And the Categories Are: Sexual “Realness”, Individualism, and the Paradox of Categories in Ball Culture

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Grey, G. (2021). And the Categories Are: Sexual “Realness”, Individualism, and the Paradox of Categories in Ball Culture. Unc Charlotte Electronic Theses And Dissertations.
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Abstract

Ball culture has been a Black/Latinx gay subculture overlooked by historians. Ball culture served as a safe space for young gay Black/Latinx men and trans-people to express themselves. The competition categories held an equally significant role in ball culture as the balls did. If not for the categories, the balls would not bring the moment where participants present their individualism amongst their peers. Although other social sciences such as gender studies and sexuality studies have explored ball culture, the focus was not on the categories. The categories became an afterthought and were compared to beauty pageants. Ball culture categories were much more than simple competition categories. Many categories had the purpose to teach "realness" and challenged homophobia and transphobia, racism, and poverty ball culture participants experienced outside the balls. This thesis specifically examines ball culture competition categories during its golden age, 1981-1993. A discussion on homo/transphobia, racism, and poverty in New York City during ball culture’s golden age lays out the groundwork on why specific categories were created and sustained themselves over time. Ball culture competition categories were separated into two themes: queerness/realness categories and race-based categories. This thesis seeks to establish why ball culture competition categories were created, evolved, and maintained as important mechanisms for Black and Latinx gay men to define themselves and their identities as individuals with self-worth.

Details
Author

Grey, Gabrielle

Title

And the Categories Are: Sexual “Realness”, Individualism, and the Paradox of Categories in Ball Culture

Physical Description

1 online resource (146 pages) : PDF

Date

2021

Degree Granting Institution

University of North Carolina at Charlotte

Abstract

Ball culture has been a Black/Latinx gay subculture overlooked by historians. Ball culture served as a safe space for young gay Black/Latinx men and trans-people to express themselves. The competition categories held an equally significant role in ball culture as the balls did. If not for the categories, the balls would not bring the moment where participants present their individualism amongst their peers. Although other social sciences such as gender studies and sexuality studies have explored ball culture, the focus was not on the categories. The categories became an afterthought and were compared to beauty pageants. Ball culture categories were much more than simple competition categories. Many categories had the purpose to teach "realness" and challenged homophobia and transphobia, racism, and poverty ball culture participants experienced outside the balls. This thesis specifically examines ball culture competition categories during its golden age, 1981-1993. A discussion on homo/transphobia, racism, and poverty in New York City during ball culture’s golden age lays out the groundwork on why specific categories were created and sustained themselves over time. Ball culture competition categories were separated into two themes: queerness/realness categories and race-based categories. This thesis seeks to establish why ball culture competition categories were created, evolved, and maintained as important mechanisms for Black and Latinx gay men to define themselves and their identities as individuals with self-worth.

Genre

masters theses

Subjects--Topics

Sex
History

Subjects--Places

America

Degree

M.A.

Subject Area

History

Advisor(s)

Mixon, Gregory

Committee Members

Goldfield, David
Lewis, Janaka

Degree Note

Thesis (M.A.)--University of North Carolina at Charlotte, 2021.

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Rights Holder Information

Copyright is held by the author unless otherwise indicated.

Identifier

Grey_uncc_0694N_12674

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.13093/etd:2531