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While some people refer to ballroom as “underground,” its mainstream influence spans decades. Ballroom originated in the 1920s as a safe space for young LGBTQ+ Black and Latinx folks in chosen “houses'” and “families” to express themselves while competing for grand prizes in categories such as: voguing, femme queen, butch queen face, female figure, schoolboy realness, and much more.
Now, ballroom culture has blossomed into even greater depths with additional categories, new houses, and even more up-and-coming faces.
Mainstream media has paid homage to the ballroom scene in various ways, most notably in films like the iconic 1991 documentary “Paris is Burning,” which highlights the rise of house culture in the middle of societal adversity and ballroom legends like Octavia St. Laurent, Pepper LaBeija, and Angie Xtravaganza. Now in 2022, TV shows like FX’s “Pose” and HBO’s “Legendary” continue to showcase certain aspects of a complex culture.
Though the public might have a general baseline understanding of what ballroom culture is, there’s a large disconnect between acknowledging its impact on our modern world. Many people still refer to the scene as a “subculture.”
House leaders like Willi Ninja, Lottie LaBeija, and Paris Dupree nurtured the culture in the 1970s and 1980s in ways that gave rise to common phrases we see today. If you look online you’ll see popular phrases like “tea,” “what’s the tea,” “slay,” “eat,” “gag,” “the girls,” “shade,” “legendary,” and “icon” have been used all over the internet from users of every background. Many of these words originated from the Harlem ballroom scene dating back to the 70s and 80s, around the same time that legendary ballroom icons were just rising stars. However, so many people still don't know about, or give credit to, the historical context of these now-popular slang phrases, nor do they pay homage to the who and where of the words’ origins.
Not only has the old-school ballroom scene shaped our language, but over the years the new school of ballroom Black queer culture has been colonized and appropriated by folks offline and online, like Madonna, without recognition. Black queer content creators within the ballroom scene are also famous for shaping much of our digital cultural currency. If you log onto any part of the internet — whether it be Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube — the memes, gifs, and reaction videos are almost always of Black queer figures, like Cookie Tookie’s videos, Jasmine Masters’s “And I Oop…” video, and so much more.
The downside to being viral means large corporations and their social media accounts might steal verbiage from creators and members of ballroom and then market it to their consumers. Take, for example, the Twitter or TikTok account of any major fast-food chain, or the seasonal collections of designer fashion brands that have colonized and ripped off looks that they’ve seen on Black queer folks in ballroom competitions.
Ballroom started out as an outlet and self-created family for those who society tries to disenfranchise, and it remains such to this day. As we move into Pride month and beyond, it’s important that we not only celebrate the voices of Black queer folks in ballroom, but also advocate to give them fair financial compensation and proper cultural recognition from the major companies and culture-vultures appropriating from their community daily. It’s only then that we’ll see true equality within our ever-changing digital society.
How Black Queer Ballroom Culture Shaped Modern Digital Life
The scene has notably shaped modern culture, specifically modern internet culture, online slang, and digital movements that we see today.
Ballroom culture shapes almost every area of modern pop culture, slang, and the world of fashion, yet it receives very little recognition from those who pull from its influence. With pride month in full swing, there will be a lot of conversations surrounding representation, inclusion, and visibility. As those conversations occur, it’s important we shift them toward highlighting and amplifying the Black and Latinx queer folks who gave birth to the ballroom scene, and, by virtue, much of the verbiage we see being used in today’s modern lexicon.While some people refer to ballroom as “underground,” its mainstream influence spans decades. Ballroom originated in the 1920s as a safe space for young LGBTQ+ Black and Latinx folks in chosen “houses'” and “families” to express themselves while competing for grand prizes in categories such as: voguing, femme queen, butch queen face, female figure, schoolboy realness, and much more.
Now, ballroom culture has blossomed into even greater depths with additional categories, new houses, and even more up-and-coming faces.
Mainstream media has paid homage to the ballroom scene in various ways, most notably in films like the iconic 1991 documentary “Paris is Burning,” which highlights the rise of house culture in the middle of societal adversity and ballroom legends like Octavia St. Laurent, Pepper LaBeija, and Angie Xtravaganza. Now in 2022, TV shows like FX’s “Pose” and HBO’s “Legendary” continue to showcase certain aspects of a complex culture.
Though the public might have a general baseline understanding of what ballroom culture is, there’s a large disconnect between acknowledging its impact on our modern world. Many people still refer to the scene as a “subculture.”
House leaders like Willi Ninja, Lottie LaBeija, and Paris Dupree nurtured the culture in the 1970s and 1980s in ways that gave rise to common phrases we see today. If you look online you’ll see popular phrases like “tea,” “what’s the tea,” “slay,” “eat,” “gag,” “the girls,” “shade,” “legendary,” and “icon” have been used all over the internet from users of every background. Many of these words originated from the Harlem ballroom scene dating back to the 70s and 80s, around the same time that legendary ballroom icons were just rising stars. However, so many people still don't know about, or give credit to, the historical context of these now-popular slang phrases, nor do they pay homage to the who and where of the words’ origins.
Not only has the old-school ballroom scene shaped our language, but over the years the new school of ballroom Black queer culture has been colonized and appropriated by folks offline and online, like Madonna, without recognition. Black queer content creators within the ballroom scene are also famous for shaping much of our digital cultural currency. If you log onto any part of the internet — whether it be Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube — the memes, gifs, and reaction videos are almost always of Black queer figures, like Cookie Tookie’s videos, Jasmine Masters’s “And I Oop…” video, and so much more.
The downside to being viral means large corporations and their social media accounts might steal verbiage from creators and members of ballroom and then market it to their consumers. Take, for example, the Twitter or TikTok account of any major fast-food chain, or the seasonal collections of designer fashion brands that have colonized and ripped off looks that they’ve seen on Black queer folks in ballroom competitions.
Ballroom started out as an outlet and self-created family for those who society tries to disenfranchise, and it remains such to this day. As we move into Pride month and beyond, it’s important that we not only celebrate the voices of Black queer folks in ballroom, but also advocate to give them fair financial compensation and proper cultural recognition from the major companies and culture-vultures appropriating from their community daily. It’s only then that we’ll see true equality within our ever-changing digital society.
