RuPaul’s ongoing perpetuation of transphobia and misogyny

RuPaul Charles, host of the reality television show RuPaul’s Drag Race, recently made an extremely controversial statement to The Guardian on March 3rd, 2018. RuPaul’s transphobic and misogynistic comments, specifically on the topic of women performing as drag queens (bio-queens and trans-queens), highlight ongoing issues in the drag community. The title of The Guardian’s article about RuPaul, “Drag is a big f— you to male dominated culture,” begs the question: by perpetuating the thought that one can only be a drag queen if one is a cis man, aren’t you perpetuating male-dominated culture?

In summary, RuPaul said that being a woman (either transgender or cisgender) is something he rejects from his television show and his own perceptions of drag. He used the example of Peppermint, a trans woman who was a finalist in season nine of Drag Race, explaining that he allowed Peppermint to compete on the show because she had not yet transitioned surgically. RuPaul made it extremely apparent that he does not think that transgender or cisgender women belong on his show, which is ironic because the art of drag itself is about blurring the gender binary and creating an illusion. Drag queens specifically parody femininity, so excluding women and non-conforming gender identities from this art form is an incredibly misogynistic, and transphobic practice. If “We are all born naked and the rest is drag,” why does RuPaul deliberately exclude women?

Drag Race’s popularity gives RuPaul a wide platform to share his opinions and ideas—one would assume that because of his prominent voice in the LGBTQ+ community, he would be cognizant about what he says. Unfortunately, RuPaul has a history of transphobia in his music and television show. In 2009, with the release of his album Champion, RuPaul included songs with titles such as “Tranny Chaser” and “Ladyboy,” which illustrate his insensitivity and ignorance about terms that are used as transphobic. The show Drag Race itself used to feature a segment called “You’ve got Shemale,” which has been removed from later seasons. Since RuPaul is such an influential figure in the LGBTQ+ community, he needs to do better in recognizing how pervasive his actions and influence are.

It is also important to acknowledge that actual drag shows and Drag Race exist on completely different planes. Drag Race focuses mainly on the contestants out of drag and the behind-the-scenes elements of the art form. Drag shows are extremely different. If, for example, one was to attend a drag performance, you would rarely see the person behind the makeup and the costumes. The TV show’s focus on the personal elements of the art of drag is why it is so unsettling that RuPaul would denounce the possibility of having women on his show; because the experiences and stories of women are valued as lesser than those of men.

RuPaul, a few days after his interview with The Guardian, tweeted: “You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics.”

https://twitter.com/RuPaul/status/970709820364881920?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.vox.com%2Fculture%2F2018%2F3%2F6%2F17085244%2Frupaul-trans-women-drag-queens-interview-controversy&tfw_site=voxdotcom

In this tweet, he is referring to the idiom that Drag Race is the “Olympics of drag,” while also referring to hormones that transgender individuals may decide to take to change their appearance to be more feminine or more masculine as “performance enhancing.” This denouncement of “performance enhancement” has not stopped the many male-identifying drag performers who have appeared on the show and have had plastic surgery enhancements to look more “convincing” in their performance. RuPaul’s tweet is extremely transphobic and hypocritical since, although he is not worried about the physical enhancement of cis-gendered contestants, he is worried about transness itself and non-binary identities—which is even more troubling.

Women should be welcomed into the drag community, and the Drag Race community. As stated before, drag is not about portraying a “convincing woman” or “man,” it’s about how to explore stereotypical aspects of gender, adopt them, and elevate them into a performance and art, in order to subvert gender norms and expectations. One must understand that what drag queens are doing is not attempting to be a realistic vision of a woman or womanhood.

Exposing the world to more trans-queens, bio-queens, and non-binary queens would only help people find television personalities that they can relate to and idolize in many ways within the LGBTQ+ community. Transgender, cis-women, and non-binary identifying individuals belong in drag spaces as much as men do, and we can only hope that something positive will come out of the backlash RuPaul is experiencing.