How Fashionable is It?

As mentioned in the discussion session and in the many blogposts before mine, Kaja Silverman notes in her "Fragments of Fashionable Discourse" essay that fashion, as a driving force behind the outward appearance of individuals, plays an important role in defining the "bodily ego", as coined by Sigmund Freud in his quote:

"The ego is first and foremost a bodily ego. It is not merely a surface entity, but is in itself a projection of a surface." (The Ego and the Id)

Thus, conversely, as a "projection of the surface", the inner psyche or the "ego" can be reflected in one's fashion. And Silverman, throughout the essay, touches upon the economic and social determinates of fashion and how it was used to reflect one's wealth.

"a man should demonstrate by means of hi black coat, cylindrical hat, spotless linen, carefully rolled umbrella, and general air of refined discomfort that he was not actually engaged in the production of goods, but only in some more genteel employment concerned with management or distribution." (page 140)

This point along with the "inside-out structure of the gaze", which deals with man as being fundamentally exhibitionist, support Freud's theory of the bodily ego. One receives validation of their existence and their ego through their perceived appearance by the "Other". Freud's theorem is something implied in basic high school health classes in which students discuss the media's affect on people's impressions of expected women appearance and its effects on self-esteem and self-worth.

To add to the discussion, Silverman also mentioned J C Flugel's three vicissitudes of The Great Masculine Renunciation. "Male identification with woman-as-spectacle" was one of the three. This analysis of gender roles remarks on the association of men with objectified women. But also, the identification extends to some men exploiting perceived female mannerisms and making a spectacle of themselves, such is the case for transvestites and drag queens. Drag queens, as we had seen in RuPaul's television series utilize camp to exaggerate and embrace societal expectation of a female mannequin. And in applying Freud's theory, these men who drag alter their appearance and change their bodily ego. Would this be in the same manner of seeking validation of their existence? Such is essentially the case with transsexuals, who typically feel they were born into the "wrong body" so they undergo gender reassignment so that their bodily ego will reflect their inner psyche. But what about for men who drag for the sport of it?

"[She] Wants So Badly to be Campy that She's Continually Losing the Beat"

Note the robot with the high heels.

      After reading Susan Sontag's Notes on "Camp", I watched RuPaul's Drag Race (season 3, episode 12: "Jocks in Frocks"). I was very curious how the transformation of heterosexual jocks into drag queens would go. And WOW metamorphosis~!
      Afterwards I tried to figure out why Carmen Carrera was eliminated once again. It seems to me that

• Carmen was "too mediocre in [her] ambition" when it came to building up her drag sister: the jock was left looking like a masculine man in a dress. Carmen did not go far enough and, by focusing primarily on herself, left her partner looking like a caterpillar poking out of its cocoon with crumpled wings—an incomplete transformation. Maybe the judges would have enjoyed it more if Carmen was joking around, but Carmen was totally serious. Serious about the serious.
• Carmen did the opposite during the lip-syncing and tried too hard. She "wants so badly to be campy that she's continually losing the beat"; Carmen continuously mentioned that her style was nudity, but her stripping during the lip-sync seemed like she just wanted some shock value and was a try-hard. In other words, Carmen failed to grasp the finer aspects of Camp both times.

-Jeremy 

The Importance of Style

"The Spirit of Extravagance:" Dean of Drag Lady Bunny and her hair.
http://artvoice.com/issues/v6n34/thats_lady_bunny_honey/lady_bunny_1

Susan Sontag states in her essay “Notes on ‘Camp’” that Camp is the “victory of ‘style’ over ‘content.’” This statement accurately summarizes what ended up happening in the episode “A Family that Drags Together” from “RuPaul’s Drag U.” The three women who appear for a “drag education” are related to three of the professors, as two sisters and one mother. Each of the women has her own reason for going on the show, be it gaining confidence or becoming closer to her respective drag queen, but what the women are trying to achieve, the “content,” is ultimately of no consequence. What does matter is how they present what they achieve—the “style” in which they show their accomplishments. Sontag remarks that “the whole point of Camp is to dethrone the serious,” and that “‘sincerity’ is not enough.” The women take a completely over-the-top, farcical route to accomplish their serious, sincere aims, thus living up to the intense artificiality of Camp—and, of course, of drag.

Rupauls Drag Race

So, when I sat down to watch the clips that we were sent, I had no idea what to expect, and I had no idea how intriguing they were going to be!

The first thing I remember thinking when I watched the episode of Drag Race, "Jocks in Frocks", was how beautiful the men were when they were dressed as women. Carmen Carrera, shown below:

is such a convincing woman that by looking only at this photo many would be surprised that she is actually physically a man. Another thing that I found really interesting was the transformation made by the jocks that were brought onto the show. At the beginning of the episode, most of the men seem uncomfortable as the attempt to become the 'sisters' of these Drag Queens. Yet, by the end of the episode most of the men have embraced their character and have found a way to learn from their experience and appreciate what the Drag Queens do and who they are.

This episode of "Rupauls Drag Race" is related to Susan Sontag's argument of "Camp" really well as the essence of both is artifice and exaggeration. Even the first bullet point that Sontag makes about camp, that Camp is "not in terms of beauty, but in terms of artifice, of stylization" relates to the Drag Queens found on Rupauls show as they are often acknowledged more for their eccentric styles than for their natural beauty. Although the essence of the Drag Queens comes from within, there is a great amount of artifice used to enhance their look as well as personify their personalities through their feminine looks. One of the most applicable quotes from Sontag's arguments that correlate directly to the Drag Queens of "Rupauls Drag Race" is the idea that "camp is a mode of seduction--one which employs flamboyant mannerisms susceptible of a double interpretation; gestures full of duplicity, with a witty meaning for cognoscenti and another, more impersonal, for outsiders." Just as in Sontag's definition of Camp, Drag Queens possess this same flamboyant nature through which they express themselves and connect with others.