Queer reality TV and the boundaries of belonging: Tracing the affects of progressive citizenship through Queer Eye and RuPaul’s Drag Race audiences

This thesis explores how audiences of the queer reality television shows, Queer Eye and RuPaul's Drag Race connect their viewership of queer TV to broader ideals of diversity, representation, queer rights and equality in popular culture. It advances understandings of how popular media and politics interact, often in unexpected ways.