Brian–Blog post #2
I first saw Paris is Burning a few weeks after 9/11, and the film had a tragic air to it. Though it had been released just eleven years earlier, in 1990, it seemed like a relic from a different era, right from the opening shot of the Twin Towers. The majority of the people who had participated in the documentary, primarily black and Latinx, were already dead then: the first before the film was even completed, murdered and abandoned beneath a dingy hotel bed, and the rest from AIDS-related illnesses. But it also seemed culturally irrelevant as flag-waving, the Patriot Act, and the War on Terror swept the US. It was exactly at this time, in fact, that the most famous drag queen, RuPaul, who I had seen in a recurring role on The Tonight Show, began a two-year sabbatical, knowing that there was little opportunity during such a conservative period.
So while it was interesting to learn about the origins of “voguing,” made immortal by the Madonna song that was released the same year as the film, the rest of the vocabulary introduced such as “shade,” “werk,” “realness,” and “shantay,” seemed about as distant as most instances of Polari. I immediately forgot those terms, certain to never encounter them again.
At the same time, however, LGBTQ rights were slowly advancing—there would not have been such a backlash otherwise. Canada legalized same-sex marriage in 2003, and in 2004 George W. Bush mobilized evangelicals to come vote for bans of it along with reelecting the otherwise unpopular president. It was at this time that TV networks such as Logo in the US and OutTV in Canada first appeared. By 2009, RuPaul was back in business with RuPaul’s Drag Race.
Many of the elements of the show come directly from the ball culture of Paris is Burning and in many cases from the film itself: announcing “categories” as the theme for each look on the runway, “extravaganza” balls, and a “reading” challenge where contestants “throw shade” at each other. At the end of each episode, RuPaul tells the queens either “shantay, you stay” or “sashay away.” Other, older slang associated with Polari, such as “camp” and “bitch” are also common.
The show started small, but grew into a cultural phenomenon. In 2017 it moved from Logo to VH1 in the US, and therefore to a much larger and more mainstream audience, and with that its slang has become incorporated not only into gay subculture but pop culture as well. Last year it won Emmys for both Reality Competition and host for RuPaul. It continues to introduce old slang from gay culture. The episode on February 2nd, “Best Judys,” inspired by Judy Garland, explained Judy Garland’s influence on gay culture in the 1960’s so that “best Judy” referred to a gay man’s best friend, and a common pick-up line would be to ask if someone was a “friend of Dorothy’s.”
Discussion Question: Have you encountered any of this slang before? When and where?
*ADDENDUM*
I think that the incorporation of this slang is an example of what Norton and Toohey (2011) describe as an imagined community in that knowing and using this language is a way of allying yourself with a certain group, whether or not you know the etymology. Simmons (2014) describes this as a “code of sisterhood.” It also relates to what Ibrahim (1999) describes as “being” and “becoming”: while the language evolved as a way of being, within isolated communities, today it is a way of becoming a particular identity. There are also issues of appropriation as well, especially with terms such as “yaas queen” that are particularly from Black Gay English.
More discussion questions:
*What slang have you incorporated in order to belong to a particular group?
*Where do you draw the line in terms of using slang and cultural appropriation?
References:
Corey, D., LaBeija, P., Ninja, W., Pendavis, F., Livingston, J., Gibson, P., Oppenheim, J., … Buena Vista Home Entertainment (Firm). (2005). Paris is burning.
Ibrahim, A. E. K. M. (1999). Becoming Black: Rap and hip-hop, race, gender, identity, and the politics of ESL learning. TESOL Quarterly, 33(3), 349–369.
Norton, B., & Toohey, K. (2012). Identity, language learning, and social change. Language Teaching, 44(4), 412-446.
RuPaul’s Drag Race [Television series]. (2009-present). Logo/VH1.
Simmons, N. (2014). Speaking like a queen in rupaul’s drag race: Towards a speech code of american drag queens. Sexuality & Culture : An Interdisciplinary Quarterly, 18(3), 630-648. doi:10.1007/s12119-013-9213-2
Yes, I remember seeing that film, (Paris is Burning).In the early 80s, Concordia University held the first “Gay Film Festival”, an eye-opener for many. Now that show has gone mainstream now..
I wonder if “Paris is Burning” was a play on words from another powerful earlier movie, from the 60s, (based on the book) entitled “Is Paris Burning?”
It relates to the uprising of the French Resistance for the liberation of Paris from Nazism.
A struggle that some may find parallels in the LGBTQ life. The diagnosis of HIV-AIDS was a death sentence in the 80s. Now, in the developed world, a person who carries the HIV virus can expect a normal lifespan, thanks to antiretroviral therapy. Tragically, too late for some of our friends.
I just spoke to a couple of teenagers about RuPaul and they love the show, saying it’s “”captivating and fun” Their sexual orientation is not the deciding factor, they just like it. Perhaps that’s the best indication of the future, it doesn’t matter what the academics say, the real force is with the younger ones, who will speak or play or hang in the way that feels right for them.
Beatrice
Thanks Brian (“The Unstoppable Blogger”) for the addendum!
Hi Brian, I just want to say I am so so so excited to see someone talking about drag race and queer slang!! Actually I am just planning to discuss about it as my February blog as well!
I am a huge fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race (heartbroken to see Manila eliminated this week.. TeamManila Forever!) and started watching it several years ago. I have to admit the first time I saw those drag queens walking into the workroom, I was a little bit intimidated by their makeup and clothes. It was like a completely new world for me that I had never experienced before. But very soon I was fascinated by those girls. At the same time I found their language and way of speaking extremely interesting and infectious. Some of the expressions, like “extravaganza”, “shantay, you stay”, “sashay away”, “halleloo”, don’t make much sense to me, but I just love to hear them. Some of them, like “spilling the T”, “shade”, “read”, “gagging”, “sickening”, “realness”, are actually “sashay” their way into our daily life and everyday English language. There is no doubt that drag language has gone mainstream, influencing the pop culture and contemporary society profoundly with a clear marker of drag community. That is why I think drag language is one the most vital, creative and thriving language in history.
However, the audience of drag race and drag culture in China is still very limited. I am the only one who watch the show among all of my friends, some of them understanding me but some others not. But there are some fan clubs of RPDR online (the biggest unofficial RPDR account on Weibo has over 40,000 followers) and I would chat with other fans every week. Last summer holiday I also recommended the show to my cousin. Now every time she meets me, she would say, “heeennyyyy”.
-Yunjie
Manila was robbed. The All Stars format is very flawed in my opinion. Also, if you watch the videos you’ll see an explanation for some of the expressions you mentioned. I look forward to reading your thoughts–I would love to hear how it’s growing in China.
It was an honor and privilege being your fellow second-time viewing bud. Just as a small critique– although many of the people featured in the documentary died of HIV/AIDS related causes, not all of them did. Regardless, it’s very sad to know how few of the folks featured are still alive.
I’ve also noticed that there may have been some shifts to how people use some of the vernacular. I feel like people, myself included, sometimes use terms like “shade” and “realness” in a way that’s close to, but not precisely as how Dorian defines it in Paris is Burning.
And thank you for introducing me to the term Polari!!
Hi Brian! Just commenting to say I did watch all of the videos (and read all of the text) as opposed of what you think 😉
It was informing and entertaining. Thanks!
– Lucía Ringuelet
LOL thanks
Anyone else danced on their chair while listening to Madonna and reading Brian?