While watching the film Paris
is Burning, I was not sure what to think of the culture. These transsexuals
have created a subculture completely different from our own. The movie shows
the drag culture and how they feel oppressed from the dominant culture. At
first, I was thinking ‘this culture is so weird; I have never seen anything
like this.’ And then as I watched the movie, I realized the concept really was
not all that foreign. Drag culture is, of course, much, much different than our
own culture. However, the drags’ view of “realness” seems to reinforce the
gender roles instated by the dominant culture.
Transsexuals participate in balls, where individuals from
their “house” compete with other individuals in categories such as realness.
How well do they portray a man or a woman? However, my question is how do these
individuals define male and female realness? What are they basing their judging
criteria on? To me, it seems like these particular individuals created a
subculture based off dominant culture. The men are judged on how well they
impersonate the “ideal woman.” The transsexuals in the video do not want to be
ordinary women; they want to be white, rich, beautiful, fabulous women. If they
were able to achieve this level of beauty, then they hope to be accepted by
others. This reinforces the traditional
gender roles established by the dominant society that equates being white and
beautiful with acceptance and femininity. If the individuals were able to
achieve this level of beauty, then they hope to be accepted by others. By doing
this, the drags presented in the film do not seem to create a whole new culture
but instead conform to the traditional views of gender reinforced by the
dominant culture.
Overall, I really enjoyed the film!
I thought that was interesting too! While they created this new culture, they embraced the same standards of beauty and success as mainstream culture. I feel like having this unattainable standard could have detrimental effects on their self-esteem and self-worth.
ReplyDeleteMarysa, I think you make an excellent point, and it was something I didn't even think of! Bell Hooks talks about this in the reading for tomorrow, too. I completely agree that the ball culture was ultimately copying or reinforcing the gender roles of white culture, and that this essentially doesn't make ball culture as unique as it appears.
ReplyDeleteMy point of view though is that, because they are trying to fit into a culture that completely disregards or degrades them, they are ultimately challenging that system. The whole realness at one point was bottled down to being able to leave the ball get on a subway and go home without basically getting into trouble or danger. Clearly, society then (and now too) weren't particularly accepting to the LGBT community especially with the fear of AIDS running rampant. Yes, they were copying traditional gender roles but it didn't seem like all of it was drag. Some gay men simply dressed like straight men and transvestites performed under their chosen gender, and these are particularly combative to the hetero-normative view on gender and gender roles. Mainstream at the time saw gender as the same thing as a biological sex, but the balls challenged that while trying to find their own niche in society. Yes, they used white culture, but it is either try to adapt to that or possibly be the victim of a hate-crime. I still think they challenged the mainstream simply by trying to fit into it.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that the drag lifestyle is completely their own and challenges the white dominant culture. It is interesting to say that transvestites "challenged the white culture in attempt to fit in." When you think about it, it is really a strange concept. One would think that if you wanted a group of people to accept you, creating a completely different subculture would not be an ideal solution.
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