When studying gender and communication, it is important to consider the concept of gendered/sexed bodies and their significance. People are able to communicate their gender nonverbally using their bodies, but are not always consciously aware of their seemingly innate actions. In most cases, the roles that social and cultural norms play in how people communicate don’t become apparent until they are challenged. Overt gender performance is done by a number of different groups, but one of the biggest ways that people challenge gender/sex norms is through drag shows. At these shows, the goal of the performers is to look as much as another sex as possible. To convey the mannerisms of the sex they are imitating, they might sing, dance, model, or …show more content…
This documentary follows the lives of the African-American, Latino, gay, and transgender participants of the balls. The intersectional identities of the ball contestants play a major role in how they communicate and how they view the world. In many of the interviews, the competitors expressed their wishes to be rich and successful. The balls acted as a way for them to be who they wanted to be, even if it was only for a night at a time. Through walking in the balls and competing in different categories, such as executive realness or American runway, the participants got the opportunity to imitate the lives they wanted to live. Judith Butler argues that even if a ball competitor succeeds in looking like a “real” woman, they are, “...by virtue of a certain failure to pass completely, clearly vulnerable to homophobic violence,” (Butler …show more content…
She argues that the ideal “real”, women that the drag competitors seek to embody are white, rich, and in partnership with a successful white male, which in turn perpetuates white supremacy. In addition to white supremacy, she also discusses the patriarchal mindset embedded in the word “drag”. Hooks says that men dressing in drag, “...has always been regarded by the dominant heterosexist cultural gaze as a sign that one is symbolically crossing over from a realm of power into a realm of powerlessness,” (Hooks 146). In saying this, she is arguing that it is easier for black men or men of minorities to dress in drag with less chance of being seen as gay than a white man, who because of his race, is already in a position of power and might be questioned for the same behavior. Personally, I agree with the central arguments of both Butler and Hooks. I think that in a way, Butler’s analysis of gender performance and the idea that gender norms lack originality calls people to consider their own gender performance as a result of their gender identity. When watching Paris is Burning, I didn’t consider the ambivalence of imitation that Butler brings up. I agree with her position that cross-dressing and drag, especially in the context of balls, are not done with malicious intent, but rather as a personal identity