Date of Award
2019
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Social Sciences
First Advisor
Dean, Erin
Area of Concentration
Anthropology
Abstract
In a time of increasing visibility and representation of LGBTQ+ issues, the ballroom community is finding itself thrust into the spotlight. In this thesis I examine these recent changes and their effects on this underground subculture. An account of my own learning process and journey into this community is supplemented with an oral history of the founding of a ballroom scene in the state of Florida. Through in-depth interviews and participant observation, I explore themes of cultural change, exchange, and appropriation as well as authority, performativity, authenticity and sincerity within ballroom. I look at ballroom culture itself, the dynamic of insiders/mediators/outsiders, and getting chopped as double-edged swords to show not only how they are being acted upon by external forces, but also how they are their own agents of change.
Recommended Citation
Yu, Haiwen, "CHOPPED BY A DOUBLE-EDGED SWORD: An Ethnographic Study of Florida’s Ballroom Scene" (2019). Theses & ETDs. 5680.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/5680