ABSTRACT

Season 10 marked a decade of RPDR, with RuPaul and other celebrities framing the show as a worldwide phenomenon promoting love, inclusivity, acceptance and Drag. This aspect of RPDR is foregrounded in much existing scholarship on the reality show which considers the inclusivity and visibility that it offers. Although RPDR brings an area of gay culture and history into the mainstream, we argue that the Queen and Herstory that is promoted and validated is RuPaul Herself. Within the show, contestants often refer to RuPaul as ‘Mama Ru’, in reference to historical drag family relationships. In this article, we argue that RuPaul is positioned as the Ultimate Queen rather than Drag Mother, reflecting the more transactional relationship between head judge and contestants that we argue is constructed in the show. RuPaul as Ultimate Queen is achieved through using the themes of history and authenticity to support a commodification of RuPaul which reinforces celebrity, cultural capital and authority. From Queens lip-syncing to RuPaul’s back catalogue to the central place RuPaul places herself as drag pioneer; we explore ‘RuPaul as commodity’ and the possible implications on the presentation and marketability of gay/drag culture through the format of Drag Race and RuPaul as ultimate Queen.

摘要

第10季标志着RPDR的10年，RuPaul和其他名人将表演定为促进爱，包容，包容和拖累的全球现象。RPDR的这一方面在现实节目的许多现有学术研究中都得到了展望，该研究考虑了它提供的包容性和可见性。尽管RPDR将同性恋文化和历史领域纳入主流，但我们认为被提拔和验证的女王和赫斯特里是RuPaul Herself。在演出中，参赛者经常将RuPaul称为“ Mama Ru”，以提及历史上的扮装家族关系。在本文中，我们认为RuPaul被定位为终极女王而不是Drag Mother，这反映了我们认为在节目中构建的首席法官和参赛者之间的交易关系更加紧密。通过使用历史和真实性主题来支持RuPaul的商品化，以增强名人，文化资本和权威，从而实现RuPaul作为终极皇后。从皇后区的口型同步到RuPaul的后装目录，再到RuPaul定位为中心的先锋人物；我们通过以下形式探讨“ RuPaul作为商品”及其对同性恋/拖曳文化的表现和可销售性的潜在影响：Drag Race和RuPaul作为终极女王。