RuPaul versus Zarathustra

Starting from the observation that our image-culture si craving for something we could call "authenticity," we investigate the tension and confusion that exists between what is authentic and what is not-which we will call "fake." Drag, and in particular RuPaul's Drag Race, is an interesting phenomenon regarding this issue, for it seems to deal with the authentic expression of a self in a very artificial way, which therefore may seem unauthentic to some. Drag in general, and especially RuPaul's show and notion of drag, provide the perfect scene to explore the significance and ramifications of authenticity and fakeness: drag has a very unconventional approach to authentic self-expression, as it expresses a self that we are not (at least not in the usual sense); RuPaul absolutely embraces the tendency to artificiality and enhancement; and he even has a conception of drag, according to which drag (as a performance of the self) is all there is.