Jamie Uribe
Int. Seminar
Daniel Penny
Paris Is Burning
The 80’s were a socially revolutionary period. As we witnessed progressiveness in terms of business, technology, arts, and gender values, an underground scratched away to hoping to actively take part. Within this time frame, the voices of the LGBT+ community were beginning to be heard within the NYC streets. As it was actively difficult for members of the communities to express themselves amongst fellow members of society, they took initiative to construct a community by which they could unapologetically express themselves. Said community consisted of balls in which oftentimes minority gay men, trans women, and drag queens dressed in accordance to a theme which permitted them for a fleeting moment to realize their wildest desires. In the documentary Paris is Burning, one of the house mothers stated that though out in the world they are not the picture esque characters of corporate success, in the ballroom they embody the aspects by which would deem them to be that person. In the drag world, there is an emphasis on the concept of “realness”. To be real is to be “passable” amongst the members of society who are classified as “normal”. To the members of this community, balls simultaneously represent a form of social expression, as well as an opportunity to exercise their ability to partake in the outside world seamlessly.
To the community, the outside world is a scary place. Though there are people out there willing to hear their stories, such as Jennie Livingston (director of the documentary), there are also many people who are ready to cause harm towards what they do not understand. This is illustrated as Venus Xtravaganza recounted a time by which a John discovered that she was a trans woman, and he threatened to seriously kill her. Xtravaganza was a beautiful woman who aspired for a life which was not simply handed over to her. As a result, in the scene we hear her express how the escort business permitted her access to her desires, and helped make things a little bit easier. Though she successfully a passing trans woman, her escort simply did not share the same visionary as her, and therefore was ready to take her life. To be “real” in this case can be a matter of life or death. Though this realness is a falsified facade by which these people had to live by, many of them they did not have the choice outside of this. “Realness” is whatever you need it to be, and in this case falsified reality gave them the life they needed in order to survive. Though it is not the typical sense of authenticity, to the outside world it would be perceived as so, and with that comes both a feeling of success and relief.
“‘I don’t have to tell you you’re ugly … I don’t have to tell you because you know you’re ugly. That’s shade.’ Its lexical influence is legion.”
“For one, news recently broke that six trans women of colour had been murdered in the space of less than two months in early 2015: a harsh reminder, alongside the still-unsolved murder of Venus Xtravaganza, one of the film’s key performers, of the disproportionately high rates of violence facing the transgender community, and the lack of appropriate response from law enforcement”
In recent years there has been a notable amount of increased acceptance of the LGBT+ communities. Though positive because of its assistance in permitting people to live more freely, has this permitted for the appropriation and misuse of a culture who has fought extremely hard for their current day rights? Voguing was once exclusive to the ballroom, and now it is a popular dance seen all over the world. Forms of expression once used exclusively to communities that needed to be heard are now being misused, is it fair?
