Drag Race season 12 continued with a makeover challenge. (WOW)
Drag Race season 12 and its Celebrity sister gave us a sickening double helping of female drag, and fans are living for it.
Drag Race continued this week with the legendary makeover challenge.
Each year, towards the end of the competition, RuPaul tasks the queens with transforming a group of non-drag artists.
This time, he paired the top six with female super fans – a decision which sparked some controversy online.
A viral Twitter post suggested that the decision to bring in six women showed “how Drag Race‘s target audience has changed” – perhaps oblivious to the fact that season one’s makeover challenge featured a group of women (see also: season eight, All Stars 2 and Drag Race UK).
While it’s fair to say that the show has, over the years, broadened its appeal, many called out the sentiment behind the post for what it was: exclusion of women, especially queer women.
Since this post is gaining traction I just want to say:
🖤 Don’t assume that women in queer spaces aren’t queer
🖤 Remember that Drag Race doesn’t represent all drag
🖤 Support your local drag entertainers, now more than ever
🖤 Be nice to each other and let people enjoy things— VENUS ENVY (@VenusEnvyDrag) April 30, 2020
a valid point: STRAIGHT women shouldn’t fetishize gay men and use them as their GBFF and nothing else
a dumb point: uh, there are women on drag race so i guess THEY’RE PANDERING TO THE LADIES NOW
— mattie (@mattie_shank) April 30, 2020
Many pointed out that RuPaul regularly welcomes straight cis men for the makeover challenges without controversy.
In reference to that one post about women in the upcoming drag race episode: Even if they aren’t LGBT+, that isn’t the issue. They’ve had straight men on before for the makeover challenge; You’re only mad this time because it’s women. 🙄 stop acting like that’s not why.
— Blake (@BlakeTheBagel) April 30, 2020
Any doubts that might have been harboured were swept away once season 12’s makeover episode aired.
After tonight’s drag race episodes I think we can all agree that drag race is more entertaining when they’re not excluding women
— nina (@tweetyohara) May 2, 2020
i’ve always loved seeing women find and unleash their confidence in queer art spaces,, so u can just imagine how fucking happy i was seeing them perform this lip sync #DragRace
— buknoy! (@_markburgos) May 2, 2020
As if that wasn’t enough, Celebrity Drag Race continued the theme of celebrating women by welcoming Vanessa Williams, Tami Roman and Loni Love to the werk room.
we get women on regular drag race AND celebrity drag race tonight we’re winning #dragrace #celebritydragrace pic.twitter.com/9Fbl54Z34K
— tess (@zamoshytes) May 2, 2020
TELL ME AGAIN THAT WOMEN CANT DO DRAG #DragRace #CelebDragRace pic.twitter.com/VlZczykceL
— 𝐜𝐡𝐥𝐨𝐞 (@hytiaras) May 2, 2020
All the women in drag on both episodes of #DragRace tonight is *everything* pic.twitter.com/zWFqSJ7fDl
— EJ ”Dumb Bitch Trash Witch” Gutierrez (@alejandraptor) May 2, 2020
Black women saved #CelebDragRace. This episode is already 5 billion % better than whatever that was last week 💀💀
— jade janae ☆🦋 (@jade_janaee) May 2, 2020
Although it wasn’t lost on anybody that the nine women who were invited onto both Proletariat and Celebrity Drag Race this week were all cisgender.
Do you know what a really heart warming challenge on #dragrace would be? Pairing the queens up with newly out trans women and making them over, giving them all the make up and fashion tips and celebrating them on the runway
— Rosemary🌻 (@Afro_Ducky) April 25, 2020
and with this i just want to say: ANYONE can do drag if they want to.
We need to stop those ‘stereotypes’ that only cis gay men do drag and let’s support all the afab, trans men, trans women, non-binary and everyone that does drag and has so much talent to show ♥️#DragRace— inês ♡ #teamcrystal (@katyaftvelour) May 2, 2020