Theorizing gender system in ballroom culture PDF

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Theorizing the Gender System in Ballroom Culture Key Terms ● Ballroom Culture: community or network of black/latino men and women who are LGBTQ ● Gender system: System created in ballroom community that serves as the basis for its gender and sexuality and kinship relations ● Realness: adherence to certain performances ● Butch queen: gay man ● Femme queen: Transgender woman ● Butches: transgender man ● House: Familial structures that are socially constructed rather than biologically Main Argument ● Need for members of LGBTQ community to have spaces to put on performances to unmark themselves as gender and sexual nonconforming subjects ● Sexuality is malleable, these are strategies to be accepted in the outside world ● Ballroom community exists as a place for the black queer community to express themselves and live in a society in which they can judge each other but also accept each other as part of the queer community ● Ballroom culture consists of houses and balls; houses led by mothers and fathers, organized to compete in ball events; who can bring out themselves in a more authentic or real way ● Sex, gender, sexuality ● Sex categories are malleable and can be altered through various means like reconstructive surgery, hormonal therapy, or padding ● Performance is a method of survival ● Protecting themselves from appearing as vulnerable Paris is Burning About the Film ● Wide critical acclaim and was incredibly influential in academia ● Explores the end of the NYC ball scene “Golden Age” ● Budget of $500,000; grossed $3.7 million ● New Queer Cinema movement ● Library of congress selected the film to be reserved in the national film registration for being culturally significant Major Themes ● Race ● Class ● Family

● Belonging ● Fame and wealth ● Making a mark Key Terms ● Realness: blend accurately beyond your portrayal ● Legendary: like winning an oscar ● Shade: comes from reading, is a more developed term ● Reading: came first, real art of insult. Smart crack ● Shade: like throwing shade (I don’t tell you you’re ugly but I don’t have to tell you you’re ugly because you know you’re ugly) Houses and Mothers ● When someone gets rejected from their biological family, they search for someone to fill that void ● It wasn’t a question of a man and a woman and children, which we knew growing up as a family; it was human bond Colors of the film ● Yellow, red, and blue backgrounds; primary colors ● Characters were complimentary colors of their background, which made them stand out Cinematography and Techniques ● This is exactly the opposite of the techniques that Hollywood teaches ● Camera work is done handheld ● Always breaking rule of thirds; subject is always in the center ● Every focus of shot is centered ● Mid-shots ● Content quality over technique...