Ambivalence and the ‘American Dream’ on RuPaul’s Drag Race

This essay proposes that reality television show RuPaul’s Drag Race (2009–present) simultaneously participates in a highly commercial medium while commenting on, critiquing and parodying consumer culture. Drag Race, like other drag or female impersonation competitions, engages dress and performance to parody a range of normative social categories such as gender and sexuality. Yet the show differs from other drag competitions like those featured in US documentaries The Queen (Simon, 1968) and Paris is Burning (Livingston, 1990) in its ambivalent and lucrative engagement with consumer culture. In so doing, RuPaul’s Drag Race manages to parody the so-called American Dream while encouraging its pursuit.

In the spirit of Film, Fashion & Consumption’s ‘Short Cuts’ section, which encourages short analyses of timely topics, this piece aims to spark discussion across disciplines. It is my hope that experts in other fields, including queer theorists who study drag culture, will further enrich the conversation with their contributions.