The concept of “terrorist drag” was created by José Esteban Muñoz, who understands it as denunciation and condemnation of “terrors around race, gender, and sexuality” in drag queens performance (Muñoz 91). This concept implies that, for example, male actors do not try to recreate womanliness. On the contrary, their characters could be regarded as “the nation’s most dangerous citizens” (Muñoz 92). The notion of “terrorist drag” is closely related to the one of “disidentification.” Muñoz defines disidentification as “is a performative mode of tactical recognition that various minoritarian subjects employ in an effort to resist the oppressive and normalizing discourse of dominant ideology” (83). According to Greer, disidentification could be characterized as “transformative resistance” (97). In other words, disidentification could be described as a rhetorical practice that is used to show that an individual does not associate him or herself with society’s standards.
At this point, it is necessary to discuss the video “Stop Being Poor.” At first sight, this video appears to be somewhat provocative as the actors perform as rich white women who humiliate a Hispanic butler (“Stop Being Poor”). In addition to that, they recommend others stop being poor as well as stop being born (“Stop Being Poor”). However, if to consider this video from the perspective of a queer of color drag performance group, it becomes apparent that the video’s key message is not to offend poor and Black people. On the contrary, the purpose of “Stop Being Poor” is to deride the image of wealthy white females glorified in society.
What is depicted in the video could be viewed as a terrorist drag? However, it seems doubtful that “Stop Being Poor” illustrates the concept of disidentification. In the example of Muñoz, Vaginal Davis is a Black man who says that his life would be much easier if he were a White person (82-83). Still, in the video, the actors are White and act as White women. Therefore, it could be inferred that they do not fit into the concept of disidentification.
“Stop Being Poor” invokes stereotypes of racialized and gendered deviance in terms that show that only White, rich women deserve to stay alive. As it has been previously mentioned, that is done in order to draw the audience’s attention to the problem of believing in the supremacy of white hetero women over the representatives of other gender and races. By the way, it should be noted that the stereotype about the fortune of being born as a white man is much more widespread than one about the luck of being a White, rich woman.
From my point of view, political interventions of this kind are not effective. Undoubtedly, the performance attracts the attention of publicity to the issue of prejudices based on race and gender. Nevertheless, the video would not make politicians or social activists take any measures to fight against this problem. This video is an attempt to express a narrow circle of people’s dissatisfaction rather than an intervention in political affairs. What is more, “Stop Being Poor” did not cause a broad response even in the domestic society and, thus, did not lead to any extensive changes in the perception of people of different races and genders. I suppose that their political intervention could be regarded as effective if it entailed any changes or intensify a discussion of the issue.
Works Cited
“Stop Being Poor.” YouTube, uploaded by Black Glitter Records, 2014, Web.
Greer, Stephen. “‘Even If We Do Not Take Things Seriously… We Are Still Doing Them: Disidentification, Ideology, and Queer Performance.” Žižek and Performance, edited by Broderick Chow, Alex Mangold, Palgrave Macmillan, 2014, pp. 78-93.
Muñoz, José Esteban. “The White to Be Angry”: Vaginal Davis’s Terrorist Drag.” Social Text, vol. 52, no.53, 1997, pp. 81-103.