QH LISTS

Things I learned walking realness

On the Ballroom scene, categories, and realness.

 

The ballroom scene started in New York in the 1920s. At first, it was just white drag queens doing fashion shows. Black drag queens very rarely took part in the shows but when they did, they were forced to lighten their skin. Although there was some diversity among the participants, the judges were almost always white.

By the 1960s, Black and Latinx drag queens grew tired of the rigidness and constant racism they would face in the renown pageant circuits and subsequently began their own underground balls. In the 1970s, there was a surge of balls and types of categories to be more inclusive of other Black and Latinx people. The balls became a safe haven for queer youth of colour to express themselves freely. Today, the ballroom scene has developed into an incredible international scene with a wider range of categories.

Realness is one of the categories and one that I walk. Realness is all about portraying yourself as able to blend in with heteronormative gender stereotypes and society. Whether it be through your sartorial choices or how you present yourself. To be considered “real” at a ball, a performer must be able to “pass” as straight if they are gay or as cis if they are trans. This particular category has historical importance for the ballroom community as the ability to “pass” as heterosexual in mainstream society was an extremely important survival tactic to stay and remain safe in less open-minded environments. In many parts of the world where queerness is criminalised, it still is today.

1. I’ve stopped performing masculinity.

 

I knew of realness before I started walking but I was worried that I would be pretending to be someone I’m not. The first thing I realised was that I no longer put on an act like I did in my teens and I have no idea when I stopped doing this. I quickly learned I didn’t have to put on an act to walk realness, it’s just something that comes naturally to me.

2. You have to be confident.

 

This is so important. It’s one thing to come across as authentic when walking this category but if you walk without confidence the judge panel and the audience will be able to see this and you could get chopped. If you are going to walk this category, then you have to do it with conviction.

3. Masculinity has changed.

 

When I was younger there were pretty rigid and inflexible rules about what is deemed masculine and what is deemed feminine. To my surprise, things have changed. Masculinity and femininity have always been on a spectrum, but now it looks like society has evolved and those old rules have too.

4. You can learn from others.

 

When I first started walking realness no one in my house walked it, I felt like there was only so much I could learn from my previous house father who walked other categories. With the introduction of a new house father and other men who walked realness there was a shift and I was able to learn skills from them by battling them or by having them critique what I was doing.

5. Ballroom is much more than how it is represented in media.

 

I think it’s massively misunderstood just how much ballroom is about community and supporting each other. Lots of queer youth join balls from very young and sometimes live with their vogue families/houses as they can’t safely live with or be comfortable around their biological family. This is still something that continues today. Ballroom is lots of fun but that’s not all it is, it can be difficult and it’s always about having a safe space to be your authentic self.