{"id":311,"date":"2020-09-10T15:10:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-10T19:10:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithwrites\/?p=311"},"modified":"2020-09-15T11:44:55","modified_gmt":"2020-09-15T15:44:55","slug":"looking-through-the-windows-of-the-masters-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.smith.edu\/smithwrites\/issue-1\/looking-through-the-windows-of-the-masters-house\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking Through the Windows of the Master’s House"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Applying the ideas of Audre Lorde to the ballroom scene of Paris is Burning, Kali Adams aligns the struggles and aspirations of marginalized people in a thought-provoking and intersectional process that simultaneously pits them against themselves and explores the concept of what it means to be \u201cother.\u201d By questioning the very basis of the desire to belong to mainstream culture, she skillfully and respectfully assesses the development of a subversive and flawed social phenomenon. –Hyla Maddalena ’21, Editorial Assistant<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Looking Through the Windows of the Master\u2019s House\u00a0<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Kali Adams ’23<\/strong><\/h4>\n

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Audre Lorde, in addressing how we allow differences to define and divide us, made the\u00a0<\/span>claim that \u201cthe master\u2019s tools will never dismantle the master\u2019s house\u201d (Lorde 112); that the\u00a0<\/span>systems of an oppressive institution cannot be weaponized and used against the same institution. The ballroom scene of the 1980s, as demonstrated in the groundbreaking 1990 film <\/span>Paris is Burning<\/span><\/i>, validates Lorde\u2019s statement by virtue of the ways in which it subverts societal standards and seeks to create a new \u201chouse\u201d for its participants, and by how the same scene ultimately undermines its own purpose. Within the confines of the ballroom, participants possess the potential to define and shape their community, but the power and appeal of normative standards that still manage to infiltrate the queer community create a culture that is caught between societal overhaul and conformity.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.roosevelthouse.hunter.cuny.edu\/devdev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/02\/ Audre-Lorde1.jpg?fit=2145%2C3172<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In order to explore these ideas in relation to the ballroom scene, it is important to first\u00a0<\/span>consider Lorde\u2019s definition of \u201cthe master\u2019s house\u201d and its significance. Speaking about the\u00a0<\/span>struggle that comes from existing as someone whose identity (in Lorde\u2019s case, as a black queer\u00a0<\/span>woman) did not align with societal norms, Lorde explained, \u201cSurvival… is learning how to stand\u00a0<\/span>alone, unpopular and sometimes reviled, and how to make common cause with those others\u00a0<\/span>identified as outside the structures in order to define and seek a world in which we can all\u00a0<\/span>flourish… For the master\u2019s tools will never dismantle the master\u2019s house\u201d (Lorde 112). In this\u00a0<\/span>statement, Lorde was claiming that, in order to destroy institutions that oppress those who do not\u00a0<\/span>adhere to their idea of normality, it is important to come together with those similarly oppressed\u00a0<\/span>to create a new institution based solely on the values of its creators. For her, \u201csurvival\u201d wasn\u2019t\u00a0<\/span>about trying to reshape institutions in ways that would benefit those that they had previously\u00a0<\/span>oppressed, but rather it was about working to shape entirely new institutions. While many still\u00a0<\/span>believe in the power of changing the system from the inside, it is important to consider how deep\u00a0<\/span>the roots of most institutionalized oppression go. If one was to take the \u201cmaster\u2019s tools\u201d–the\u00a0<\/span>same ideas, rhetoric or systems that had been used as a means of oppression–and try to utilize\u00a0<\/span>them in their favor, the sole outcome would be a stronger institution because its values had been\u00a0<\/span>reinforced in yet another iteration. Working inside the established societal boundaries will not\u00a0<\/span>allow for exploration of new ways in which we can disrupt and overcome oppression, and\u00a0<\/span>therefore the method of utilizing Audre Lorde\u2019s \u201cmaster\u2019s tools\u201d will not allow us to create a world that gives its citizens a chance to define it for themselves.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Defining \u201cCommon Cause\u201d<\/b><\/h4>\n

The ballroom culture explored in the film <\/span>Paris is Burning<\/span><\/i> is an example of a community\u00a0<\/span>that allowed its citizens to define the norms and structure of their spaces for themselves in ways\u00a0<\/span>that subverted the white, heteronormative standards of the time. The film looks into the New <\/span>York City ballroom scene of the 1980s, a scene that was dominated by queer African American\u00a0<\/span>and Latino youth. The ballroom itself centered around competitions where participants might\u00a0<\/span>dance, model, vogue, or otherwise perform in categories that ranged anywhere from \u201cbest\u00a0<\/span>dressed\u201d to \u201crealness,\u201d in which performers seemed to embody an identity they themselves did not possess.\u00a0 <\/span>But this community also extended far beyond the ballroom floor.<\/p>\n\n

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