BOPS are college parties, which often have a theme. Pride Bops can be a way of a college celebrating the LGBTQ+ community, but some people may, on purpose or not, use it to make fun of the community. Here are some guidelines for celebrating a Pride Bop.
HOW TO DRESS UP WITHOUT APPROPRIATING LGBTQ+ CULTURE:
The purpose of this theme is to allow a safe place for self expression, creativity, experimentation. We draw inspiration from a scene that threw gendered expectations aside to allow people freedom of expression for the night, whatever that means to you.
In our culture, toxic masculinity, heterosexism and (trans)misogyny lead us to a fairly strict idea of what it means to present as a man or woman. However, this entz, It doesn’t matter who you are, paint your nails, your body, your face, your pal’s face -- or don’t, it really is up to you. Gender stereotypes are so 1974.
While drag was an important part of the Club Kid scene. We ask that anyone coming in full drag look over what it means to appropriate queer culture (guidelines below). We believe that if you aren’t erasing, exploiting or making fun of LGBTQ+ people, women or any other protected characteristic, anything goes. We certainly aren’t going to be policing whether or not people are “queer enough” to do drag. We recognise the fluidity of sexuality and gender and the importance of questioning (see blog post for more details). If you want to try it, in this context, we encourage you to do so!
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Appropriation: instances where a dominant and/or majority group takes up some tangible or intangible aspect of a marginalized and/or minority community.
Appropriation happens when:
Erasure: if the dominant/majority group takes up the marginalized/minority group’s creations while disregarding their perspective. Sometimes the fact that the appropriated items had their origins within the marginalized/minority group (rather than the dominant/majority) gets overlooked or forgotten.
Exploitation: Sometimes members of the dominant/majority group will materially profit from aspects or acts that they have appropriated from a marginalized/minority group without ever giving anything back to that community
Denigration: instances where important or aspects of the marginalized/minority group’s identity or culture are appropriated by the dominant/majority group in an irreverent or disrespectful manner, sometimes in order to purposefully ridicule, parody, or insult members of that group.
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OTHER TERMS:
Transmisogyny: the negative attitudes, expressed through cultural hate, individual and state violence, and discrimination directed toward trans women and trans and gender non-conforming people on the feminine end of the gender spectrum. The intersection between transphobia and misogyny
Heterosexism: the belief or assumption that heterosexual attractions and relationships are more natural and legitimate than their same-sex counterparts.
Toxic masculinity: refers to stereotypically masculine gender roles that restrict the kinds of emotions allowable for boys and men to express, including social expectations that men seek to be dominant (the "alpha male") and limit their emotional range primarily to expressions of anger.
In order to write these guidelines, excerpts from Julia Serano’s (a trans writer and activist) blog post were used. You can find the original blog post here: http://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2013/10/considering-trans-and-queer.html
HOW TO DRESS UP WITHOUT APPROPRIATING LGBTQ+ CULTURE:
The purpose of this theme is to allow a safe place for self expression, creativity, experimentation. We draw inspiration from a scene that threw gendered expectations aside to allow people freedom of expression for the night, whatever that means to you.
In our culture, toxic masculinity, heterosexism and (trans)misogyny lead us to a fairly strict idea of what it means to present as a man or woman. However, this entz, It doesn’t matter who you are, paint your nails, your body, your face, your pal’s face -- or don’t, it really is up to you. Gender stereotypes are so 1974.
While drag was an important part of the Club Kid scene. We ask that anyone coming in full drag look over what it means to appropriate queer culture (guidelines below). We believe that if you aren’t erasing, exploiting or making fun of LGBTQ+ people, women or any other protected characteristic, anything goes. We certainly aren’t going to be policing whether or not people are “queer enough” to do drag. We recognise the fluidity of sexuality and gender and the importance of questioning (see blog post for more details). If you want to try it, in this context, we encourage you to do so!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Appropriation: instances where a dominant and/or majority group takes up some tangible or intangible aspect of a marginalized and/or minority community.
Appropriation happens when:
Erasure: if the dominant/majority group takes up the marginalized/minority group’s creations while disregarding their perspective. Sometimes the fact that the appropriated items had their origins within the marginalized/minority group (rather than the dominant/majority) gets overlooked or forgotten.
Exploitation: Sometimes members of the dominant/majority group will materially profit from aspects or acts that they have appropriated from a marginalized/minority group without ever giving anything back to that community
Denigration: instances where important or aspects of the marginalized/minority group’s identity or culture are appropriated by the dominant/majority group in an irreverent or disrespectful manner, sometimes in order to purposefully ridicule, parody, or insult members of that group.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OTHER TERMS:
Transmisogyny: the negative attitudes, expressed through cultural hate, individual and state violence, and discrimination directed toward trans women and trans and gender non-conforming people on the feminine end of the gender spectrum. The intersection between transphobia and misogyny
Heterosexism: the belief or assumption that heterosexual attractions and relationships are more natural and legitimate than their same-sex counterparts.
Toxic masculinity: refers to stereotypically masculine gender roles that restrict the kinds of emotions allowable for boys and men to express, including social expectations that men seek to be dominant (the "alpha male") and limit their emotional range primarily to expressions of anger.
In order to write these guidelines, excerpts from Julia Serano’s (a trans writer and activist) blog post were used. You can find the original blog post here: http://juliaserano.blogspot.com/2013/10/considering-trans-and-queer.html