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JUDGING BY THE COVER:
READING, SHADE, AND HUMOR IN
    THE DRAG COMMUNITY




         Megan K. Mize
“WE READ TO KNOW WE’RE
      NOT ALONE”
        C.S. LEWIS
WHAT IS “READING”
   read (v.): the art of insulting, as popularized by the 1990
   documentary Paris is Burning
Etymology: “to puzzle,” “to counsel” (Howe 6-8)
COMMONLY READ
              ATTRIBUTES

? Emphasis on the physical
? Sexual orientation and behavior
? Forces focus on the surface
  construction
? Reinforces gender stereotypes
? Confronts the effort to
  perform, even pass
WHAT IS “SHADE”?
throwing shade (v.): the art of insulting*
THROWING
   SHADE
  More nuanced and higher
  level of "reading"
? The graduate school of drag:
  extending the metaphor of
  reading as a sophisticated act
  of interpretation
? This level of reading occurs
  within the group
? Requires subtlety and wit
FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR
“Humor use unites communicators through
mutual identi?cation and clari?cation of positions
and values, while dividing them through
enforcement of norms and differentiation of
acceptable versus unacceptable behaviors or
people” (Meyer 310).
SHADE AS SKILL




    Aristotle: “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly
    because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted
    rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.”

?   The tone of “shade” requires exaggeration in order to indicate a game is being played
?   Camp
?   Performance may includes props: “reading” glasses
?   Through these exchanges and language reinforce that such passing is only temporary
SHADE AS LITERACY

         Ron and Suzanne Scollon: Sociolinguistic “face”
         as “The negotiated public image, mutually
         granted each other by participants in a
         communicative event” (45).

         Cathy Davidson: “As long as we focus on the
         object we know, we will miss the new one we
         need to see. The process of unlearning in order
         to relearn demands a new concept of
         knowledge not as thing but as a process, not as
         a noun but as a verb.”
RHETORIC OF PLAY




?   Reading as a Game

?   People are texts to be read and interpreted

?   Like any text, the interpretation can be ?uid
COMMUNITY BUILDING
          Opposition to
          Heteronormative
          Discourse


          Antagonism Within
          Community???

          Hazing?
HUMOR AS COMPETITION
  Highlights "passing" as a
  subversive game; notably a
  game one can fail
? Signals performances are not
  simply aimed at gender, but
  also at performing a sexual
  orientation
? The game is to identify
  where the performance
  falters
                                 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOURECAxujo&feature=related
CREATING SAMENESS




  One is characterized by these "reads"
? Insulted when out of line
? By being unable to engage in the game, the performance also
  falters
Example of Categorization




?shy (adj.): to look like a woman, not like a man dressed like a woman.
In the world of drag queens, there are some who strive to pass as women and others who embrace
the "camp" of their clearly man-in-makeup appearance. This term refers to the former.
DISCOURSE SURROUNDING
   DRAG TERMINOLOGY

  “Lavender Linguistics”:
  William Leap
? Becoming assimilated,
  mainstream
? Podcast: “Throwing
  Shade”
Judging By the Cover
SHADE AS SOCIAL SURVIVAL



  On one level: playful posturing intended for the interaction with
  the main groups
? Drag then appears less subversive to outsiders
? On another level, linguistic play reveals the tensions within the
  subculture
? It at once rei?es gendered constructs while also subverting them
? Insists on sameness within a group de?ned by its opposition to
  heteronormative discourses
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Judging By the Cover

  • 1. JUDGING BY THE COVER: READING, SHADE, AND HUMOR IN THE DRAG COMMUNITY Megan K. Mize
  • 2. “WE READ TO KNOW WE’RE NOT ALONE” C.S. LEWIS
  • 3. WHAT IS “READING” read (v.): the art of insulting, as popularized by the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning Etymology: “to puzzle,” “to counsel” (Howe 6-8)
  • 4. COMMONLY READ ATTRIBUTES ? Emphasis on the physical ? Sexual orientation and behavior ? Forces focus on the surface construction ? Reinforces gender stereotypes ? Confronts the effort to perform, even pass
  • 5. WHAT IS “SHADE”? throwing shade (v.): the art of insulting*
  • 6. THROWING SHADE More nuanced and higher level of "reading" ? The graduate school of drag: extending the metaphor of reading as a sophisticated act of interpretation ? This level of reading occurs within the group ? Requires subtlety and wit
  • 7. FUNCTIONS OF HUMOR “Humor use unites communicators through mutual identi?cation and clari?cation of positions and values, while dividing them through enforcement of norms and differentiation of acceptable versus unacceptable behaviors or people” (Meyer 310).
  • 8. SHADE AS SKILL Aristotle: “Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” ? The tone of “shade” requires exaggeration in order to indicate a game is being played ? Camp ? Performance may includes props: “reading” glasses ? Through these exchanges and language reinforce that such passing is only temporary
  • 9. SHADE AS LITERACY Ron and Suzanne Scollon: Sociolinguistic “face” as “The negotiated public image, mutually granted each other by participants in a communicative event” (45). Cathy Davidson: “As long as we focus on the object we know, we will miss the new one we need to see. The process of unlearning in order to relearn demands a new concept of knowledge not as thing but as a process, not as a noun but as a verb.”
  • 10. RHETORIC OF PLAY ? Reading as a Game ? People are texts to be read and interpreted ? Like any text, the interpretation can be ?uid
  • 11. COMMUNITY BUILDING Opposition to Heteronormative Discourse Antagonism Within Community??? Hazing?
  • 12. HUMOR AS COMPETITION Highlights "passing" as a subversive game; notably a game one can fail ? Signals performances are not simply aimed at gender, but also at performing a sexual orientation ? The game is to identify where the performance falters http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOURECAxujo&feature=related
  • 13. CREATING SAMENESS One is characterized by these "reads" ? Insulted when out of line ? By being unable to engage in the game, the performance also falters
  • 14. Example of Categorization ?shy (adj.): to look like a woman, not like a man dressed like a woman. In the world of drag queens, there are some who strive to pass as women and others who embrace the "camp" of their clearly man-in-makeup appearance. This term refers to the former.
  • 15. DISCOURSE SURROUNDING DRAG TERMINOLOGY “Lavender Linguistics”: William Leap ? Becoming assimilated, mainstream ? Podcast: “Throwing Shade”
  • 17. SHADE AS SOCIAL SURVIVAL On one level: playful posturing intended for the interaction with the main groups ? Drag then appears less subversive to outsiders ? On another level, linguistic play reveals the tensions within the subculture ? It at once rei?es gendered constructs while also subverting them ? Insists on sameness within a group de?ned by its opposition to heteronormative discourses

Editor's Notes