Performance indicates culture's evolution, acceptance of alternative sexual identities
Today marks the end of Creed Week, a celebration of the Carolinian Creed and the commitment from each USC student to adhere to its ideals. The creed is not sung or spoken at football games, nor is it mandatory to learn. The typical student may graduate without ever having learned any of its goals, and some students inevitably do not live by its standard.
One line of the creed, in particular, is relevant to some of this week’s events: “I will discourage bigotry, while striving to learn from differences in people, ideas and opinions.” Such discouragement, and encouragement to learn about others, was the principal aim of The Birdcage, a drag performance held Tuesday on the USC campus.
This performance was the first time I had ever seen a drag show. I had only heard about drag shows through hearsay, or otherwise imagined what they might entail. When I was a fundamentalist evangelical, I found that a significant amount of time and energy was spent by the church to create and establish clear definitions of gender, whether masculine or feminine. This constant emphasis on gender roles served to create a world that could not embrace the subtext of cross-dressing, or dressing “in drag.” When I was a part of this world, I had no ability to conceive of this as anything but immoral or unnatural. I was wrong.
I was surprised to see men and women who were confidently performing in the gender roles opposite to the ones society had set for them. It was like seeing a new world, where gender stereotypes were completely abated and their loss was celebrated by use of choreography and spectacular showmanship. This abatement smashed the last vestiges of the religious upbringing I had experienced during my youth.
One of the most beautiful things about today’s culture is the blending of gender roles in a constructive way. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t virtues in stereotypical male or female actions or attitudes, just that there is no longer such stigma around bending the definitions across gender. As a male, I swing dance, salsa dance and contra dance. Thanks to some unknown cultural influence, dance is often seen as feminine. The same goes for one of my best male friends, who bakes. I would call neither one of us any less honorable or less “manly” for doing the things that we love.
In a culture that is gradually averting itself from stereotypes that force people into specific roles, it is becoming increasingly acceptable for men to do more feminine things. In the same way, the men who feel their nature and personhood is best expressed through an embrace of the opposite gender’s traditional dress or appearance alludes to this changing trend. The fact that on a university campus such an event can even take place is a tribute to the growing embracement of diversity across our nation. I am proud to be a part of such a changing conversation.
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