Graduation Year

2023

Document Type

Thesis

Degree

M.A.

Degree Name

Master of Arts (M.A.)

Degree Granting Department

Communication

Major Professor

Rachel E. Dubrofsky, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Keith Berry, Ph.D.

Committee Member

Diana Leon-Boys, Ph.D.

Keywords

Gender, Queer, Race, Reality Television, Surveillance

Abstract

Against the backdrop of legislation across the United States regulating drag performances, I turn to the reality television (RTV) franchise Drag Race as a popular media site where queer identities are represented. More specifically, I analyze the series RuPaul’s Drag Race: UK vs The World (UKVTW) which is the first series in the franchise to feature participants from different countries competing for the title “Queen of the Mother-Tucking World.” Furthermore, the series suggests it represents “global” drag. Understanding that no singular RTV series can represent a singular global drag identity, I ask: how does the series represent global drag? Turning to scholarship on RTV which suggests that RTV participants who are seen as successful are often seen as authentic, I first analyze how authenticity is presented on the series. I theorize “queer authenticity” to make sense of how queer identities are presented as authentic in RTV, an idea not yet studied by critical scholars. In chapter two, I return to my first research question: how does the series represent global drag? Building on my argument in chapter one, I argue the “global” drag that UKVTW suggests it represents is inherently white and Western using authenticity as a tool to construct the only participants on the series from a non-Western country as “Other.” Currently, there are Drag Race series in fifteen different countries with plans to continue expanding so being attentive to how Drag Race represents “global” drag provides insight into what drag identities are privileged over others.

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