The second move experiment made me realize (only today) how homogenized we are by the society. I have never thought about the fact that I could walk differently on the street because it would definitely look “out of the ordinary” and people would stare at me for sure. I remember walking several times down the street with my headphones in my ears, listening to music and willing to mime or sing the lyrics or dance walk but never dared to, in order not to be stared at. I also remember there was this guy who was showing off his dance walk in New York and dance-walking actually became a thing, but it is not enough well known yet, international wise to be able to just to do it whenever and even when you are by yourself rather than in an organized group. The second movement exercise really made me more aware of the freedom that I am taking myself away because of the fear not to be excluded by the society and that is only a starting point. It really comes down to the philosophical question of “how much freedom do we actually have vs how much freedom do we  think we have?”

It was so interesting to have a little inside in the ballroom scene from a person such as Trajal who has actually been there several times. His story about the drag queen who performed within the museum really amazed me. This is actually an amazing life advice: not to really care that much about the social standards and hierarchy as long as I can follow up my own hierarchy and my own goals. It is amazing how somebody (as I was mentioning in the latter paragraph) can be so careless/free of the society’s hierarchy, standards and of the general impression and reputation you gain within a world you are not really involved within, even though they are judged and oppressed by it all the time.

 

I was scrolling today through my facebook page and I had noticed this article which I will attach:

https://mashable.com/article/x-men-iceman-shade-new-mutant-drag-queen/?fbclid=IwAR3m14NT7DIEUyXsgbgrm9p0a8tkW4fN_nkvUO0vE73vsC-3Diy0NtQxUPE#68D_vt5N_mqP

We were indeed talking about cultural appropriation/appreciation and about how the ballroom scene is viewed and projected in the media. Is this indeed cultural appropriation/appreciation? I wonder how this is viewed by the transgender community. I really wonder what the general opinion is. Do things like this (making out of the more marginalized groups of the society DC characters) really help with the integration of them within the society? I would like to discuss this topic maybe during next class and ask for my peers opinion.