Emmy FYC: Please Consider ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’

The Primetime Emmy® race is on and so is the race to be crowned for RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 9. Consider this outstanding reality series in your Emmy voting.

When RuPaul’s Drag Race returned for its ninth season, nearly 1 million people tuned in to see Lady Gaga enter in only Mother Monster would: as a drag contestant.

If you haven’t seen the faces of the contestants as she reveals her true identity, head over to RuPaul’s Drag Race’s new home on VH1 and watch it now. It’s a moment that stays with you all season.

Each season, the caliber of guest judges is one that can not go unnoticed. This season, Lisa Kudrow, Andie McDowell, and Meghan Trainor all appeared.

Ever since the show made its debut, it continues to break barriers. This season, if Peppermint wins the title, Peppermint will be the first transgender contestant to win the crown. Peppermint along with the contestants give its viewers hope. Yet, she’ll have to werq for that title because she’s up against other favorites: Trinity Taylor, Sasha Velour, and Shea Couleé.

Love Your Body

Week after week, the show is filled with hilarious bitchy swipes, but let’s not forget, the girls have all had to battle to get where they are. The insults are traded, but after the sass dust settles, there is love for each other. The show is filled with positive and motivational messages of self-love. “If you don’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”

They talk about their battles. We’ve heard stories about suicide, bullying, fat-shaming and being isolated from their families for their choices. They’re not after sympathy. They share stories that we may or may not have experienced or come across. If they can get through those battles, then so can you.

We live in a society where there is pressure to be thin, but this show constantly brings home the message to love ourselves no matter what shape or size we are. Ginger Minj was a plus size queen who wasn’t afraid of how she looked and displayed some memorable looks. Remember Elvis Prissley?

This season, we had Eureka who sadly had a shocking exit due to a complicated knee injury. Eureka, a plus-sized queen, also talked about an eating disorder and fat-shaming. These are issues that are so personal, so true, and they’re being shared with us. Private moments become moments for the viewers to share in and relate to.

The show’s mini-challenge and maxi-challenges are always a riot to watch, but the sing-offs in lip-sync for your life are just as entertaining. This season, we all said, “Gurlllll” as Valentina didn’t deliver on Ariana Grande’s “Greedy.”

One could go on about what makes RuPaul’s Drag Race so entertaining to watch. The costumes. The vocabulary that has become a part of our vocabulary whether we like it or not. The elimination round. But at the end of the day, it’s about being triumphant in the face of hard times.

What RuPaul’s Drag Race Means to Fans

I reached out to fans of the show about what it means to them.

Holly Walters said, “Even as a cis straight female, it encourages and inspires me to live my life the way I want to live it. I might not be able to identify on a personal level with exactly what each queen battles and goes through, but as someone who was always dancing to a different beat than everyone else, it gives me the confidence to be nothing short who I am, what I want to be, and most importantly ‘unless they’re paying your bills, pay them bitches no mind’ (to quote Mama Ru). I watch for the fashion, the art, the comedy, the drama, and the heart. The show has given me friendships, family, and a community that as an LGBTQ ally I feel nothing but welcomed by. And I feel proud to be part of something that’s literally changing the way the world looks at sexuality and gender.”

Joey Moser adds, “I discovered Drag Race on-demand after the first season premiered and I was addicted immediately. I didn’t know very much abut drag at the time (I only had one or two friends that performed), and to this day, I find the art form incredible. It taught me that you can never stop learning as an artist and just as a human being. We can all benefit from each other’s life experiences and Drag Race delivers that every episode. It also shows how resilient and strong the LGBTQ community truly is by fighting the norms with art, passion, and color. We can all use a little dash of glamor and drag.”

In case you’re wondering, the true winner of RuPaul’s Drag Race is ….always RuPaul.

So, Consider RuPaul’s Drag Race in your Emmy voting for Outstanding Reality-Competition Program and Outstanding Reality Host.

Can I get an Amen up in here?

Readers: Share your thoughts about RuPaul’s Drag Race below! What does it mean to you?