Originally posted on The Tuck Magazine.
Like many in the world, I have seen RuPaul's Drag Race. It would be unusual if I hadn't seen the popular show as it's all over Netflix, YouTube and Instagram is the form of memes.
Prior to watching the show, I had only known British drag queens at the seaside as a comedy act at night. My world of drag changed with RuPaul's Drag Race, I caught the end of Season 4 with Sharon Needles and I knew drag was more than I thought. The creativity and beauty in the art caught my eye and I was hooked.
Sadly there was little about drag kings and I didn't become aware of notable ones in the UK until watching a short BBC video called Drag Kings of the UK.
My world of drag became bigger and I researched more about the art that I love to see. I love the humour, I love the beauty and I love the talent of drag.
My problem today is that whilst RuPaul's Drag Race widened my view of drag, it's starting to give me drag fatigue. The current series was okay at best, the drama with Sherry Pie and other contestants kept me watching...not the drag. RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race disapointed me because they had female contestants but didn't focus on the idea of drag kings.
Drag Race Canada, then the latest season of All Stars has me feeling a little bit oversaturated. I'm only excited for All Stars because they are familiar faces I want to see and how they've improved.
In the past few years we've had a huge amount of RuPaul content which started off as a positive thing with drag being pushed into the mainstream and reaching it out to the masses. Unfortunately, some only think of RuPaul's Drag Race when it comes to drag, that it must be bitchy or they must have charm, uniqueness and charisma.
Drag isn't just about that. Drag is whatever the person wants it to be. It can be UK drag queens who focus on comedy or drag kings who focus on dispelling stereotypes. The bottom line is that drag shouldn't be defined by drag race and the oversaturation of RuPaul's Drag Race can lead to people generalising that they are sick of drag.
I hope that All Stars is the last we see of the show for a while. I hope kings become mainstream and that British drag has a chance to come out in full and not just through RuPaul. I'm a fan of Drag Race and I love that it's shown me this world, so I hope they don't f**k it up and ruin it forever.