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So, I had a dream wherein I was at a house party and there, in a 1980s purple tracksuit, stood Michelle Obama. I approached singing, “She’s got the look” but she then sang this over me as everyone sort of gave in and danced along.

Someone decipher this.

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qedavathegrey:

I just read an article — by Buzzfeed, no less — talking about the relegation of femininity in cinema surrounding gay men. They were using the examples of Brokeback Mountain, Moonlight, and now Call Me By Your Name, which all utilize masculinity (or as they wrote “masc-centrism”) to make the love therein more “universal.” Fascinating article, actually. But it led me back to one of my favorite films, Paris Is Burning: a wonderful look into ball culture, and gender within (what we would now call) queer community. I know some find this word to be offensive, but as both an academic and one that uses this term to self-identify, I’m comfortable using it retrospectively.

I urge all of you — even if you’ve seen it before, because it’s just that good — to watch the film. Anthropologically, the film is a great example of cultivating situations and rituals of social inversion, gender-liminality, and the performance (in an easily observable setting) of gender.

It’s also, I think, a great counterweight to this nearly hegemonic “masc-centric” portrayal of gay men, but also incorporates a fascinating spectrum of gender performance by people who are (and must be) hyperaware of gender norms and ideals, given that their safety depends on it.

Please watch.

Inquiring minds can find the aforementioned article here: Not All Queer Love Stories Are Called Universal – https://www.buzzfeed.com/pdominguez/which-queer-movies-get-to-be-universal

Video

I just read an article — by Buzzfeed, no less — talking about the relegation of femininity in cinema surrounding gay men. They were using the examples of Brokeback Mountain, Moonlight, and now Call Me By Your Name, which all utilize masculinity (or as they wrote “masc-centrism”) to make the love therein more “universal.” Fascinating article, actually. But it led me back to one of my favorite films, Paris Is Burning: a wonderful look into ball culture, and gender within (what we would now call) queer community. I know some find this word to be offensive, but as both an academic and one that uses this term to self-identify, I’m comfortable using it retrospectively.

I urge all of you — even if you’ve seen it before, because it’s just that good — to watch the film. Anthropologically, the film is a great example of cultivating situations and rituals of social inversion, gender-liminality, and the performance (in an easily observable setting) of gender.

It’s also, I think, a great counterweight to this nearly hegemonic “masc-centric” portrayal of gay men, but also incorporates a fascinating spectrum of gender performance by people who are (and must be) hyperaware of gender norms and ideals, given that their safety depends on it.

Please watch.