DO IT FOR YOUR SISTAS: BLACK SAME-SEX-DESIRING WOMEN'S EROTIC PERFORMANCE PARTIES IN WASHINGTON D.C. By Michelle M. Carnes Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy In Anthropology Chair: Dr. Susan McDonic Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences 2009 American University Washington D.C. 20016 AMERICAN UNIVERSITY UBHARY ~LL UMI Number: 3357493 Copyright 2009 by Carnes, Michelle M. All rights reserved. INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. ® UMI UMI Microform 3357493 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 E. Eisenhower Parkway PO Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 481 06-1346 ©COPYRIGHT by Michelle M. Carnes 2009 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DO IT FOR YOUR SISTAS: BLACK SAME-SEX DESIRING WOMEN'S EROTIC PERFORMANCE PARTIES IN WASHINGTON D.C. BY Michelle M. Carnes ABSTRACT This dissertation traces the cultural geographies, origins and histories of Black same-sex desiring women's erotic performance parties in Washington D.C. In particular, I focus on the use of public space, appropriations of dominant space in the city, the reasons why such spaces were used for Black same-sex desiring women's erotic performance parties in the District. I tie these modem secret events to histories of Black appropriations of space, intended to protect Black peoples (especially Black women) from violence, judgment, harassment. I argue that the creation of Black same-sex desiring women's erotic performance events in Washington D.C. constitute a claim to privacy while contesting the heterosexual and patriarchal nature of public space. Black women in Washington D.C. are able to carve out spaces focused on Black women's same-sex desire, openly and freely expressed, out of an otherwise oppressive landscape. Despite a variety 11 of forces which seek to limit, contain or remove Black same-sex desiring women's erotic performance parties from the city, their events persist through flexible uses of public space, using their visibility strategically to protect themselves from racist, sexist, homophobic readings of their bodies and desires while simultaneously asserting their rights to the use of public space in the city. 111 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This work would not have been possible without the time, dedication and trust of the Black women who create, attend and perform at the events in this project. In particular, I would like to acknowledge Di Collins, the promoter who directed me down the path and facilitated connections to other promoters, performers and audience members at events around the city. Without her taking a chance on me and this project, it simply would not exist. Ms. Vicki Harris is the queen mother/pioneer in Black women's event promotion in Washington D.C., who welcomed me to Wet/The Edge, always with a hug and a warm smile whenever we saw each other in the crushing crowd of enthusiastic tippers. I would also like to thank the fabulous Ms. Shiqueeta Lee and her family of drag performers for their generosity, patience, encouragement and love for me from the very beginning of my fieldwork. I am grateful not only for their participation in the project but for the irreplaceable contribution each of them make to these events as well as to the histories and larger cultural fabric of Washington D.C. During the course of the project, we lost some members of our family. Diane "Buck" Bushrod was the promoter for BuckWild Entertainment and passed away from breast cancer in February of 2006. "Lil' Dee Dee" was a talented performer, best known for her impersonation of Fantasia, crowned iv Ms. Cada Vez 2005, beloved for her spontaneity, creativity, humor and personal connection to her audience. Cheryl Spector, historian, archivist and drag king extraordinaire volunteered countless hours of her time and energy to archiving Washington D.C. LGBTQ histories, including the events described in this project. I dedicate this work to them. During the course of researching and writing this project, the three members of my dissertation committee provided feedback, advice and insig..ht to shape and improve the project. Dr. William L. Leap, Dr. Sabiyha Prince and Dr. Susan McDonic collectively and persistently devoted time and energy to this project. Thanks go to them for their continued hard work and high standards to make this written project what it is today. Special thanks go to my father, William H. Carnes, Jr., to my dissertation coach, Dave Harris (www.thoughtclearing.com) and to the ABD Group at American University. You helped me find.my voice, my strength and my balance. You were my sounding boards, my counselors, my defense team and you enabled the necessary safety and freedom to write on my terms, in my own voice. Ultimately, my partner, Mark K. Anduss, deserves sainthood for the range of experiences that finishing my degree wrought on our life together. You made it possible for me to have long stretches of uninterrupted writing and studying time, space all to myself within which I could store my books, drafts, records, where I could work (and cry). You brought endless Cheetos, Coke Zero, tissues, hugs and comforts, and never judged me. You are my v dependable rock. It is my sincere goal to support your dreams and projects exactly as you support mine: with acceptance, patience and love. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ..................................................................................... .ii ACKN"OWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................... iv Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................... 1 2. ALL LADIES WELCOME: BLACK SAME-SEX DESIRING WOMEN IN TRADITIONAL STRIP CLUBS ........................................... 47 3. PUBLIC/PRIVATE/PLEASUREABLE: CREATING BLACK WOMEN'S LIFEWORLDS OUTSIDE WORK AND HOME ........................................................................... 74 4. PUBLIC/PRIVATE, COMMUNITY/INDIVIDUAL: CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SELECTING EVENT SP ACE ........................................................................................... 105 5. CREATING BLACK EROTIC UTOPIA IN THE FLESH: ACCEPTANCE, PERMISSION AND STATUS ............................... 136 6. "SMUT, BOOZE, SLUTS AND THUGS": SEXUAL STIGMA AND PUBLIC SEXUAL CULTURE ............................................. 176 7. CONCLUSION ..................................................................... 207 REFERENCES ..................................................................................225 Vll CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION This project explores the histories, development and continued tradition of Black same-sex desiring women's erotic performance events in Washington D.C. and how these events negotiate public/private divides. While the venues where such events take place could be considered "public" buildings, the events themselves share qualities of both "public" and "private." Public displays of sexuality confront the heterosexist code of silence and invisibility. In the case of these events, this confrontation is not just around visible displays of sexuality but of same-sex sexuality between Black women. Event promoters, audience members and performers carefully negotiate the boundaries between public and private to keep the events safe, comfortable and able to survive the cultural forces which seek to disrupt them. I focus on the strategies employed historically to create Black secret space, strategies designed to confront larger, negative cultural judgments around Black women's sexualities and bodies. It is my hope that, through this examination of Black same-sex desiring women's erotic performance events in Washington D.C., the project will contribute to understanding of the degree to which Black women mobilize meanings around 1 2 "public" and "private" and use them strategically to resist dominant meanings of Black women's sexuality and assign positive value and power to same-sex desire between Black women. Black women temporarily appropriate the spaces of more dominant groups and create their own queer utopian space where they are free to explore their sexuality with each other and foster the further development of Black women's autonomous and affirming same-sex sexual culture. In recent decades, social scientists have turned their attention to queer sexual culture as an area oflegitimate study within academic circles, including the fields of anthropology, sociology, social geography and history. Early on, most of this research focused squarely on gay male public culture and space. With time, interest in lesbian and women's queer public culture has developed more recently but remains largely neglected, especially sexual culture between women. One major theme in works on public sexual culture is the boundary between public and private and that, although sexuality is often constructed as an activity which takes place (and belongs) ''behind closed doors," this is not the case for people's