antimodelminority:

RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Compared to a show like America’s Next Top Model (which has been criticized for Tyra’s seeming obsession with tokenism: the Token Asian, Token Latina, Token Jew, Token Lesbian, Token Transsexual), RuPaul’s Drag Race offers an often complex case study in the role of gender, sexuality, class, and race in real people’s lived experiences - well, as complex as a reality television show can get. Like fashion, drag performance is inherently about performing and externalizing difference; but, while the fashion industry typically works to cement sociopolitical difference, drag - which has its basis in urban, working class, gay, black and Latino communities - confronts difference and often blurs otherwise strict boundaries between male vs. female, working vs. upper class, straight vs. queer, and white vs. non-white. 

RPDR itself also questions these binaries: for example, in one episode the queens had to perform burlesque dance for an audience of (ostensibly) straight men; in others, they are given cheap materials to create “couture” outfits. Black and Latino contestants are well represented on RPDR, as are - surprisingly to me - Asian queens. (Consider: in all of ANTM’s 15 cycles, there have only been 6 or 7 Asian contestants. In RPDR’s 3 seasons, there have been 4.)

While Asian drag queens are not necessarily defined by their race, two of these contestants centralize race and the performance of race in their drag personas: Jujubee of Season 2 and Manila Luzon of Season 3.

It’s been a while since I’ve watched Season 2, so bear with me.

Jujubee enters the competition identifying herself as the Asian queen. She often discusses her personal history as a Lao refugee (“Laotian in the house!”) and, on at least two occasions, speaks in Lao. In the celebrity impersonation challenge, Jujubee chooses to dress up as Kimora Lee Simmons - and is the only contestant to pick an Asian American celebrity.

The most visible moment in which Jujubee plays up her “Asianness” comes in Episode 7. The queens are challenged to design covers for their autobiographies. In the cover for her book, entitled “Memoirs of a Gay! sha,” Jujubee wears a dress reminiscent of the Chinese cheongsam and holds a red fan with a golden dragon painted on it, while adopting a kung-fuesque pose.

Despite the fact that Jujubee is Lao, she chooses items typically emblematic of Chinese culture, while referencing the Japanese geisha. While she usually talks very specifically about being Lao, here she performs a type of pan-Asian chic, whereby references that may or may not be specifically Chinese or Japanese ultimately codify a generic “Asianness.”

Similarly, Manila Luzon’s performance centers unambiguously around a pan-Asian persona. While her drag name andbiography clearly identify her as Filipino, her costuming choices feature mixed symbols. (Here comes a shit ton of photos; apologies to anyone with a slow internet connection.)

We see references to Japanese, Chinese, and Thai dress (as well as sushi - sidenote: in the first episode of Season 3, Manila was definitely wearing sushi earrings, which: LOVE). Not one photo from her gallery features her wearing anything resembling Filipino dress - presumably because Filipino garments are not as iconic as the cheongsam or the kimono.

If drag is about exaggeration and confrontation, what questions do Jujubee and Manila Luzon raise about race? They both incorporate exoticized images of Asian women into their performances. Yet these personas are explicitly characters: they are meant to be caricatures. By embracing such stereotypes, do Jujubee and Manila ultimately uphold or deconstruct preconceptions of Asian women?

I don’t think there is a clear answer. Both queens are obviously very aware of their race. Consider this photo:

The tagline “Made in Chinatown,” while on the surface making a tongue-in-cheek reference to counterfeit goods on Canal Street, also places Manila explicitly in a hybrid location. She knows she is Asian, and she builds her persona around this knowledge. But Chinatown is not just “the Asian neighborhood,” it is also notorious for fake designer goods. In this photo, the purse is not the only fake: Manila herself is a counterfeit - she is constructing a fake persona around herself, based on appearances and expectations of what an Asian woman should be.