HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN RUPAULS DRAG RACE EMMA BRUNE

HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY IN RUPAUL’S DRAG RACE EMMA BRUNE

WHAT IS HEGEMONIC MASCULINITY ? "Connell (1995) suggests the concept of hegemonic masculinity to refer to the collection of practices that subordinate women to men in the maintenance of patriarchy. Hegemonic masculinity is a composite of the traits that afford the greatest power socially. It is normative, regulating the behaviour of men in terms of acceptable manhood" Enderstein and Boonzaier 2015: 513).

COMPETITION Bob the Drag Queen knew he was going to win season 8 and says he’s always been “purse first” "When I got the phone call that I was going to be on Drag Race I thought I was going to win, " he says. "I thought I was going to win Drag Race before I was even cast. " After I laugh, he interrupts: "I'm not even being funny. I'm being serious. ” (Fallon 2016) “The upward mobility of men into positions of power was usually the result of competition between men” (Keith 2017: 20) 2018 Bob's OG Purse First look still gives me life. Reddit. September

PRACTICALITY “I pick out an outfit, then everything else is uniform. I'm always on the go - so I can whack it all together and get out and do my work. It's practical, and that's a pretty masculine method of dressing I'd say” (Harsh 2016) Jodie Harsh in full drag, personal website. UK Festival Guide

TUCKING AND MASCULINE CONTROL Ru. Paul’s “insistence that the ability to hide one's penis is a hallmark of Queenhood reveal[s] the limitations of drag performance on the show” (Inoue 2018) There is also a certain amount of control that can be felt when daring to deviate from societal norms

TRANSPHOBIA When asked if he would let a fully transitioned woman onto his show. Ru. Paul said, “Probably not. You can identify as a woman and say you’re transitioning, but it changes once you start changing your body. It takes on a different thing; it changes the whole concept of what we’re doing” (Nichols 2018) Charles, Ru. Paul (@Ru. Paul) 2018 ”You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics. ” 5 Mar 2018. 9: 17 AM. Twee

2016 Peppermint season 9 promo

RACIAL PROBLEMS IN DRAG RACE The Vixen was upset that she was being painted to be the typical “angry black woman” (Daw 2018)

FAILING TO REJECT THE GENDER BINARY “Drag Race isn’t yet sure how to make sense of a world that isn’t structured around male and female” (Mc. Kinnon 2018)

MILK AS THE “MANLY QUEEN” 2018 MILK AS THE MANLY QUEEN, ALL STARS 3

PIT CREW 2019 Drag Race pit crew in the werkroom. Queerty*. January 31

DRAG QUEENS ARE MOCKING IDENTITY The social construction of gender results in the inability for anyone to truly express hyper-femininity or hyper-masculinity because there are no concrete gender qualities that can be exaggerated although there are merely perceived qualities that are either feminine or masculine (Greaf 2016: 4)

References Brammer, John Paul 2018 How The Vixen Exposed the Racism of Ru. Paul's Drag Race. them. . Them. , June 22 Canham, Sarah L 2009 The Interaction of Masculinity and Control and its Impact on the Experience of Suffering for an Older Man. US National Library of Medicine 23(1) Charles, Ru. Paul (@Ru. Paul) 2018 ”You can take performance enhancing drugs and still be an athlete, just not in the Olympics. ” 5 Mar 2018. 9: 17 AM. Tweet. Connell, Raewyn 2016 The Social Organization of Masculinity. In Exploring Masculinities: Identity, Inequality, Continuity, and Change, edited by C. J. Pascoe and T. Bridges, pp. 136144. Oxford University Press, New York. Daw, Stephen 2018 9 Things We Learned From The Vixen's Post-'Drag Race' Reunion Instagram Live Stream. Billboard. June 28 Ellis, Philip 2018 Ru. Paul's Drag Race Helped Me Address My Internalized Homophobia. Man Repeller. May 23 Enderstein, A. M. and F. Boonzaier 2015 Narratives of Young South African Fathers: Redefining Masculinity through Fatherhood. Journal of Gender Studies 24(5): 512 -527. Fallon, Kevin 2016 Bob the Drag Queen, Winner of 'Ru. Paul's Drag Race, ' Has Always Been 'Purse First'. The Daily Beast Company, May 17 Ferber, Abby L. , Kimberley Holcomb and Tre Wentling 2013 Key Terms. In Sex, Gender and Sexuality: The New Basics, edited by A. L. Ferber, K. Holcomb and T. Wentling, pp. xix- xxvi. Oxford University Press, New York. González, Jorge C. , and Kameron C. Cavazos 2016 Serving fishy realness: representations of gender equity on. Ru. Paul’s Drag Race. Continuum 30(6): 659– 669

References, cont. Greaf, Caitlin 2015 Drag queens and gender identity. Journal of Gender Studies 25(6): 655– 665 Harsh, Jodie 2016 Drag Queens Are The Toughest Boys Out There. Huffington Post, August 11 Henderson, Taylor 2019 Gia Gunn Says She Confronted Ru. Paul Over Trans Comments on 'All Stars'. Gay Pride - LGBT & Queer Voices. January 2 Inoue, Megumi 2019 Ru. Paul: Stereotype Propagator or Gender Revolutionary? . Fresh Writing Joyce, Rosemary A. 2000 Girling the Girl and Boying the Boy: The Production of Adulthood in Ancient Mesoamerica. World Archaeology 31(3): 473 -483. Keith, Thomas 2017 Chapter 1: Patriarchy, Male Privilege, and the Consequences of Living in a Patriarchal Society. In Masculinities in Contemporary American Culture: An Intersectional Approach to the Complexities and Challenges of Male Identity, pp. 144. Routledge New York. Mc. Kinnon, Scott 2018 Ru. Paul's Drag Race is still figuring out how to handle gender and race. The Conversation. December 6 Nichols, James Michael 2018 Ru. Paul Comes Under Fire For Comments About Openly Trans Contestants On 'Drag Race'. Huff. Post, March 22 VH 1 2018. You. Tube, January 17 Wortham, Jenna 2018 Is 'Ru. Paul's Drag Race' the Most Radical Show on TV? . The New York Times, January 24 2016 Ru. Paul's Drag Race All Stars: All Star Talent Show Extravaganza. Ru. Paul's Drag Race. Logo. TV, August 25