“RuPaul’s Drag Race” will have you hooked within the first 15 minutes of the episode, and by hooked, I mean binging the whole season on Netflix in one night just like I did. The show will always have me laughing, gasping, and feeling for some of the contestants. You’ll never be bored while watching “RuPaul’s Drag Race”. When I first heard of the show, I’ll be honest I was super excited because I am a huge fan of competition shows. What I love about RuPaul, is that the show is HIS. Not only is he the host, but he’s also their mentor throughout the show.

RuPaul gives you drama, intense competition, heart-wrenching emotion, and comedy all mixed together in every single episode. Throughout all these emotions, this show also breaks society’s views of strict gender roles and allows a place where we can see people expressing their love for drag and understand a little more about the platform.

“Emotional Rollercoaster” is the term I would use to explain the show. You never know what you’re going to get because the contestants react to everything so differently. Sometimes you’ll get drama between two queens, or other times there will be drama between all of them. It can be from controlling group challenges to just insulting comments. As for the heart-wrenching emotion, this usually rolls off of the drama from one of the contestants past experiences. There can sometimes be lots of crying and you feel for them, or there can be comments and digs back and forth between people in the show. Either way, you get to hear at least one queen’s story and it can oftentimes be a real tear-jerker. Where the comedy comes in, is throughout the whole show. The comedy comes from constant digs at each other throughout challenges or getting ready in the dressing room, the judges comments during the runway, and the elimination challenge whereas RuPaul says “you have to lip-sync for your life”. If you’re into “America’s Next Top Model” but wish for something a little more comedic then there’s no doubt in mind that you will fall in love with this show as much as I did.

There is no real way to define “RuPaul’s Drag Race” as the show itself has so many different plots, genres of television, points, and issues. However, what it does do is escape the constant pressure of gender roles. Throughout the show, the contestants are 100% respected and the show is a place for everyone to freely express themselves and show people what they love to do and who they are.  Rupal always says is “We’re born naked, the rest is drag”, which in my mind should be how everyone thinks of it. This show shows the “Drag Queen” context, but what people forget is that there are so many types of drag, and when it boils down to it, everything can be classified as drag. We all dress a certain way as to what we feel comfortable, and that is exactly what they’re doing on the show. Another example of breaking gender roles is before a challenge RuPaul always says “Gentlemen, start your engines, and may the best woman win.” The show expresses that both men and women are part of the show, and who’s to say they can’t be. Overall, this show not only entertains a wide spectrum of people but has also opened the doors to the world of drag in a positive engaging way.