https://toxigon.com/drag-culture-in-los-angeles

After watching Paris is Burning and seeing the mention of bringing the ball culture to Japan, I was interested in finding out where else there was a notable ball culture. While New York was obviously the hub and origination of this, I was intrigued by comparing New York’s ball culture to Los Angeles’s.

Los Angeles’s ball culture arose later than New York’s, but it largely came about for similar reasons: to serve as a safe space for black and Latinx people to openly express themselves. What differentiated it was the West Coast influence, especially Hollywood. While the queens in “Paris is Burning” mentioned the New York ball scene was moving away from the over-the-top feathers and pearls of Hollywood, the LA ball scene certainly leaned into it. In Hollywood, many of the ball competitions were centered around dressing like mainstream actors. LA also provided a new twist to the ball scene. While many queens seen in “Paris is Burning” were trying to go unnoticed and stay under the radar, LA provided a bit more opportunities to express themselves and be activists. Additionally, LA gave birth to new categories of ball, including horror and surrealist events.

Finally, Los Angeles was considered more inclusive than New York. As we saw in “Paris is Burning,” families provide a highly structured element to the New York ball. This can seem daunting for new people, and the families also had criteria for acceptance. In LA, there was not an established family culture, which allowed for a more inclusive feeling.

Ultimately, it was fascinating for me to understand other ball cultures around the US. It was cool to see how ball culture varied from city to city and how each city influenced the balls.