Harlem, Chicago, Detroit, and Washington DC: these are locations in America where one can find, perform, and attend balls. People of all races, genders, and sexualities escape from the rest of the American reality to enjoy their life, with a community that immediately accepts them for who they are and who respect their identities. There are many aspects of a ball, but the main goal of someone walking in one is experiencing and fulfilling the fantasy life. The categories announced allow for their fantasies to become a reality. Although the experience only lasts for a few hours during the middle of the night, it is without judgement, which can’t be said throughout the entirety of America. The question is, in what ways does the LGBT community …show more content…
Voguing is a dance emphasizing the movement of the hands, gestures, and dance poses, replicating the model poses seen in the magazine Vogue. In ball competitions, voguing is “divided into several categories in which dancers vie to best embody a category of queer community . . . or simultaneously embody and critique a category of dominant (straight) society. . .” (Croft). The switching from the community that is already accepted and deemed as the norm, to exaggerating the community which they are a member of, “[d]emonstrates the skill of the competitor to instantly change her/his gender performance from ‘unclockable,’ meaning they can unmark themselves as queer, to ‘clockable,’ marking themselves as queer” (Bailey 379). While the original “realness” category involves clothes, makeup, and stance, how one passes as being straight is through body movement. Members of the queer community are able to conform even through the style of dancing. Voguing is known as a “queer” dance style, yet members of the LGBT/queer community are able to pass off as the “dominant straight society” or heteronormativity through it. It brings up the subject of stereotyping gay and lesbian individuals by the way they present themselves through mannerisms that are deemed to be “marking themselves as queer”, stereotypes that are used in both straight and queer communities. However, it shows how the queer community is also able to hide their identity which is essential for survival and