gay and loud.

as once noted, one of my favorite movies, documentary really, is paris is burning directed by jennie livingston. the film is the story of drag balls, queer men of color, the late 1980s, and performance. these men gathered in harlem dancehalls to "vogue." my junior tutorial began with this concept. i used the film as a way to springboard and discuss appropriation, theories of the body, space, and race and sexuality as a trope.

read this article that smacks of postmodernism called "gay and loud" printed in where else, the village voice. notice the deliberate relationship between paris is burning and a new, new york city controversy. gentrification rears its ugly head. this time, queer black and Puerto Ricans kids are being pushed out of Christopher Street pier. they are being called vulgar, loud, and low class. that might be true, but the city belongs to everyone right.

i was asked to think about urban gentrification in my theories of sexuality class. whenever a city is "cleaned up" always ask yourself for whom and in what context. the city is "cleaned up" for ivy league transplants but not for 14 year old queens from queens. the "cleaning up" of anything if not universally good - consider the young queer kids, runways, or homeless who find solace in these open areas.