The Essential Rupaul

The essential guide for fans of the most famous drag queen in the world. RuPaul--the most famous drag queen in the world, recording artist, cult television host, pop-cultural icon--is celebrated in this essential fan guide. Bursting onto the scene over two decades ago with the huge hit Supermodel of the World, RuPaul has been confounding critics to clear her own path over the many years since. Most recently, RuPaul has again become an unlikely pop-cultural icon by producing and starring in RuPaul's Drag Race--a reality television series that judges the charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent of the competing drag queens. Over seven seasons and numerous spin-off series (including All Stars and RuPaul's Drag U), RuPaul's Drag Race has become a cult global hit--fans know the catchphrases, the personalities, the catfights. The Essential RuPaul celebrates Ru's history (or herstory, as she frames it) and philosophy ("If you can't love yourself--how in the hell you gonna love someone else"), as well as profiling the most loved and reviled queens from her TV series. This is one for the true fans.

Prepare for a RuPaul's Drag Race herstory lesson like no other - as this book celebrates all the queens from seasons 1 to 10, plus so much more! Buckle up hunties, as we spill the T on the greatest reality show! This ultimate guide celebrates all the queens that have sashayed the runway from seasons 1 to 10 and All Stars seasons 1 to 3 - all 127 fierce performers are included and all are illustrated by talented artist Paul Borcher! Author John Davis also gives the reader an insider's guide to drag terms, and includes inspiring quotes from RuPaul, and stats and facts on all those sickening lip-sync battles, the mad fashion moments and the feuds and friendships that make this series so exceptional.

RuPaul's Drag Race UK returns to our screens for Series 3 with an all-new cast ready to slay the runway. Discover the secrets of the Werk Room and get all the gossip backstage in exclusive interviews with the Queens of Series 3. Take on mini challenges, learn the secret to a killer Snatch Game performance, and re-live the most iconic moments of RuPaul's Drag Race UK so far with stories from the Queens of Series 1 and 2. With special features, play-along games, secrets and trivia, this is your perfect companion to the Drag Race extravaganza! Remember kids, reading is fundamental!

As RuPaul has said, this is the Golden Age of Drag—and that’s chiefly the achievement of RuPaul’s Drag Rac,/i>e, which in its eleventh year is more popular than ever, and has now become fully mainstream in its appeal. The show has an irresistible allure for folks of all persuasions and proclivities. Yet serious or philosophical discussion of its exponential success has been rare. Now at last we have RuPaul’s Drag Race and Philosophy, shining the light on all dimensions of this amazing phenomenon: theories of gender construction and identity, interpretations of RuPaul’s famous quotes and phrases, the paradoxes of reality shows, the phenomenology of the drag queen, and how the fake becomes the truly authentic. Among the thought-provoking issues examined in this path-breaking and innovative volume: ● What Should a Queen Do? Marta Sznajder looks at RuPaul’s Drag Race from the perspective of rationality. Where contestants have to eliminate each other, the prisoner’s dilemma and other well-known situations emerge. ● Reading Is Fundamental! Lucy McAdams analyzes two different, important speech acts that regularly appear on Drag Race—reading and throwing shade. ● The Values of Drag Race. Guilel Treiber observes two competing sets of values being presented in Drag Race. The more openly advertised “charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent,” advancing the skills of every single contender, are opposed by the fading set of “acceptance, support, solidarity, and empowerment,” which has historically been the cornerstone of the LGBTI+ community. ● The Importance of Being Fabulous. Holly Onclin challenges the preconceived notion that drag queens are mainly about female impersonation and instead proposes to understand drag queens as impersonators of celebrity. ● RuPaul Is a Better Warhol. Megan Volpert compares RuPaul and Andy Warhol in their shared pursuit of realness. ● Is Reading Someone to Filth Allowed? Rutger Birnie asks whether there are ethical restrictions on reading someone, since reads are ultimately insults and could cause harm. ● Serving Realness? Dawn Gilpin and Peter Nagy approach the concept of realness in Drag Race, to discuss the differences between realness, authenticity and the nature of being. ● Death Becomes Her. Hendrik Kempt explores the topic of death both in philosophy and in Drag Race, starting from the claim that “Philosophy is training for death.” ● We’re All Born Naked. Oliver Norman follows up on Ru’s mantra, “We are all born naked and the rest is drag.” ● Fire Werk with Me. Carolina Are looks into the fan-subcultures of Drag Race and Twin Peaks, which have come together to form a unique sub-subculture, in which members of both fan-subcultures create memes and idiosyncrasies. ● Towards a Healthier Subjectivity? Ben Glaister looks at the way Drag Race contestants adopt their drag personae almost as second selves, without finding themselves violating their other self. ● RuPaul versus Zarathustra. Julie and Alice van der Wielen ask the question, Who would win an intellectual lip-sync battle—RuPaul or Nietzsche’s Zarathustra? ● Playing with Glitter? Fernando Pagnoni and pals explore the game and play elements of Drag Race. ● The Origins of Self-Love. Anna Fennell expounds upon RuPaul’s question, “If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?” ● The Sublime. Sandra Ryan thinks about Kant’s concept of the sublime and explores how we find its applications in Drag Race. ● You Want to Be Anonymous? You Better Work! Alice Fox watches Drag Race through the lens of criminal law and the problem of decreasing anonymity through ubiquitous data surveillance. Drag Race can teach us how to create misleading patterns of online behavior and public presentation to render the blackbox persona useless. ● Drag and Vulnerability. Anneliese Cooper contrasts Drag Race’s demand for vulnerability and perceived authenticity with the inherent inauthenticity of creating a new persona.

This book explores the connections between drag stardom and contemporary sexual and cultural politics in the RuPaul’s Drag Race franchise. With Drag Race alumni achieving fame in fields such as music, fashion, theatre and beyond, this edited collection interrogates the relationships between gender, sexuality, performance, identity and celebrity culture that lie at the very heart of the show. RuPaul’s Drag Race has recently completed its 15th season after having won 26 Emmys. The show is a popular culture phenomenon, broadcasting drag into the homes of middle America, spawning spin off shows and an ever-expanding international franchise. Its success has made global stars of its host, guest judges and contestants alike. This edited collection explores the connections between drag stardom and contemporary sexual and cultural politics that RuPaul’s Drag Race stages and dramatizes. Alumni of Drag Race have gone on to become globally famous. Adore Delano and Sharon Needles have launched music careers. Violet Chachki is the first drag model to become the face of Bettie Page Lingerie whilst Jinkx Monsoon has achieved success as a Broadway star. In 2017 RuPaul was named as one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People. Above everything else RuPaul’s Drag Race is a show about celebrating the glamour, artifice and the labour of fame. Whilst Drag Race has already attracted scholarly attention (Brennan & Gudelunas eds. 2017) the relationships between gender, sexuality, performance, identity and celebrity culture that lie at the heart of its dynamic and appeal remain to be explored. RuPaul’s Drag Race and the Cultural Politics of Fame will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of Media and Cultural Studies, Gender Studies, Performing Arts, Media and Film Studies, Communication Studies and Sociology. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of Celebrity Studies.

Argues for the political potential of drag and trans performance in Puerto Rico and its diaspora