Paris is Burning

Paris is Burning is a 1990 documentary film produced and directed by Jennie Livingston. In this film, Livingston examines the lives of gay men, specifically African American and Latino ethnicities. This documentary is interesting because the audience gets to see what life for these people are like. They were born male physically, but mentally they feel more like a woman.

Judith Butler, the author of Gender Trouble examines gender. Although many people would say that gender is innate, Butler argues that gender is merely performed. All gender has to be learned because babies are not just born knowing how to act. Different genders act the way they do based on expectations of society.

Livingston's documentary strengthens Judith Butlers argument. In Paris is Burning, they do not act the typical way men are suppose to. Instead, they act like a female. Although their sex is male, their gender is female because that is what they have learned and feel comfortable with.

In this documentary, the characters are always talking about and preparing for the ball. The ball is like a fashion show and is made up of different categories. These men love it so much because it allows them to be who they really want to be and escape from the real world. With each of the different categories, the men are performing.

Paris is Burning is a documentary all about performance. The men perform on stage, perform the women gender characteristics, and even perform in society and try to seem as normal as possible.