In 2009, we were blessed with “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” RuPaul’s Drag Race isn’t actual drag racing (sorry NASCAR fans) but is a play on words. So then, what’s a “drag” race? In “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” drag queens come from all around to compete for the title of America’s Next Drag Superstar and to win a cash prize of $100,000.

RuPaul’s Drag Race has actually been on the air just shy of 10 years, and it is the epitome of a melting pot giving viewers the opportunity to meet drag queens from a range of backgrounds.

One thing I love about the show is that as a viewer, I grow to love each queen as they evolve throughout the season. I enjoy hearing their stories of coming out, sometimes to not accepting families, but as the season progresses, the queen’s grow closer and closer and eventually see each other as family.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” has a spin-off called “RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked” where viewers get to see the behind the scenes along with cuts that didn’t make the final episode.

In another spin-off called “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All-Stars,”  RuPaul brings back fan favorites and sometimes the villains from past seasons who sadly weren’t the winners of their season. They come back on All-Stars for a second chance to win and be put in the “Drag Race Hall of Fame.” RuPaul’s Drag Race is currently on a break after their 10th season, but “All-Stars” airs on Fridays at 8 p.m.

My mom and I sit down and enjoy the sometimes drama-filled episodes of “All-Stars.” Throughout the episodes, the queens are given a “mini” challenge and a “maxi” challenge which determines the tops and bottoms of the week. Additionally, they are presented with a theme for the runway, and finally, last, but the greatest part of any episode is the lip sync.

The lip sync competition is used to determine who stays that week, and in the words of RuPaul himself, “Sashays away.”  But in “All-Stars” RuPaul makes the top two queens lip sync in order to send one of the bottom queens home.

I personally got into “RuPaul’s Drag Race” my freshman year a few months after joining Gay-Straight Alliance. We had a meeting about our favorite TV shows. During the meeting, club sponsor, Megan Lewis, brought up “Drag Race,” and only a handful of people had seen it, me not being one of them.

She proceeded to show us a clip of a lip sync and I was immediately intrigued. I remember going home, hopping on Hulu (which sadly they only had season four and up), and falling in love with a world I never knew existed.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” is an Emmy award-winning show for a reason. The show is taboo even in this day and age— the idea of a man who dresses up as a woman to finally be able to express himself is still found to be shocking.

Kudos to RuPaul for pushing the boundaries to get “RuPaul’s Drag Race” across our TV’s because at first, it was only shown on the LOGO channel, a channel aimed towards the LGBT community, but now it’s on the widely known channel VH1 on Fridays at 8 p.m. On the watchameter it’s a 10/10.

The views in this review do not necessarily reflect the views of the GENESIS staff. Email Jiana Woods at [email protected].