[6] Regis and Kathie Lee

Drag, as embodied through the work and life of RuPaul, posits a hyperreal formulation of gender. Interestingly, this hyperreal formulation is identical to the vision of gender many other artists, scholars, religious thinkers, and everyday people ascribe to.


Judith Butler is one of the preeminent thinkers in the field of gender studies and gender philosophy. In her book Gender Trouble, she provides a definition of gender that is particularly useful in the context of RuPaul. She describes it as a performance — theatrical productions consist of scripts, actors, settings, rolls, costumes, and stage direction which are all facets, Butler rightfully points out, that are also present in the thing we call gender.


RuPaul's primary artistic tool is formed in a Butlerian mold. He makes a show out of taking a given piece of gender performance and hyperfocusing on it. He heightens, say, the stage direction that forms the "feminine walk" — turning the normal gendered sway of her hips into a spectacle. In a similar vein, they might play up a chic and womanly red-lip, stretching it into something beyond what it normally is. In essence, RuPaul turns the model into the supermodel, Woodstock into Wigstock, and the subtly implied into the the staring act.


This practice is not, however, unique to RuPaul — he is simply cognisant of and interested in it, and she incorporates it into their artistic work. This hyperfocus on given aspects of gender can be seen in media new and old. The Christian Bible, to a certain extent, presents one adaptation of gender and provides some degree of costuming, scripting, and casting guidance. Zealots have taken that script and blown parts of it up, turning, say, the gendered "modesty" presented in Genesis into a mass justification to sell things like "modesty classes" and to promote shame.





What may be the most intriguing about all of this is that these hyperreal simulations, if given time, will implant themselves into the zeitgeist, in so doing, shedding the hyper and becoming the simply real. When, for example, gay men are represented as catty, over the top queens on popular shows such as Drag Race, those facets become inextricably linked to what it really means to be gay and move through the world. For most anyone with a body, it is almost impossible to move through the world without confronting the zealot's formulation of modesty.


In Wigstock: The Movie, RuPaul says, "It's amazing the men i've seen who [do drag]. It's amazing! You really get to see this part of them — that you knew was there — and it's like the picture becomes clear as to what their personality is and to who they are as a person." According to RuPaul, and to Baudrillard, hyperreality and simulation are not distortions or alternate versions of reality, but are instead steps on a journey towards truth.

Visual works featured in order of appearance:
  1. RuPaul Christmas Party album cover
  2. Andy Warhol, Marilyn Monroe, 1967
  3. Lypsinka as featured in the film Wigstock: The Movie
  4. Image from RuPaul's website
  5. RuPaul at Mac Cosmetics event
  6. Beyonce
  7. Screenshots from Girl Defined Ministries blog
  8. Charle Joseph Natoire, The Rebuke of Adam and Eve, 1740
  9. Promotional image for RuPaul's Drag Race U.K.
Conceptual works used and referenced:

Comments

  1. astra medeirosMay 18, 2020 at 10:20 AM

    Really powerful, "steps on a journey towards the truth". :)
    I really enjoy your graphics here, they really put emphasis on your points.

    ReplyDelete

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