Abstrak

The objective of this research is to find the racism in a predominantly White drag community and how the whiteness constructs the image of Black drag queen. This research observes a documentary film entitled Paris is Burning produced in 1990 by a White Lesbian; Jennie Livingston.
This research is a descriptive qualitative research which is conducted under the framework of American studies limited to gender and white studies as one of areas of its study. This research takes Paris is Burning (LGBT Film Documentary-1990) as source of data. Some forms of its dialogues, narrations, images and mis-en-scene are taken as primary data. This inquiry is also completed with supporting data in the form of images and information that are taken from website and articles. This research applied interdisciplinary studies which combine theories and approaches from other fields such as gender and performativity theory, post human body theory, post modernism theory, semiotic theory, the social construction of reality, and documentary theory. It also used socio-cultural approach to understand the context of American society.
From the analysis, it is understood that White in America has deeper meaning that is not merely a skin color. It is an ideology based on belief, behavior and habits which result the unequal distribution of power and privilege in the most institutions in America including drag community. As an institution, drag community itself is influenced strongly by White construction. This makes Black drag queens cannot separate themselves from White in consciously and unconsciously. It can be seen from the appearance and performance of Black drag queens in which it is found that they try to imitate high class White woman and their performance in Ballroom are limited. As privilege, White produces the process of blurring ethnic identity through post human body. It makes their identity is plural. They are complex and collective characteristics of both man and woman as seen through their performativity and act and collective characteristic of Black and White as seen through their skin color and performance.

Keywords : Black drag queen, Black Male to Female Transgender, Whiteness, Drag culture, Image, Identity