Dressed in Drag: The Inner Saboteur

Many episodes of Ru Paul’s Drag Race have been visually consumed over lockdown. And though i have to mentally push to one side the cleverly edited bitchiness, it is ultimately the humility and artistic prowess of the queens which draws me in.

Now if you don’t know a thing about Drag Race here’s a little summary. The best of the best in America’s drag scene compete for the title of ‘America’s next drag superstar’. Each week they are given challenges where they have to adapt their drag to fit different themes and categories. The creativity of these humans is unbelievable and the way they express themselves so uniquely whilst ticking the boxes of each challenge is truly an artform.

Recently one episode stood out to me; Season 10, Episode 11: Evil Twins. For their “maxi challenge” the queens had to create two looks; The first showcasing them at their best, the second representing their inner saboteur, the voice inside their heads that tells them they are not good enough or are hated by everyone etc etc. The judges wanted them all to dig deep and expose their vulnerability through fashion, acting, comedy, make up, the lists of skills goes on… During the episode you can see all the personalities behind the queens try to grapple with the things that hold them back. It was yet another reminder of how important expression is, in whatever form that may take, as well as the significance of vulnerability.

Throughout the now 12 series of Drag Race, Ru Paul occasionally brings in this idea that showing your vulnerability to an audience is what will start that process of someone falling in love with you as a performer. Outside of the world of drag that is a sentiment i completely agree with. The artists and humans that i look up to, who inspire me and many others, are the ones who use creativity to show their true selves - the good and the not so good - where the intention is honest expression and nothing else. Seeing these drag queens start to turn their insecurities into art was spectacular. Of course it was part of a competition, and some queens did better than others. But even for those that didn’t quite get to the vocal cords of their inner voices, their critiques were always framed in a way which still invited those individuals to make time to acknowledge their inner saboteur and ultimately make peace with it. And in that regard, no one lost the challenge. Unravelling and attending to the thoughts inside your head is a process, one which is incredibly difficult for some to do. Televising even the smallest experience of that journey is invaluable. Coupled with the innate creativity used to express these inward self-perspectives and it’s enough to inspire any eyes that fall upon it.

You can catch Ru Paul’s Drag Race on Netflix.

Thumbnail image used is taken from Tanner Abel’s photography (sourced from google).