When
Jasmine Masters published her video “Jasmine Masters
RuPual’s Dragrace fucked up Drag” three years ago, she probably didn’t
think it would become viral and then a meme. Jasmine Master’s critique of RuPaul’s
Drag Race (RPDR) is somehow still a compelling critique of the show. In her
video, she criticizes how Drag in general is being shaped by what people see on
the show and describes the way ‘the
Drag scene has gone downhill’ from the kind of Drag she grew up in. She asserts
how Drag performers 8 years from the start of RPDR have started to wear
corsets, leotards, ‘panties and bras’, how performers now have the same face
and how this kind of Drag is far from the one she knew growing up. Jasmine provides
meaningful insights on the homogeneity and normative effects that RPDR has had on
the art of Drag.
This
blogpost will explore the points highlighted by Jasmine Masters three years
from her video and question whether RPDR has really fucked up Drag or not. I
will first talk a bit about what beneficial effects the show has had and then
discuss its negative consequences.
