The Art Of Drag And Female Impersonation - 1082 Words

From Shakespeare to the Stonewall march, the art of drag or female impersonation has always had its place in popular culture. After centuries of actors performing and perfecting this craft, drag and female impersonation has found its way into the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer (LGBTQ) communities. In New York City during the 1950’s, the LGBTQ communities embraced drag, and female impersonation in underground competitions and celebrations called balls. Here gay men and transgender people would dress in elaborate costumes, and couture outfits in order to live fantasies of superstardom, to win locally renowned titles such as: Butch queen, Realness, or Eleganza. Until the 1980’s, drag remained an underground â€Å"gay† performance art style, and was viewed as weird or abnormal by the greater public. In 1983 a gay man named RuPaul Andre Charles emerged in the Atlanta City punk scene, originally as a member of a grunge group called Wee Wee Pole. The group p layed around with many different looks, but became known in the scene for their â€Å"genderfuck† look. This was an androgynous style that played with both male and female fashion and cultural stereotypes. RuPaul soon left the Wee Wee Poles, moved to New York City, and became renowned for his elaborate gender non-conforming looks. As he emerged into popular culture, he developed his current more sanitized look, in order to introduce drag to the mainstream viewers. This sanitized look was more passable, in that he stronglyShow MoreRelatedThe Male Dan In Chinese Opera Essay2245 Words   |  9 Pagesrepresentative artist in Beijing Opera because of his perfection as a female impersonator. Cheng Dieyi, much like Mei Langfan, is the most popular male dan(female role) at the time in the film. The most intriguing aspect of the film is the similarity between Yu Ji’s life and Cheng’s. As Director Chen explains in an interview with BOMB Magazine, â€Å"He (Cheng) blurs the distinction between theater and life, male and female. He’s addicted to his art. He’s a tragic man who only wants to pursue an ideal of beautyRead MoreDrag Culture Essay1541 Words   |  7 Pagesthe most well known drag queens in todays times, â€Å"If you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love someone else.† Since the 1500s, men can be seen dressing up as women for entertainment and comedic effect, but since then drag has evolved from just grand performances to a symbol for acceptance and individuality. Recently, drag has been dissected and looked at under a microscope by those who only see what is on the sparkly surface. What has been found is that drag culture is much moreRead MoreThe Complicated Politics Of Gender Identity Essay3466 Words   |  14 PagesSecond Eclogue traditionally said to express his own ardent desire for handsome young Alexis was standard reading for Renaissance schoolboys throughout Europe. Inspired by classical ideals of physical beauty embodied in surviving sculptures, the visual arts cultivated a new esthetic of an atomically realistic and sensuous human corporeality, with much androgynous or muscular male nudity, sometimes directly treating homophile or homoerotic subjects. Such cultural conditions would support Mario DiGangi’sRead MoreSummary : Tigress 10460 Words   |  42 Pagessurviving subspecies. Males attain a total nose-to-tail length of 270 to 310 cm (110 to 120 in) and weigh between 180 to 258 kg (397 to 569 lb), while females range from 240 to 265 cm (94 to 104 in) and 100 to 160 kg (220 to 350 lb).[17][18] In northern India and Nepal, the average is larger; males can weigh up to 235 kilograms (518 lb), while females average 140 kilograms (310 lb).[19] Coat color varies from light yellow to reddish yellow with black stripes.[20] Tigerramki.jpg Indochinese tiger (P

The Reading Should Some Lives Be Prevented - 1518 Words

In the reading Should Some Lives Be Prevented? Glannon claims that preventing the lives of people who have severe early-onset disorders, like Lesch-Nyhan, is morally justified on the grounds of nonmalificence and justice. He advocates for pre-natal testing with a particular emphasis on embryonic testing. He believes that experiencing severe pain and suffering as the result of a severe disease makes life not worth living. He also claims that severely disabling diseases takes away from people the opportunity to achieve a decent minimum level of lifetime well being. He concludes by saying that while there is no moral requirement to prevent existence to those individuals who develop late-onset diseases, like Huntington’s Disease, there is also†¦show more content†¦Nonmaleficence is defined as to â€Å"first do no harm†. And what is the definition of harm? Harm is that which worsens the condition of the person (Morrison and Furlong, 2014). I am inclined to believe t hat the worst kind of harm you can do to a person is to deny them the opportunity for existence. For is not any life better than no life at all? In terminating pregnancies, we are not only denying their opportunity for suffering and pain but we are denying these people any opportunity for any experience. Justice or due process ensures that fair procedures are in place and these procedures were followed. Essentially this means that when you get your turn, you receive the same treatment as everyone else (Morrison and Furlong, 2014). Glannon states that justice requires that â€Å"we not deny people the same opportunities for achievement and a minimally decent life that are open to others† (p. 58). He then states that what is more important than the considerations of justice is â€Å"preventing avoidable severe pain and suffering that people will experience once they exist† (p. 59). Considering these, Glannon believes that severe pain and suffering as a result of severe disease is the one thing that makes life not worth living. And under these conditions, Glannon claims that people are unable to achieve a decent minimum level of lifetime well-being and

Fires on the Plain a Reflection Free Essays

Fires on The Plain: A Reflection Fires on the Plain is truly the most depressing, haunting, and sad story I have ever endured reading. The complete abandonment of the Japanese soldiers on the island of Leyte by the Japanese Army is revolting, as well as the complete disregard for each others well being among them. It becomes a battle between one another for survival. We will write a custom essay sample on Fires on the Plain: a Reflection or any similar topic only for you Order Now The lack of comradery among the Japanese soldiers is dumbfounding, and leads me to believe that it may very well have been there demise. The weaknesses we see in Tamura and the other soldiers not only have a great impact on their unfortunate outcome, but are also a result of a weakness within the Japanese Army itself. The awful fate of these soldiers, at the hands of their own command, is infuriating. Shohei’s story holds powerful, and several dangerous implications of what war is like and what it’s effects can be on those who fight in them. I would like to start by talking about comradery. Comradery can be defined as the spirit of friendship and community in a group, like a group of soldiers. Tamura’s story shows zero evidence of any sort of comradeship, he even describes the way in which it he saw it disappear on Leyte, â€Å"Before long any comradeship that we once felt for each other had virtually disappeared. †(pg. 9). I could also see this in the way they treated each other. Initially, Yasuda and Nagamatsus’ relationship could be mistaken for comradeship, but I realized that they were only using each other and did not care at all about the others well being. Which becomes quite clear at the end of the book. I have no doubt that this complete lack of comradery was mostly a result of their horrific situation, but I also believe that it could have existed before it. The way in which Tamura laughed while watching his fellow soldiers run around like â€Å"insects†(pg. 59), and the fact that Nagamatsu would hunt, kill, and eat his fellow soldiers are disturbing examples of the complete disregard they had for one another. These instances serve as proof to me that there couldn’t possibly have been much of a comradeship between these men at any point. One dangerous implication that this story holds expressed directly by Shohei, â€Å"For people like us, living day and night on the brink of danger, the normal instinct of survival seems to strike inward, like a disease, distorting the personality and removing all motives other than those of sheer self-interest. †(pg. 9). While this certainly seems true for the Japanese soldiers in this story, I refuse to believe it to be true for all men. My personal experiences from being a Marine and doing two tours in Afghanistan have showed me what true comradery is. My fellow Marines and I would have gladly died for one another, and some did. In class, we discussed how the way in which these Japanese soldiers turned on one another when torn down to their most animalistic nature, could be true of all men or soldiers when under the same circumstances. The fact that somebody could believe that to be true is not only offensive, but scary. It is scary to me that examples from a book written by someone who is clearly insane, could be generalized to all men or all soldiers of every kind. What really irks me about this is that Shohei, portrayed through Tamura, shows absolutely no characteristics of a soldier. I think his most accurate depiction was when he said they resembled domestic animals â€Å"helplessly uprooted and perplexed†(pg. 35). I believe that he portrays someone with certain mental weakness. He wonders about the island countryside, it seams, waiting for his death to come. He has no plan but death. I understand that his circumstances are beyond my understanding, but they way in which he so easily abandons any hope of surviving, and doesn’t put up any real fight for his survival, doesn’t sit with me. It makes me realize that this weakness is most likely due to reasons beyond his control, such as the way in which, and the culture in which, he was brought up. As well as the poor military training and/or lack there of, did not properly prepare him for the nightmare of a situation he was put in. Which forces me to re-evaluate my initial reaction to write him off as a pathetic, weak individual who should have shot himself right then and there after he murdered the Filipino women. I am sympathetic for poor Tamura, who was drafted into the army and clearly given incredibly insufficient training. Tamura did not belong there and, I feel, none of them belonged there. The infuriating part of this story is the way in which these men were sent to what any person with intellect could tell was a certain, horrific death. Not only were they ordered to go that island, to that shit hole of a situation, it seams as if the people who ordered them there just left them for dead. Even his commanding officer told him that the best thing he could for his country was kill himself. They were given absolutely no support against an enemy whose support was rivaled by none. Which resulted in them fighting each other for survival. Fires on the Plain is a very disturbing story from a war that resulted in many awful things. It has many implications of what war can be like, but I want to emphasize that not all wars are the same, and the men and women who fight in these wars certainly are not either. I would hope that those who read this understand that they shouldn’t generalize the behavior of these poor Japanese soldiers to all soldiers or fighting men. I believe that the circumstances surrounding this horrific example of what war can be like are incredible and the ingredients that went into making this shit sandwich are hard to come by all at the same time. My final thoughts of this story are wrapped around Shohei’s idea that life is nothing more than â€Å"a mere succession of chances†(p. 233). I have been debating over this idea with myself ever since I came back from my last tour in Afghanistan, and I can’t say that Shohei’s story has helped me in making a decision. How to cite Fires on the Plain: a Reflection, Essay examples