as Victor/Victoria, Paris is Burning and The Birdcage. This paper argues that the complexity and holistic representation of drag queens in television media is often as complicated as the lived realities of drag queens themselves. By analysing a popular reality television show, RuPaul’s Drag Race, this paper will employ a rubric based on three stages to explore how gender is represented to the public. Each stage progresses from mocking drag queens and perpetuating negative stereotypes about genderqueer individuals, to more ‘normalizing’ depictions of said participants while still reinforcing heteronormative stereotypes, to ultimately portraying drag queens as holistic people on equal footing with their heterosexual counterparts. Implications and recommendations for further research are also presented at the conclusion of this paper.
Notes
1. A modified rubric was chosen and is most appropriate for our study as ours is not a semiotic study of representations of genderqueerness (cf. Kress Citation2003, 35–36 or Heydon Citation2007).
2. Season 4, episode 2.
3. Season 4, episode 6.
4. Season 5, episode 5.
5. Season 6, episodes 2 and 5.
6. Season 6, episode 5.
7. Referring to ‘top’ or ‘bottom’, as in sexual position.
8. Season 2, episode 7.
9. Season 3, episode 7.
10. Season 4, episode 7.
11. Season 5, episode 7.
12. Season 5, episode 7.
13. This article is not the place to analyse the depiction of heterosexual and heteronormative counterparts; we hold this constant as an ideal type and an assumption that the dominant media typically portrays sexuality as binary and heterosexuality as taken for granted and normative.
14. Season 2, episode 8.
15. The authors wrote an article critically analyzing Will & Grace’s representation of gay men using the same rubric as this paper.