“We’re all born naked, and the rest is drag”

Drag is a form of performance art where one dresses up in clothing meant to exaggerate specific gender stereotypes, usually of the opposite sex. Drag is characterized by extravagant outfits, dramatic makeup, and sickening lip-syncing skills. While the overall objective of drag is to provide drag artists with the means to express themselves, it is also a form of entertainment for queer and non-queer people alike.

One may discover drag through a television show called "RuPaul’s Drag Race," which first aired in the United States in 2009. The premise of the show is simple: 12 drag queens from across America compete in a set of various challenges, such as sewing, acting, singing, and dancing — all to earn the title of America's Next Drag Superstar. A panel of four judges, including the renowned Supermodel of the World, RuPaul, judges the contestants. Additionally, the two drag queens ranked at the bottom of each week’s challenge compete for a chance to stay in the show via a Lip-sync for Your Life challenge. Other recurring challenges include the Snatch Game, in which contestants impersonate a celebrity of their choice, and the Make-Over challenge, in which contestants turn people into drag queens. Throughout the competition, drag queens are expected to act well, be humorous, and demonstrate their superb sewing skills.

By having contestants compete in seemingly random and yet difficult challenges, the show compels drag queens to not only devise creative methods to undertake given tasks but also prove to the audience that drag is much more than just dressing up. The show is unconventional — eliminating no queen in one episode to eliminating two queens in another, “RuPaul’s Drag Race” continuously keeps you guessing what the next challenge will be and what twist will come with it.

The creator of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” RuPaul Andre Charles, also nicknamed Ru, is an integral part of the show. He is known as the world’s first drag queen to be a spokesperson for a major cosmetics brand, MAC cosmetics. He also produces music (which is advertised throughout the show), has his own Netflix series called “AJ and the Drag Queen,” and has modeled and continues to model professionally for famous magazines such as Variety and Vogue. On top of all this, he has received 11 Primetime Emmy awards for “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” RuPaul utilizes the show as a platform to express his political views and promote consequential matters ranging from exercising the right to vote to showing support for marginalized groups like the LGBTQ+ community. These issues are addressed with a comedic spin — mainly through acting challenges or parodies — to make them easier to digest. This limitless quality makes “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stand out from other reality television shows, as not many of them dare involve politics or showcase strong opinions that may be contentious.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” does an incredible job of presenting the struggles and oppression the LGBTQ+ community faces through the challenges as well as the individual commentaries from contestants — otherwise known as “confessionals,” which resemble one-on-one interviews. Producers behind the scenes ask contestants about their background and thoughts on the upcoming challenges, offering contestants the opportunity to express themselves freely without judgment. During these “confessionals,” many have opened up about having to conceal their gender and sexual identities as well as drag from their loved ones. Some have disclosed being abused by their partners or people on the street. From revealing experiences of being shamed or even disowned by their families at a young age, the show makes it a point to make the audience understand how difficult it is for people to openly pursue drag and why this must change.

For those who are not familiar with the art of drag, the show is a fantastic way of discovering what it has to offer, and it helps us realize that drag queens are not much different from any of us.

As RuPaul says: “We’re all born naked and the rest is drag.”