RuPauls Drag Race 10 Things About Early Seasons That Have Aged Poorly

RuPaul’s Drag Race: 10 Things About Early Seasons That Have Aged Poorly

RuPaul’s Drag Race is famous for its tongue-in-cheek nature, but the earlier seasons have shown some choices that have not aged well in the long run.

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For all its glory, RuPaul’s Drag Race has featured quite a few controversial fashion choices, production moves, and casting decisions. Considering the show first aired in 2009, there were things allowed in earlier seasons that would not be acceptable today. Although, there are some things that should have been taken into deeper consideration during the production of the show.

With the show now being a cult classic, many fans either choose to ignore the past wrong-doings of earlier seasons or brush them off as products of their time period. Regardless of the era that early RuPaul’s Drag Race began in, there are certain issues that have not aged well through a 2021 lens.

RuPaul’s Iconic Catch Phrase

Until recently, RuPaul’s iconic catchphrase was “gentlemen start your engines, and may the best woman win”. Seeing as how the show has been critiqued for its lack of non-cisgender male queens for many years, it was definitely time for the change to happen. Now when RuPaul announces a challenge or starts the episode’s runway walks, he instead says: “Racers, start your engines, and may the best drag queen win”. By morphing the infamous phrase, it allows another layer of inclusivity in the drag race community that was so lacking in earlier seasons.

The Werkroom Mail Message

Another phrase that was altered is the video mail from RuPaul that is shown right before his werkroom entrance in every episode. Instead of “you’ve got she-male”, it has been changed to “she done already had herses”. For obvious reasons, it is another great decision by the producers to make the show a safer place for queens of all backgrounds and genders.

In older seasons it was far more common for queens to get away with cheeky comments regarding such subjects, but luckily now the show has adjusted its humor in order to not marginalize members of its own LGBTQ+ community.

The Lack Of Transgender Queens

It is clear that in its earlier years, that RuPaul’s Drag Race was not particularly receptive to having non-cisgender queens on the show. Now, this may be due to producers wrongly thinking that the show would “flop” if it were “too far off the beaten path.” Nevertheless, looking back it does not bode well for the show to ignore an entire sector of its LGBTQ+ fans and potential contestants that identify as transgender. In season 5 Monica Beverly Hillz was the first-ever queen to announce that she is a transgender woman, paving the way for the show to be more inclusive to queens of all types.

Constant Ridiculing Of Non-English Speaking Queens

Fans come to drag race for the petty fights and quick jabs, just as much as they come for the fashion. However, there is more to be said about the treatment of the Puerto Rican queens whose first language is not English. While it might seem tame compared to the rest of the drama that ensues, it has a deeper impact on the queens who are the but of the joke. Queens like Jessica Wild (season 2), Kenya Michaels (season 4), and Yara Sofia (season 3) especially were constantly ridiculed for their English. Cheap jokes and gags on the show were constantly made, and it made for fans to not take these talented drag artists seriously.

The Female Or Shemale Challenge

Every RuPaul fan loves a mini-challenge to get the episode going, but sometimes it’s best to skip it. Especially in the case of, “Female or She-Male”, it is clear as to why this mini-challenge was scrubbed from currently airing episodes of RuPaul’s Drag Race. Originally from season 6, episode 4 “Shade: The Rusical”, the challenge featured up-close pictures from red carpet walks, and the queens had to guess if it was a man or a woman. Obviously, fans had a problem with this, as the premise and title of the challenge were both demeaning and insensitive towards cis-gender and transgender women.

Non-POC Queens Portraying POC Stereotypes

The negative portrayal of POC is a rampant issue throughout most media during the time of early drag race history. Despite the fact that the show was created and is hosted by RuPaul, a black man, it still has continually poked fun at the stereotypical mannerisms of mainly black women. With comedy skits almost always having “ghetto” characters, and the show will even go so far as to have non-POC queens portray these caricatures. Luckily, there have been queens in later seasons (such as Symone in season 13) who have shed light on racial topics to help turn the show in the right direction.

Disrespect Towards Plus Size Queens

From the show’s beginning, it has been clear that plus-size queens are not taken as seriously as performers and drag artists. They are always marketed as the “comedy queen” even when it really wasn’t their strong suit. Many queens have even said that they are more harshly critiqued on their runway looks based on the fact that they are not as petite as their counterparts. For example, Darienne Lake from season 6 was always seen for her comedy and makeup skills but always nitpicked for her fashion choices. She has even mentioned on the show that it’s harder to compete when being plus-sized because of the restriction on suitcases and overtaxing nature of the show.

Off The Rack Fashion

Looking back on season 1 especially, off the rack fashion was far more popular and accepted than it is nowadays. There was a daunting amount of basic t-shirts and even jeans featured in some of the challenges. Now if queens step out onto the runway in anything less than custom-made couture both the judges and fans have a field day dissecting the fashion faux pas.

As viewers witnessed with RuPaul’s outburst towards Joe Black on Drag Race UK, when she had some choice words about the queen’s decision to wear H&M on the runway.

Raja’s Cultural Appropriative Outfit Choice

One outfit choice that sticks out like a sore thumb is season 3 winner Raja’s “Nava-Hoe” outfit worn for the Patriotic Drag Look runway category. Usually, Raja served up truly creative and alternative fashion that wowed both the judges and viewers. From 2021 hindsight, this particular look is definitely a controversial choice. In their runway interview, they described the look as “A little Native American and a lot of rock and roll”. Raja themself is not Native American, so the use of the headdress along with the rest of the ensemble is one of the first looks of cultural appropriation fans have seen on drag race.

Shake And Go Wigs

If there is one thing that makes the art of drag the over-the-top art form that it is, it is the wigs. An outfit is not complete without a stunning wig to make a statement. Looking back at both seasons 1 and 2 in particular, the queens’ ideas of a full wig are questionable. Certainly, those were different times and contestants do not have the budgets that they do now, but regardless it is certain that the wigs used were so synthetic they could be turned into car oil. Looking back at the sad hairpieces from the beginning of drag race to the show-stopping extravaganzas created shows how far budget can take a queen.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/rupauls-drag-race-things-early-seasons-aged-poorly/

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