How RuPaul’s Drag Race Speaks to Me, a Cis Straight White Woman

At about the midway point of every episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race, there is a sequence in the workroom where the drag queens are all gathered around their respective vanity mirrors applying makeup for the culminating runway walk. As these men meticulously pad on layer after layer of bronzer, foundation, and rouge, they start discussing their families, their childhoods, and their unique queer experience.

I am a cisgendered, straight white woman. I grew up in an upper-middle class family in Connecticut and my biggest identity hurdle  was trying to figure out how to take care of my curly hair so it wouldn’t look so frizzy. And yet, when I watch Drag Race and listen to these stories, I somehow feel seen. So many stories on screen aren't told with a woman’s viewership in mind. Or at least not at the forefront. Sure there will be a thin blonde thrown in here and there, but she usually lacks depth and her plot points are tangential. On Drag Race though, rarely is there a straight man in sight. This isn’t for them. This is for us. Finally.

At its core, Drag Race is a complete and unadulterated celebration of femininity. While in many other TV shows and in most other spheres of life women are belittled and undervalued, every component of Drag Race serves to bolster women, and pay long overdo homage to our innate power. These are the themes I’m drawn to so strongly as I watch men in heels prance down runways wearing sequin gowns and gigantic wigs, all the while getting applauded and not scolded for being so brazenly feminine.

The confidence and pride I have in my own womanhood has blossomed brilliantly since watching Drag Race. Though a reality show, the show is imbued with a worldly wisdom about the performance of identity that we all put on everyday, from the queens on Drag Race to your uncle Steve who drinks too much Bud Light at family barbecues. Drag queens are just pushing these performances of gender and identity to the extreme, exposing the hilarity and outrageousness of the societal codes we hold so true. By deconstructing masculinity on such a prominent platform, Drag Race has emerged as one of the most important shows on television.

Not only is the show entertaining as hell--I mean, is there a better recipe for drama than a room filled with drag queens duking it out for money and recognition? But Drag Race fills a void for all of us non-straight-white-men everywhere, who finally have heroes on screen who are being crowned and praised for not being men. And boy, is it refreshing.