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CHAPTER III
ANALYSIS
Representation of reality in a documentary has been questioned by experts
whether it is a truth or falsity. Documentary works with actual events, persons, and
places and then takes those things as its raw material. Grierson (1946) says that the
root of documentary is reality by considering that film maker can manipulate it
through creativity (as cited in Debora, 2015). Therefore, the same as another film
genre, documentary film is an art form. Documentary film is a construction and a
manipulated work in which selection of topic, editing, and mixing sound are carried
out within. Moreover, Beattie (2004) states that the construction of documentary is
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organized through arguments of film maker about truthfulness which is presented in
the forms of essays, diaries, reports, or eulogies (as cited in Debora, 2015).
Paris is Burning is a film documentary about self-affirmation, empowerment
and life of Black and Latino gay and transgender in drag community. This film
presents White subcultures; balls and life of gay and transgender in New York. The
social issues reflected in Paris is Burning needs to be investigated by observing the
elements of documentary including narrations, dialogues and mis-en-scene. Setting of
place and setting of time define pictures which will appear on the screen. Through
setting of place and time, audiences can see social condition in certain places and
certain time. As I have mentioned, the story of Paris is Burning takes a place in New
York. To show setting of places to audiences, film maker presents picture of high
buildings on the screen. The high building refers to a metropolitan city that is well
known for its freedom; New York (see figure 1&2). In this part of scene, the pictures
are taken with extreme long shot that enables audiences to realize that it is New York. 54
Figure 1 Figure 2
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Figure 3 Figure 4
Image of Black characters in Paris is Burning is not fully represented in
stereotypical images of Black. They are not represented as violent and criminal. Since
it takes a place in New York, characterization of Blacks in that documentary does not
attach to Black traditional culture and religion belief. Moreover, the Blacks are
represented to show the social issue that happens in drag community. However, the
image cannot be trusted as an actual image because documentary is part of film
maker imagination that is constructed within image and narration.
Besides setting of place, setting of time also reflects the social condition.
Through the cinematography, this documentary informs to audiences that social
condition at that time is messy and it cannot be contained by a camera. The figures
above (see figure 1, 2, 3 & 4) are taken by locked-down shot technique. This
technique puts the camera in one fixed position while other actions continue to appear
on the screen. The social condition that is meant refers to the existence of drag
community that is considered as disintegration. The community presents to break the
system of normalcy about sex and gender. This community opposes
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heteronormativity and produces commotion in society through their appearance. Drag
makes society confused of their ambiguous identity. The identity of drag is neither
masculine nor feminine. The identity cannot be defined as one fixed identity, because
drag embodies both characteristic of man and woman that is materialized through
appearance and performance at balls.
Ball is the most inseparable culture of gay and transgender. Ball itself is
organized by a “House” that functions as family for the members. Paris is Burning
covers the problems within White subculture; balls through the representation of
Black gay and transgender life.
Figure1 Figure 2 Figure 3
To answer research question, I decide to focus on three main characters in the
documentary; Kim Pendavis, Pepper Lebeija and Octavia Saint Laurent. Two of
them; Pendavis and Lebeija are Black men who identify themselves as gay (see figure
1&2). Other character is Octavia who identifies as Black transgender MTF (see figure
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3). Through these three main characters, Paris is Burning presents the problem of
race within balls and the problem of identity. In addition, by analyzing these three
character performance at balls, I want to investigate ballroom as a space to empower
Black drag queen.
A. The Balls as The Strategy of Empowering Black Drag Queen
“I remember my dad used to say that you have three strikes against you in this world and every black man has two that they’re just black and they’re male. But if you’re male and you’re gay, you gonna have a hard time. If you gonna do this, you have to be stronger than you ever imagined” (Paris is Burning). Within the cultural framework of America, typical masculinity is
characterized by White male, thus the social status of Black male is subordinated by
White patriarchy. It makes Black males have to negotiate their attitude and behavior
in society. As the narrator says above, Black has two strikes that he is just a Black
and he is a male. Moreover, a Black gay man has three strikes that he is just a Black,
a male and a gay. Black is identified as masculine and heterosexual. Furthermore,
Black community is highly homophobia. Therefore, Black gay male is excluded from
Black community because his identity as queer is considered to jeopardize Black
culture and religion belief (Benjamin, 2007, p.11).
As a Black male and a gay, Black queer obtains rejection from Black
community as well as heterosexual society. Confronting this situation, Black gay has
to hide his identity as queer to avoid oppression. One of strategy to avoid the
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oppression is by being down low (DL). Down low is an African American slang that
refers to describe the behavior of men who have sex with other men as well as
women and do not identify as gay or bisexual (http://www.webmd.com/sex-
relationships/what-is-down-low). This term means keep something private, refers to
information or activity. One of Black character; Pepper Labeija chooses this strategy
to avoid oppression from his family. Since he is a gay, he goes to balls in secret. He
achieves trophies for his performance at balls, but he does not tell this to his family.
Instead, he tells his mother that he achieves the trophies from basketball and running
track. It is highly risky if he tells his family that he goes to gay bars. In an interview,
Labeija shares his experiences when his family finds out that he is a gay. He states:
20:31 – 21:21 I was walking up 145th street with my girlfriends. I had on white hot pants, a chiffon blouse, and a pony tail. And my father was waiting for the light in his car. And he saw me. He recognized me. And he went straight to my house before I could get there and told my mom “your son is a woman”. She didn’t press it then. But like, maybe a few months later,
when she noticed I had breast, everything started to come together. She really was devastated. How could you have breast bigger than me. You’re oman right before my very eyes. I growing nails. You’re becoming a w can’t hold me head up. But she still loves me. But about the nagging, oh my god, about this women’s clothes, and she found them, she destroyed it.
I was, oh, devastated.
Every individual has desire to live following his/her heart, including Black
gay. Being DL means Black lives in falsity. He cannot live as his true identity as long
as he still lives close to his family in suburban area. New York City is listed as the
largest gay population in America. This metropolitan city is one of favorite
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destination for homosexual to live in because this county offers more liberation than
other states in America. Rejection accepted from family and community as well as
desire to live in true identity play important role to influence Black gay to move away
from his hometown. In an interview, mother of Venus Xtravaganza shares her
experiences about moving to New York City. She says:
22:39 – 23:02 I don’t feel that there is anything mannish about me except maybe what I might have between me down there, which is my little personal thing, so I guess that’s why I want my sex change to make myself complete. I was about 13, 14 year old and I used to do it behind my family’s back till finally they caught on with it and I didn’t want to embarrass them so that’s why I moved away. I moved to New York and continue to do it.
The greater community of gay and transgender is in New York (Debora, 2015,
p.24). This city is the center of “House” belongs to White and queer of color. Paris is
Burning informs that “House” is a gay gang; a home; a community; a network of
queer including gay, lesbian and transgender. House is like a family that consists of
father, mother and children. This family is not a biological family. They became
family because they share same identity and experience as minority in society. Paris
is Burning presents house of Xtravaganza, Ninja, Labeija and Garavani. In an
interview, Labeija talks about house, he says:
23:17 – 23: 50
When someone has rejection, from their father, mother and family, when
they get out in the world, they search. They search for someone to fill the void. I know this for experience, because I’ve had kids come to me and latch holds to me like I’m their father or mother. Because they can talk to
me, and I’m gay and they’re gay.
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The concept of house is similar with the concept of biological family. House
also gives love, support, protection and things needed by the members of house.
House gives a space for members to live as in their fantasy by organizing balls.
House is considered as the safest place for queer to show up their identity without
giving oppression.
Ball is a gay world; the only place where queer can be close to the reality. Ball
reflects the fantasy of subordinate people. About ball, one of White gay says that:
04:08 – 04:43 It’s like crossing into looking glass in wonderland, you go in there, and you fell 100% right as of being gay. That’s not what it’s like in the world, you know, it should be like that in the world. The societies, they go to a football game, basketball, that’s their entertainment. A ball is ours, we prepare for a ball. We may spend more time preparing for a ball than anybody would spend preparing for anything. A ball is like our world. The balls to us are as close to a reality as we’re gonna get to all of that fame and fortune and stardoms, and spotlights. Ball is not only a space for making fantasy to be reality, but it is also a space in which
Black gay male enable themselves to overcome the three strikes that have been
mentioned above. Ball is a space to achieve self-empowerment through performing as
drag. According to the narration above, Paris is Burning sends a message to
audiences about the meaning of ball. It is clearly explained that ball is a world in
which as of being gay, they can feel 100% right. If societies watch football game or
basketball as their entertainment, queer will go to gay bar to enjoy balls.
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The aim of drag who participates in ball show is to win. As I have explained
in chapter 2, the drag comes to ball show to compete with other drags by conforming
category. However, it needs analytical thinking to understand that actually; it is not
only for getting trophy. The drag is trying to obtain attention that is meant as an effort
to obtain power from their queerness. They can achieve power and reward from queer
community as well as heteronormative societies. As cited in the previous research
entitled Doing Drag; From Subordinate Queers to Fabulous Queens, Drag as an
Empowerment Strategy for Gay men, Sven Oostrick states that:
When in drag they get attention, whether for themselves of for their peers, i.e. the LGBT-community. Or they gain the power to control everything about themselves and their audience or a safe ‘location’ from where they can fight injustice and ignorance (p.50). Similar with the previous research, Paris is Burning also delivers the same meaning.
One of participant says:
03:48 – 03: 51
I went to a ball. I got a trophy. And now everybody wants to know me.
Ball is a space where the drag can be what they want to be in heteronormative
society. Ball is a battle for drag against heterosexual community. The drag constructs
his/her performance and appearance by imitating and combining both characteristic
of man and woman at the same time. The drag steals attention from visitors that are
queer and heterosexual. By stealing attention from visitors, the drag obtains power as
homosexual over his/her position as subordinate people in societies. In an interview,
Labeija says that:
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The balls are more or less like our fantasy of being a superstar, like the Oscar or being on runway as model. A lot of those kids that are in the ball,
they don’t have two of nothing. Some of them don’t even eat. They come to ball starving and they sleep under 21. They don’t have place to go. But they
go out and they steal something and get dressed up and come to ball for that one night and live in fantasy.
As a part of queer, gay and transgender cannot become what they want to be
in societies. They have to face belief and categories constructed by societies. The
construction refers to gender binary that makes their identity as queer is excluded
from society. It is a belief that White is high middle class while people of color
including Black are low class. This belief makes people of color have hard life in
societies. This system of racism actually prevails in homosexual community;
including ball. A white transgender; Dorian Corey delivers this meaning in an
interview, she says:
14:21 – 14:40 In real life, you couldn’t get a job as an executive unless you have the educational background and the opportunity. Now, the fact that you’re not an executive is merely because of the social standing life. That is just
pure thing. Black people have a hard life getting anywhere. And those that do are usually straight. In a ball room, you can get anything you want.
(Corey)
As a White, Corey has privilege. He does not obtain oppression as much as Black
drag does. If she comes to ball as a professional dancer and entertainer, Black drag
comes to achieve self-empowerment. The drag comes to make his/her fantasy
becomes real and to show the straight that they can be what the strikes to be.
14:43-14:56
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You’re looking like an executive and therefore you’re showing the straight world that I can be an executive. If I had an opportunity, I could
be one because I can look like one.
Paris is Burning is a film documentary which presents the ability of Black
and Latino as model on the runway. In their performance, the drags try to imitate
feminity as real and as better as possible. They imitate the appearance of woman by dressing, walking and talking like a woman. However, it needs to be emphasized that
they can only imitate the appearance but not the feeling of a woman. Therefore, being
drags does not mean having body surgery or being transgender. Some drags even
prefer to wear temporary material to make illusions. Moreover, the female
impersonator is not only people who has problem with wrong body but also sexual
orientation. This thing is clarified by Labeija. He says:
58:22 – 58:39 I’ve been a man and I’ve been a man who emulates a woman. I’ve never been a woman; I never had that service once a month. I’ve never been pregnant. You know, I can never say how a woman feels; I can only say how a man who acts like a woman or dresses like a woman feels.
Realness is the base of drag performance at ball. The realness refers to the
appearance of straight. Therefore, being drag means imitating realness. The more
natural and real their appearance, the more power they will achieve. As explained by
one of drag, she says;
The more natural you look, the more credit you accept (16:02-16:04).
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The naturalness of drag queen is judged from many aspects, for instance;
outfit, makeup, skin, hair, etc. With proper outfit, make up, and hair, drag becomes
confident while walking at ball show. To prove this, some scenes are taken below to
show drag queen with proper outfit. The first picture is taken with middle close up
shot. By this technique, the camera focuses on the face and outfit of drag queen (see
figure 1). Audiences enable to look power and confidence reflected in facial
expression of drag queen. Meanwhile, the second picture is taken with long shot. By
this technique, camera focuses on the appearance of drag queen from top to toe.
Audiences enable to look the type of outfit wearing by Black drag queen. Both Black
drag queens are walking and acting like they are professional model. They do not
only imitate the way of model dressing but also the way of model walking on the
catwalk. By putting their hand at waist and walking in feminine way, they control
stages. The drags only obtain power when they successfully imitate image of woman.
Therefore, a drag who masks his appearance with feminity, she will be depicted as a
powerful drag queen.
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Figure 1 Figure 2
Drag essentially is an entertainer. As one of character says; “performing as
drag at balls is about giving enjoyment to visitors”. For visitors, attending balls is
similar with attending a runway shows. They will be served with model
performances and they are free to enjoy and adore costume, body, make up, hairstyle
and skin. As an entertainer, Drag queen does not only focus on his joke, but also his
appearance. It is important to make visitors laugh, but it is more important to make
visitors amazed for his fabulous appearance. If drag has successfully fulfilled these
assignments, they directly will be powerful.
Paris is Burning delivers this meaning through its cinematography. Three
pictures below are scenes that have been taken purposively to prove meaning that
have been mentioned above. These three pictures below show audiences who are
giving standing applause for Labeija performance. The camera moves from one
spectacle to another spectacle with medium close up shoot. By this technique, the
camera focuses on facial expression of spectacles while they are giving standing
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applause. The spectacle emotion is so clear. Camera shows that the spectacles are
amazed with Labeija performance (see figure 1, 2, 3). The spectacles also adore
Labeija performance by saying “all right, Miss Heather!!!” (See figure 1).
Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3
In addition, visitors’ enjoyment is drag queen enjoyment. In an interview, Kim
Pendavis says:
07:04 – 07:20 I guess I like the excitement. You know, it’s them cheering and screaming if you were good, and that’s what got me, cause I like the competition.
Makes me stronger, makes me think more. Makes me want to come back
and get them.
As I have explained above, a drag queen has to mask his looks with images of
feminity. However, there is a problem with the process of imitating. The problem is
Black drag queen appearance is a reflection of White feminity. The image refers to
ideal beauty in American society that belongs to White feminity construction. The
construction guides drag while at balls. In next subchapter, I would like to investigate
how Whiteness shapes cultural production; ballroom.
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B. The White Domination in Drag Culture
This is White America. Any other of nationality that is not of the White set
knows this and accepts this till the day they die. That’s everybody dream and ambition to be live and look as well as a white person (41:27- 41:58)
There is inevitable power relationship that bound White and drags of color.
As the narrator says above, to live and to look as a White person is dream and
ambition of minority. For Black drag queens, to live and to look as White woman is
their dreams and balls is a place to make their dreams be true. The problem is they
cannot change their status because ball is considered as White gay subculture. In this
subchapter, the writer will discuss the White domination in the drag culture that refers
to the standard beauty and norms in ballroom culture.
1. The Reflection of Beauty Standard in the Ballroom Culture
The natural ideal of beauty basically reflects on the roles of women that are
expected to fulfill the given society. As the social conditions and gender roles change,
the ideas about beauty also changes. In the past, the roles were referred to their
fertility, ability to bear and nurture children, ample breast, and so forth. As cited in
http://www.bradley.edu/sites/bodyproject/standards/, the beauty ideals of American
women shift from the mature curvaceous body of stars such as Marilyn Monroe to the
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stick-thin, flat-chested figure epitomized by supermodels such as Twiggy or Kate
Moss.
The representation of Black drag queens in Paris is Burning is full of
criticism. Bell Hooks, a Black feminist, in her book Race and Representation, says
that the Black in the film is those who are so obsessed with an idealized fetishized
vision of femininity that is white. The other critiques come from Yvonne Yarbro-
Bejarano and Diana Paulin, who cite that Paris is Burning is both hope and dismay
because it is immediately recognized that the perpetuation of white constructions of
femininity is associated with power, beauty and success within the framework of the
film as well as the characters in the film who valorize it and criticize it at different
times (1994). It is believed that the image of White women is a beauty standard in
drag culture. Therefore, the performance of Black drag queen at balls is heavily
influenced by White femininity construction. In Paris is Burning, the Black drag
queen appearance is presented as attractive and desirable in relation to the White
norms.
The beauty standard is basically constructed, in the same way as the nature of
gender itself. White is privileged so that White becomes the standard beauty of all
women including the drag queens of color. White as the beauty standard is form of
invisible norms in ballroom and consciousness for drags of color. To prove this,3
pictures of White women are presented below.
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Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3
These three pictures are presented to show the ideal beauty in the American society. It
shows that beauty is those who are white, slim, good-bone, tall, and high-cheekbones.
For the minority like the Black drag queen, being White women is a dream. The first
two pictures are taken with a middle shot while the other one is taken with an extreme
close-up. The Figure 1 shows the outfit of a White woman that comes from the high-
class society of America. The outfit is elegant and beautiful and so is her make-up.
The Figure 2 is the image of a model on the magazine. The picture delivers a meaning
that the one who can be displayed on magazine cover is a beautifully white woman
model. This explicitly defines the ideal beauty for women in America. Then, the
camera moves to an extreme close-up of another White woman. From the Figure 3, it
can be seen that the woman whose hair is blonde wears jewelry that brings the notion
of richness. The camera also catches the happy expression from her face. It shows
that for most of women, being White women is the symbol of happiness and fortune
because they can enjoy the comfort of living without feeling oppressed due to her
color.
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The high-social class that is perpetuated by white women in American society
produces a jealousy for a Black drag queen as well as White MTF. They say
04:49 - 04:55
I’d always see the way that rich people lived. I’d feel it more, you know, it
would slap me on the face. I’d say I’d have to have that. (Black Drag Queen)
22:22 – 22:38
I would like to be spoiled, rich, white girl. They get what they want and they don’t have to really struggle with finance, nice things and nice clothes. And they don’t have to have that as a problem. (White MTF)
From the narrator’s statement, it is clear that the minorities want the life of White
women that symbolizes luxury and comfort. They see white women in the high-class
position among others in the society. It is clearly depicted in this film that when the
narrator talks about his jealousy, the scene that appears is the picture of a white model
on magazine and some exclusive brands such as Giorgio, Armani, Saint Laurent,
Vogue, and also the picture of a white couple. They think that the famous brands like
what have mentioned before are the symbol of luxury and a comfortable life as a
white woman. Therefore, the Black drag queen in Paris is Burning is a man in drag
who is obsessed of being a white girl from a high-class society.
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Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3
The Obsession of Black towards White is depicted through Octavia Saint Laurent. In
constructing her femininity, Octavia is very influenced by her idol who’s a white
female model that is clearly explained in the pictures above. When Octavia is being
interviewed, she says “You look all these models on the wall. Every one of them are
gorgeous, every one of them are beautiful. But every one of them has their own look.
This is my idol Paulina. Someday I hope to be there with her. If that could be me, I
think I would be the happiest person in the world”. From what Octavia says,
audiences can realize that the favorite models of Octavia are three White women and
one Black but her most favorite model is Paulina. In her interview, she says about her
obsession to be like her, and to be with her. Not only three white models in the
Picture, Octavia also adores a white female artist namely Marilyn Monroe and puts
Marilyn Monroe picture on her mirror wall. From the way of how Octavia appears
like a White woman, it can be concluded that her femininity is heavily influenced by
the White femininity construction. It can be seen from one of the costume worn by
Octavia in the Figure 3. Through the costume, Octavia embodies her appearance with
the White woman’s appearance of high social rank. She wears fur that is the symbol
of a high-class White woman because the price of fur itself is expensive. The costume
worn by Octavia is the symbol of Octavia’s fantasy in which in the real life, she
cannot be a high-class White woman since she is a black transgender
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Different from White women, Paris is Burning presents the contradiction of
image of Black women. The Black women are not presented as women who have
slim and tall body and high cheekbone, but as women who have a fat and short body
(see picture below). Media often excludes Black women by depicting them as an
object of ridicule and coon that aims to make audiences laugh. Actually, this is one of
the ways to reinforce White power over women of other colors, especially Black.
Paris is Burning also excludes the representation of Black women by not
representing Black women as coon, but by representing them differently from White
women in attempt to show that they are not included in the ideal beauty of the
American society.
White, as the beauty standard should be seen as the form of racism in drag
culture. The belief of an ideal beauty constructed in the contemporary ballroom
culture produces the denial of Black identity. The appearance of the Black drag queen
presented in Paris is Burning should be seen as a political reality. As cited by Bell
Hooks, the representation of the Black drag queen in this film is merely a vision of
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Blackness from the standpoint of Whiteness. It is clearly depicted by all categories in
the balls that are based on the look of White femininity.
Figure 1
At the figure 1, the narrator says “the Virginia slims girl is here”. The Virginia
slim girl refers to the ideal weight in the American society. The scene is taken with
low angle and medium shot. This technique enables audiences to see the drag queen
as the dominant one. Her face expression is also sensual when she opens up her
mouth a little. When the drag queen puts her hands on her waist, she shows her slim
body indicating that she is power. In addition, it can be seen that one of visitors is
looking at the drag queen. The way how the visitor stares at her shows an eagerness
or a desire to be like her.
Figure 1 Figure 2
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Hair is one of the most important features used by the drag queen to
impersonate a woman. The two pictures above are males who are identified as gay
and transgender (butch queen). Wearing a wig is one of the strategies to highlight
femininity in the drag queen performance. The wig that can be put on and taken off
helps them to negotiate their identity. In addition, the wig also helps the drag queen to
protect them from violence in a society. The drag queen at figure 1 identifies himself
as a man when he is not at ball by means of showing his short hair or man-haircut in
his daily life. He does not extend his hair because it may result in problems when he
is in a heteronormative society. Instead of making his long hair permanent, he decides
to temporarily make his hair like a woman’s in order to embody a feminine identity.
Therefore, in the same way, he can still maintain his dual identity. The butch queen in
the figure 2 lives as a woman at Balls and also in his daily life. She already has
women’s hair and therefore, she seldom uses a wig. She prefers to freshen her
hairstyle up and color it. Based on the two pictures above, it can be seen that the two
female impersonators have blonde hair in their performance. The same as the gay
man, she does not use her ordinary curly and black hair either. As I cited above, the
Black drag queens presented in Paris is Burning are those who are obsessed to be
White. Therefore, it is not surprising to see the performance of Black drag queens in
this film embodied by the White construction.
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Figure 1 Figure 2
Beside hairstyle, make-up is also an important thing in constructing
femininity. In this case, make-up is not only about femininity but also about lighting.
Drags have to wisely use the right type and color of make-up so that it can be caught
well by lighting. The same as hair, make-up used by Black drag queens in Paris is
Burning also reflects the White construction. In this film, I find that the Black drag
queens face the problem of skin when talking about make up. It becomes one of the
obstacles for them when they try to imitate White women. The both pictures present
the figure of Black drag queens trying to imitate White femininity by using make-up.
The figure 1 is a Black drag queen who whiten his skin. He is shot in low angle and
middle shot in which the audiences can see his power because he almost looks like
the White. He makes his face arrogant showing that she is very proud of her new
skin. Because her skin is not dark as the Black in common, he can wear pink eye
shadow like a White woman usually does. In figure 1, it can also be seen that all
audiences are looking at him. This shows that the Black drag queen is successful to
steal audiences’ attention. Therefore, the camera catches power from his face. The
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figure 2 picture is a Black drag queen who doesn’t get whitening treatment for her
skin. To overcome her dark skin, she does blending to make her skin look good and
not pale. Blending color is considered as the more effective way to result in a light
impression than tons of white powder. Based on the figure 2, the Black drag queen
uses oranges to brighten her skin up without appearing ashy, textured and too
noticeable. Orange can result a radiant effect and make Black skin look more natural.
However, the expression in these two pictures is different even though both pictures
are shot with the same angle and technique. If the figure 1 shows power, then, the
figure 2 points out more about weakness but still with a sexy gesture. In addition, the
Black drag queen in the figure 2 also presents a fat queen who does not fulfill the
ideal beauty. This can be the assumption why the Black drag queen is presented as
the powerless. Therefore, the audiences in the figure 2 do not focus on him. In this
case, I conclude that the Black drag queen fails to steal attention because he fails to
access to the standard of the ideal beauty in the American society.
Based on https://www.psychologies.co.uk/body/the-power-of-red-
lipstick.html, red lipstick is the sign of strength, grace and confidence for a woman. A
red lip is the sign of feminine power because it delivers bravery. In addition, it also
produces the sexy impression to women. Looking to the two pictures above, I see that
the both Black drag queens wear red lips. It is the same with the image of a White
woman that I have presented above. The similarity of the red lip used by a Black drag
queen and a White woman as depicted at pictures above is the decision of the Black
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drag queen not only to create an image of sexy White woman, but also to imitate
White women who are believed as the ideal beauty in the American society.
Accessories and costumes are the other important things in the drag queen’s
performance. The same as hair and make-up, they also create femininity. However,
accessories and costumes deliver a deeper social meaning for queens, especially the
Blacks. Accessories and costumes refer to the social class in the American society.
The Black drag queen in the figure 2 wears jewels in his performance. Since the
jewels are expensive, the Black drag queen wears it which delivers oppression
towards the system of capitalism. It sounds that she wants to say “I can also wear
jewels like what White high-class women can do”. It shows that the queen is in the
low middle-class position.
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The four pictures above are the part of scenes of Lebeija when he is at Balls. The first
picture is taken by means of middle shot and full shot focusing on the bottom of
Lebeija gown. The second picture is taken by means of close-up shot but the camera
moves to the top of Lebeija gown and focuses on the woman hat with a blonde wig
worn by Labeija. The two other pictures are taken by means of middle shot with low
angle shot of the camera angle. Both pictures focus on the appearance of Lebeija
gown and her style at Balls. The four pictures deliver the relationship between
characters and all of the worn outfit. When the camera moves from the bottom to the
top, it enables audiences to look the luxuirous gown and the golden hat with a so
fashionable blonde wig worn by Lebeija. Then, the camera moves to the appearance
of Lebeija from the front side to enable audiences to look at power radiated by her
face.
Costumes tightly correlate to the drag’s self. They can only gain power if
they are succesful to steal attention from visitors who come to the ball. The power
can only be obtained if they follow the rules and fullfill the category in the balls. By
confronting the complexities of drag cultures as I have explained in chapter 2, the
Black drag queen is sued to perform in a very creative and attractive way. However, it
is not only about performing as actrative and as creative as possible, but also about
expressing and fullfilling the desire to be a White woman. It is also about making a
fantasy be realized. Therefore, they cannot go into the ball with only a simple
costume. They have to be creative to make themselves fashionable. They have to look
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at the high middle-class society because they can only be like that in the ballroom.
Black queens often perform glamorously with sparkle in their gowns as depicted by
the Lebeija gowns. For the gown, hat and hair, he chooses the golden color. It
produces a luxurious image on his performance. Costume is the first thing concerned
by audiences, therefore, it not only about cross dressing, but also about the symbol of
oppresion from minority and the symbol of power.
Costume in the ballroom is the symbol of oppression in society. Paris is
Burning presents not only the desire of the Black drag queen to be similar like a
White woman but also the impossibility for the Black drag queen to be included in a
high-class society which is depicted in Octavia Saint Laurent scene. In this scene,
Octavia is looking at clothes displayed in an etalase of a mall. In the figure 2, camera
shows Octavia who is gulping and squeezing her hands. From her gesture, it can be
seen that actually, Octavia adores the clothes but she cannot buy it because the price
is expensive. Then, the scenes continue to the scene in which Octavia is looking for
price tags of clothes until suddenly, she says “559$, how’s that for a simple dress?”
-class society to follow Octavia’s shock delivers the meaning of incapability of a low
the life style of White women which is a highly middle class. This delivers a fact that
the Black transgender as well as gay predominantly come from a low-class society. I
see the situation in this scene as the White power and domination through the
capitalist system that divides the society into high and low classes.
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Figure 1 Figure 2
2. The Black drag Queen Limitation in Ballroom
In ballroom cultures, it is believed that the best drag queen is those who can
imitate the image of a woman as real as possible. As I have mentioned before, the
image refers to the White woman image. The idea of hyper-feminine has been
adapted for drag queens (http://sociologyofashion.com/film-reviews/the-queen/from-
performing-the-woman-to-performing-the-hyper-feminine-rupauls-drag-superstars/).
When they are impersonating a woman, they actually look at the type of hyper-
feminine as their standard. Hyper-feminine is a sociological term describing the
exaggerated adherence to feminine gender roles as it relates to heterosexual
relationships and identity development (Porter and Bent, 2014). The key word of
hyper-feminine is acting seductive, manipulative and aggressive because women with
hyper-feminine obtain their goals of relationship by using sexual behavior. Hyper-
feminine women always view men with their interested appeal in sex and value
women only for sexual purposes.
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Basically, a drag queen should perform in a sensual way on the ball stage. It is
to fulfill the stereotype of hyper-feminine. However, if it is compared to the
performance of the White drag queen at ball stage, the performance of Black drag
queens is not more sensual than the White. As cited in Kate Wray journal entitled
Why It Gotta be Black? – How Race Impacts the Representation of Black Drag,
Black and White drag queens have different chances while they are performing in
drag. Even though both of them present a similarity, White drag queens are free to
imitate a more sexualized form of hyper-femininity whilst still reinforcing their
masculinity through phallic imager (Garber, 1992, p.96). It is different from Black
drag queens who are less sexualized than White drag queens in their performance.
Paris is Burning has some arguments with Kate Wray. Since White drag queens
presented in Paris is Burning are transgender, I don’t find White drag queens who
reinforce their masculinity. To prove this, I will compare the performance of Black
drag queens whom I have explained above with Dorian Corey; a White drag queen.
a. Dorian Corey
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In her research, Kate Wray investigates Alaska Thunderfuck 5000; a White
drag queen. She mentions that Alaska presents femininity by imitating stereotypical
notions of a blonde that is an overtly sexualized woman. Paris is Burning also has
White drag queens. The pictures above are a white transgender who becomes a drag
queen named Dorian Corey. Pictures of Dorian Corey are taken in middle close-up. In
these pictures, Dorian Corey is depicted as a woman wearing a set of very glamorous
and sparkling gown and white feather. She wears jewels that look expensive. For
make-up, she wears red lips, pink eye shadow and she also colors her nails with red
color. The total outfit of Dorian Corey is more luxurious than other Black drag
queens such as Pepper Labeija and Octavia Saint Laurent. When she is walking on
the stage, she looks very sexy and sensual. The camera lets audiences to see the
Corey’s breast. With the direct camera shot to Corey, audiences can also see the
expression of Corey that looks so proud of her body. The sensual performance of
Corey can also be seen when she touches her breast while walking. This situation
clearly explains that there is no limitation for White drag queens to perform in a very
sensual way. It is different from Black drag queens that have limitation. In addition,
since Corey is transgender, she lives as a woman even when she is out of ball shows.
Therefore, she does not keep her masculinity through phallic imagery, woman.
Instead, she performs as a blonder who is more overtly sexualized than Black drag
queens.
b. Pepper Labeija
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It is believed that drag of color cannot perform in the more sexualized way
than White drag queens. Entering into gay community that is predominantly White,
Labeija has to adapt with invisible norms constructed in ballroom cultures. The scene
above is taken in middle close-up with the camera focus is on the Labeija. From the
picture, it can be seen that Labeija shows off her arm to the camera. It is like that she
is trying to be sexy and sensual by opening her jacket dress while dancing. If it is
compared to the performance of Corey at ball, Labeija performs less sexualized than
Corey. Her costume is not sexy as Corey’s, and so is her dancing. However, she still
looks confident and sexy at that time. It can be seen through the situation around
Labeija at that time. When she is dancing, the audiences shout to show their
admiration. In her performance, she focuses only on her costume that is empowering.
C. Kim Pendavis
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The pictures above are the part of Pendavis performance at the ball show.
Taking the pictures, the camera moves from the full shot to middle shot with low
angle shot. From the picture above, audiences can see that while Pendavis performs at
ball show, he acts in a so feminine way. When the camera fully shoots his body,
audiences can see Pendavis walks like a model woman walking on the catwalk. It is
of course in contradiction with his costume that is a man clothes. In addition, it can
also be seen that Pendavis performs so seductively, especially when he uses a big fan
to help him create sexy impression on his performance. However, if it is scrutinized,
the performance of Pendavis is still has limitation. He does not show up his muscle or
body to indicate his masculinity. In showing her seductive performance, he opens his
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clothes in which he is still wearing a singlet. In addition, he also opens his mouth a
bit to look seductive.
At the fourth picture, the camera shoots Pendavis’ face with close-up shot
technique so that audiences can see that he is empowered and so confident because of
his performance. Looking at Pendavis’ performance, audiences tend to see Pendavis
from his femininity. Performing in hyper-feminine way, Pendavis denies his power as
a man in black masculinity. It causes the loss of black masculine identity of Pendavis.
He cannot maintain his masculinity like the White does, because he needs extra
efforts to get attention from audiences. As stated by Kate Wray in her research, to be
a successful drag queen, a black drag queen should take a risk to lose their
masculinity as a Black male and become hypothetically castrated (Wray, Kate, 2015).
In this situation, Pendavis embodies his identity as a gay in the context of straight
White norms.
As a gay, Pendavis is partly feminine and partly masculine. Gay is male
because the biological fact and appearance, and also a female because the sexual
preference that influences the behavior. Pendavis dresses like a male but he acts and
walks like a female. He does it when he is in and out of the ball show. At the same
time, Pendavis obtains power when he is dressing and acting as a female at the balls,
and become powerless when he is out of balls because he is treated as a Black gay.
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In this case, Pendavis delivers a radical idea about gender through his
performance at balls that masculinity and femininity can be produced at the same
time. Pendavis collaborates the men identity through its biological sign (he does not
have body surgery) with the costume and women identity through his body language
or behavior on the stage that is hyper feminine. He is masculine because he dresses
like a straight man, and he also has beard. In his performance, Pendavis does not hide
his beard, he keep it even though he has to perform in a hyper-feminine construction.
Then, he creates femininity only by walking and acting like a woman. Rebecca
Hanson says that to distinguish a drag queen from the average gay man, commonly,
they will be more feminine or hyper-feminine in which they will take physical
appearance of hyper-feminine (Hanson,Rebecca,2014).
c. Octavia Saint Laurent
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The pictures above are the part of scene when Octavia performs at the ball.
Through the pictures, it can be seen that Octavia’s performance is not as sexualized as
Dorian Corey’s performance even though both of them are transgender (MTF).
Different from Corey, the camera in this scene does not focus on breast. Instead, it
focuses on Octavia’s face and bottom. It can be seen that when the camera moves
from top to bottom in close-up to the middle close-up shot, audiences can see
Octavia’s power when she is on the stage and sensual. Her power can be seen when
camera shoots her face in close-up, in which her face is full of confidence and sexy.
When the camera shoots her face at one side, audiences can see the way she bites her
glasses and plays her hair is so sensual. Then camera continues to shoot under body,
in which she bows her bottom.
C. The Identity of Black Drag Queen Gay and Transgender
In Gender is Burning, Judith Buthler states that drag is used in the service of
both denaturalization and the re-idealiztaion of hyperbolic heterosexual gender norms
(1990). This idea is also shared by Harper;1994, Buthler ; 1993, Trandafir;2015. The
drags make a repetition and imitation of gender norms; thus they fail to create a new
categorization of gender identity. To break the heteronormativity, the drag only
presents repetition in which a man can perform and act like a woman, and so does a
woman. The drag itself is still trapped in the hegemonic heterosexuality. However, it
is hard to say that a man who becomes drag queens has been a woman since in his
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performance, charachteristics of male still embody. In addition, without taking body
surgery, for instance breast implant, the queens only become a woman for a while
during performance. Therefore, it is difficult to identify the drag queen identity into a
fix and stable identity.
The identity of drag queen is neither masculine nor feminine, but rather a
complex collective of characteristics that challenges society’s traditionally polarized
view of gender (Strubel, Jessica, 2011, p.13). Queer is presented to break the standard
of normalcy that is constructed by heteronormative society. They present to break the
relation between sex and gender that is constructed by heteronormative society.
Gender and sexuality in drag culture are fluid, contingent and relational (Bairley,
Marlon, 2007, p.369). The drags may identify themselves as women while they are
on the stage, but they also may identify themselves as men when they are out of ball
shows. They are allowed to conquer male and female characteristics in their
appearance even at the same time.
Drag queen is a typical gay-identified man who publicly performs as a woman
in front of audiences who know that they are men, regardless of how compellingly
real (i.e. female) they may appear (Schacht and Underwood, 2000, p.4). The
characters that I would like to discuss here consist of two black gays and one
transgender.
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1. Pepper Labeija
Pepper Labeija is a gay man who imitates the image of a woman in his
performance at balls. To create the image, he chooses only to be transvestites instead
of transgender. Rather than having body surgery to have breast permanent, he
prefers to use materials to create illusion. He says
58:40 – 59:10
I never wanted to have a sex change. That’s just taking it a little too far, you know? Because if you decide later on in life to change your mind, you can’t. onece it’s gone, it’s gone. A lot of kids that I know, they got sex change because they felt, Oh, I’ve been treated so bad as drag queen. If I get a shit, I’ll be treated fabulous. But woman get treated bad. They get robbed, they get dogged. So having the vagina, that doesn’t mean you’re gonna have a fabulous life.
As explained by Labeija, he does not want to have body surgery to make him be a
woman because he thinks that having vagina doesn’t meant he will treat good. From
Labeija says, it ca n be seen the male domination over women in which he says that
women get robbed and dogged. It perpetuates the stereotype of women as the weak
that cannot protect themselves. Instead of being transgeder, Pepper Labeija negotiates
his identity between a man and woman that can be seen from his appearance and
gesture.
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This is when Pepper Labeija is interviewed when he is not at ball shows. This
scene is taken in close-up shot with the camera angle focuses on the Labeija’s face
from the right side. By these techniques, it enables audiences to look at the
appearance of Lebeija as a man whenever he is out of ball shows. Through the first
scene, audiences can see the Labeija’s bread that refers to the masculinity and soft
skin face that refers to the feminine identity
While in the second picture; audiences can see that Labeija does smoking. Smoking
often refers to the symbol of masculinity. It also refers to the symbol of LGBT.
Greaves has argued that the cultural meaning of smoking has altered over the course
th of the 20 century in industries counties, in which it was from a symbol of being
bought by men (prostitute), to being like men (lesbian/mannish/and erogenous), to
being able to attract men (glamorous/ heterosexual) reflecting historical differences in
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the power and control of women over her sexual existence (1996, p.21-22). When
Labeija smokes while he is interviewed, the writer directly looks at his hand. His way
of holding the cigarettes is not macho. It can be concluded that it is the negotiation
identity between male and female. Besides smoking, Labeija also shows his
ambiguous identity through his body language.
The scenes are taken with medium shot and straight angel shot. These
techniques enable audiences to look the feminine body language of Lebeija while he
is interviewed. It can be looked from his way making movement by closing his eyes
with hands to show that he is shy. This body language refers to a coward, powerless
or can be said as sissy gesture. These body languages clearly fulfill the stereotypes of
a Black gay as sissy.
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This picture above proves that the identity of male and female today is androgynous
since the ambiguity of gender has blurred the gender classification. Labeija embodies
his identity partly as male and partly as female. As a man, he has breads and man
voice. On the other side, he has very soft skin like a woman. In addition, he dresses
like man and woman. He wears a shirt like a man and wears fur coat and hat like a
woman. Post human body allows human to blur gender categories by modifying the
body. It allows human to re-construct body and therefore, body is no longer natural.
Labeija reconstructs his identity not only when he is at balls but also when he is out
of ballroom. He makes his body as a fiction so that he can modify like what he wants.
Therefore, his identity becomes flexible and blur.
Labeija reconstructs not only his gender identity but also his race identity.
Confronting the White domination in drag culture and in American society, the big
problem of Black drag queens is their dark skin. This become one of the problems
when they have to look like a White woman. Post human body enables the Black drag
queens to erase her ethnicity by kinds of body treatment such as whitening. From the
picture above, it is clear that Lebeija does whitening operation and therefore, his skin
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is lighter than Blacks’ in general. Even though his face is full of lightning, it is still
clear that his skin face is not dark.
2. Kim Pendavis
Clarence Ezra Brown in his research entitled Racism in the Gay Community
and Homophobia in the Black Community: Negotiating the Gay Black Male
Experience makes a statement which is based on interview to 18 black gay men. In
his research, he states that Gay Black men have been portrayed as void of
masculinity, hyper-sexual, sassy, and flamboyant (Pg.17). The participants, when
discussing the gay community, revealed that the gay community was viewed as
predominantly white, gay men were perceived to be overtly feminine, and a majority
of the participants stated that they felt racism was prevalent within the gay
community (Clarence, 2008, Pg.72). The pictures show that Kim Pendavis lets a man
sit on his thigh while he hugs the man from the back. Both pictures are taken with
close-up shot. From the first picture, audiences may identify Pendavis as a
heterosexual man. Then, the camera moves down and uses the same technique to
show the Pendavis’ hands. The camera enables audiences to see the improper
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behaviors in which a man let a man sit on his tight and also hug a man from the back.
This situation enables audiences to realize that the artist in the scene is a gay. The
way Pendavis hugs the man is so girly that can be seen from the hands. It affirms the
stereotypes of Black gay male presented by media that are hypersexual, highly
sissified mannerism and high couture style (Hohson, 1995).
The sissified mannerism also presents in another scene by this film through
the pictures above. The two pictures are taken with middle close-up and full shot in
which audiences can see two things there. First, Pendavis and his friends dress like a
straight man. Second, Pendavis and his friends show sissified mannerism. It is clearly
depicted through the way how they bit their finger nail showed in first picture. This
not only shows the stereotypes of Black gay but also shows the powerlessness of
Pendavis as a male because his androgynous gender performativity and act. Gender
and sexuality in drag culture are fluid, contingent and relational (Bairley, Marlon,
2007, p.369). The drags may identify themselves as women while they are on the
stage, but they also may identify themselves as men when they are out of ball shows.
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They are allowed to conquer male and female characteristics in their appearance even
at the same time
. The same as Pepper Labeija, Kim Pendavis also has lighter skin. It can be
seen clearly from the picture above. The picture is taken with middle close-up in
which the audiences are still able to see the face of Pendavis clearly. With the lighting
on the face of Pendavis, it can be seen that Pendavis has very soft face which is
similar to the face of Lebeija.
3. Octavia Saint Laurent
As stated in chapter 2, the biggest process of being a drag queen is taking
body surgery in order to create woman looks permanently. Drag queens live and
perform in their fantasy of realness, and their fantasy products desire to create fix
identity that is by having physical characteristics as woman (Butler; 1993,
Halberstam and Livingston; 1995). Female impersonators are not always identified as
males because some of them are transgender and transsexual. The role of drag queens
is making an illusion of femininity by impersonating women as good as possible. To
perform successfully, drag queens employ body technology to achieve woman looks.
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They will wear feminine clothing, make up, and other woman accessories. Even, they
do breast and butt implants to achieve the image of female (Hanson, Rebecca, 2014,
p.11). Wesely says”
These body technologies are used to change or alter our physical
performance… technologies of femininity refer to those knowledge, practices, and strategies that manufacture and normalize the feminine body; those techniques, actions and structures deployed to sculpt, fashion, and secure bodily shapes, gestures, and adornment that arte recognizably female (pp.86- 87).
Being transgender (MTF) means changing gender expression and erasing body
language in order to create a new identity.
The girl in the pictures above is a Black transgender who becomes a drag
queen named Octavia Saint Laurent. The first picture is taken in close-up shot so
audiences enable to see her woman-alike face totally. Different from other black drag
queens that have been explained above, Octavia does not have man characteristics
reflected in her appearance. The camera angle in the first and second picture also
shows the body language of Octavia that is totally woman-alike. It can be seen that
while Octavia is interviewed, she often tilts her head like most women do. Octavia
changes not only her appearance, but also her posture and gesture. She erases her
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maleness and changes it into femaleness. Based on Ekins and King (2006), this phase
is conducted into substituting in which a transgender replaces her identity by not only
her appearance but also her posture and gesture.
Octavia erases her male body through body surgery. As the writer have mentioned,
body surgery and other body technologies function to create an image of women in
terms of their appearance. The picture above is taken with low shot angle in order to
deliver the sexy and vulgar impression to audiences. The picture above is taken with
woman shot technique to make audiences realize that Octavia is already a woman.
According to the picture above, it can be seen that Octavia is wearing a black half
top. Octavia’s clothes and her hair style make Octavia look very sexy as a woman in
the camera. The camera lets audiences see Octavia’s breast, long neck and her
shoulder which is an apparent curve.
Octavia embodies her identity totally with femininity for two reasons that are
to complete her life and to fulfill the realness in ballroom cultures. In an interview,
she says:
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44:18 –
I fully hope to become a full-fledged woman of the United States.
Her decision to be transgender is about a desire to have a luxurious and comfortable
life and also to complete her life. Therefore, she does breast implant and genital
surgery only to construct her identity as a female. She makes her body and identity on
the stage as a fiction that can always be reconstructed and manipulated.
As cited above, in constructing her feminine identity, Octavia is very
influenced with by her idol who is Paulina. It not only influences her dreams and her
way in dressing, but also influences her decision to do skin lightening surgery to her
face
Figure 1 Figure 2
It can be compared that the Octavia’s skin face as presented in figure 1 is
different from the women’s skin face in figure 2. It is clear that Octavia has lighter
skin color. Since one of Octavia’s reasons to be women is her obsession to be like her
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most favorite white model, it can be concluded that the skin lightening surgery done
by Octavia is one of the ways to resolve her skin color. It is one of the ways to erase
her ethnicity and to create her identity that is influenced by the white woman
construction. Nonetheless, Octavia has taken skin lightening surgery so that she
cannot become a White woman completely because she is still Black. Octavia does
not fully live in her fantasy, because she almost finishes her dreams to live as a White
woman. Thus, as mentioned by Halberstam and Livingston in Post human Bodies,
Whiteness becomes limitation for Black queens to live in their fantasy (p.4).
Figure 1 Figure 2
Another reason of Octavia being a transgender is to fulfill realness in the
ballroom circuit. Realness is the guidance for all black drag queens including butch
queens like Octavia in the ballroom. The pictures above are when Octavia is
competing in the ballroom show in the category of realness. In the second picture, the
narrator says “are they soft? Looking from head to toe, would you know? Is this
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realness or not? Miss Octavia, you don’t feel this realness?”, it shows that Octavia
declares realness to the femininity construction. Therefore, she shows it through self-
presentations and embodiments that enable to capture her authenticity gender and
sexual identities as a woman. It is done to create realness and to produce power in
both ball room and society. For these reasons, Octavia must embody her femininity
through hormone therapy and body modifications, such as breast implants and
padding for hips and buttocks. She is completely a woman as showed by the pictures
above. Looking at picture no 4, it can be seen that the power is obtained by Octavia
for her soft skin. She looks so proud to touch her skin as she has a completely
adhered feminine identity.
From Octavia’s face and dressing, audiences will directly recognize her as a
woman. Actually, the Octavia’s body is not a fully female body as depicted in the
picture above. The picture above is taken in medium long shot with the camera angle
is direct to Octavia. This technique enables audiences to see the Octavia’s body when
she is half-naked. It clearly shows that Octavia has breast and possibly vagina. She
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has things that women have. However, audiences will feel awkward when they see
her muscular body that is contradictory to her identity as a woman which can be seen
from her muscular arm, belly and thigh. The identity of Octavia is actually
ambiguous here. Since she wants to be a real woman, the fact is that she has male
qualities like having a muscular body. In this case, Octavia does not follow the grand
narrative about being a woman, instead, she mixes her identity with all women’s
qualities such as having breast, soft face, gestures, and possibly vagina and muscular
body likes a male.