Rupaul's Drag Race and Philosophy -

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Résumé :
As RuPaul has said, this is the Golden Age of Drag-and that's chiefly the achievement of RuPaul's Drag Race, which in its eleventh year is more popular than ever, and has now become fully mainstream in its appeal. The show has an irresistible allure for folks of all persuasions and proclivities. Yet serious or philosophical discussion of its exponential success has been rare.

Now at last we have RuPaul's Drag Race and Philosophy, shining the light on all dimensions of this amazing phenomenon: theories of gender construction and identity, interpretations of RuPaul's famous quotes and phrases, the paradoxes of reality shows, the phenomenology of the drag queen, and how the fake becomes the truly authentic. The book includes a Foreword by the original Gender Outlaw Kate Bornstein.

Among the thought-provoking issues examined in this path-breaking and innovative volume:

? What Should a Queen Do? Marta Sznajder looks at RuPaul's Drag Race from the perspective of rationality. Where contestants have to eliminate each other, the prisoner's dilemma and other well-known situations emerge.

? Reading Is Fundamental! Lucy McAdams analyzes two different, important speech acts that regularly appear on Drag Race-reading and throwing shade.

? The Values of Drag Race. Guilel Treiber observes two competing sets of values being presented in Drag Race. The more openly advertised charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent, advancing the skills of every single contender, are opposed by the fading set of acceptance, support, solidarity, and empowerment, which has historically been the cornerstone of the LGBTI+ community.

? The Importance of Being Fabulous. Holly Onclin challenges the preconceived notion that drag queens are mainly about female impersonation and instead proposes to understand drag queens as impersonators of celebrity.

? RuPaul Is a Better Warhol. Megan Volpert compares RuPaul and Andy Warhol in their shared pursuit of realness.

? Is Reading Someone to Filth Allowed? Rutger Birnie asks whether there are ethical restrictions on reading someone, since reads are ultimately insults and could cause harm.

? Serving Realness? Dawn Gilpin and Peter Nagy approach the concept of realness in Drag Race, to discuss the differences between realness, authenticity and the nature of being.

? Death Becomes Her. Hendrik Kempt explores the topic of death both in philosophy and in Drag Race, starting from the claim that Philosophy is training for death.

? We're All Born Naked. Oliver Norman follows up on Ru's mantra, We are all born naked and the rest is drag.

? Fire Werk with Me. Carolina Are looks into the fan-subcultures of Drag Race and Twin Peaks, which have come together to form a unique sub-subculture, in which members of both fan-subcultures create memes and idiosyncrasies.

? Towards a Healthier Subjectivity? Ben Glaister looks at the way Drag Race contestants adopt their drag personae almost as second selves, without finding themselves violating their other self.

? RuPaul versus Zarathustra. Julie and Alice van der Wielen ask the question, Who would win an intellectual lip-sync battle-RuPaul or Nietzsche's Zarathustra?

? Playing with Glitter? Fernando Pagnoni and pals explore the game and play elements of Drag Race.

? The Origins of Self-Love. Anna Fennell expounds upon RuPaul's question, If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else?

? The Sublime. Sandra Ryan thinks about Kant's concept of the sublime and explores how we find its applications in Drag Race.

? Y...

Biographie:
Hendrik Kempt is a Research Associate, FoKoS, University Siegen in Germany. He has authored several forthcoming articles on morality and AI. Megan Volpert is the author of many books on communication and popular culture, including two Lambda Literary Award finalists. After seven years as a nationally competitive debater, she competed in poetry slams for several more. Her MFA in Creative Writing is from Louisiana State University and she writes regularly for PopMatters. She has been teaching high school English in Atlanta for over a decade and was 2014 Teacher of the Year. She edited the American Library Association-honored anthology This Assignment Is So Gay: LGBTIQ Poets on the Art of Teaching. She is co-editor of RuPaul's Drag Race and Philosophy (2020). Foreword author Kate Bornstein is known as the original Gender Outlaw....

Sommaire:
CONTENTS

Foreword by Sasha Velour

Introduction

1. That's All! The Incompossible Vixen by Kyler Chittick

2. We're All Born Naked and the Rest Is Drag by Oliver Norman

3. Exploring drag culture and performance with Friedrich Nietzsche by Ben Glaister

4. Fire WERK With Me: Media Subcultures Crossover into Meta-Entertainment by Carolina Are

5. Playing with Glitter by Fernando Gabriel Pagnoni Berns, Mariana Z?rate, and Leonardo Acosta

6. You Want to be Anonymous? You Better Work by Alice Fox

7. Like God in Drag by Julie van der Wielen, Alice van der Wielen, and Anna Heuer Hansen

8. Performance and the Real by Dawn Gilpin and Peter Nagy

9. RuPaul's Drag Race as Femme-Queer Utopia Reality by Samantha Wesch

10. Searching for Reality in Drag Race by Sandra Ryan

11. Debunking the Femininity of Female Impersonation by Holly Onclin

12. Reading Is Fundamental by Lucy McDonald

13. The Origins of Self-Love by Anna Fennell

14. Eliminate Your Strongest Competition? The Social Dynamics of All Stars by Marta Sznajder

15. If You Can't Love Yourself: On Drag and Vulnerability by Anneliese Cooper

16. Drag Queens and Mall Santas: Performing and Performing Performance by Benjamin Stalnaker

17. Lip-Sync for Your Life by Guilel Treiber

18. The Library Is Open: The Ethics of RuPaul's Reading by Rutger Birnie

19. RuPaul Is a Better Warhol: Pop and the Ethical Judgment of Realness by Megan Volpert

20. Flaz?da and the Meaning of Words by Hendrik Kempt

Bibliography

About the Authors

Index

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