Analysis Of Paris Is Burning

The documentary film "Paris is Burning" directed by Jennie Livingstone, gives us an insight into the lives, dreams, and aspirations of the gay/ homosexual community of New York. It focuses on the glamorous aspect of the community, the "Balls" which provide an outlet and an arena to distinguish themselves, to shine, to be recognized, admired, and to be proud. The article "The Homeless Community of the Piers" by Rob Maitra, parallels the same main theme, but it focuses mainly on the lives, struggles, and hardships of the community. Both; the movie and the article provide an inside to their struggles, their desperate dreams, their goals, aspirations, and the risks they are willing to take, to be accepted, to be a part of a community Our culture …show more content…
As anthropologist Conrad Philip Kottak (2010) explains, there is a certain level of flexibility in our sexual behavior and in the ways we express it, that is not an unusual but rather inherent to our human nature. There are no definite answers to explain why there are such differences in nature, range, and intensity of sexual interests and urges amongst people, but they do exists. Yet, our culture rejects such behaviors, and those who do not quite fit within the established norms are being excluded and rejected. They are ostracized and forced to the margins of our society. They are being shunned, ridiculed and discriminated. The majority of those who end up living on the streets come from financially disadvantaged, broken, dysfunctional homes. They have nobody to turn to for support. They are abused physically, mentally, verbally and often sexually. They feel vulnerable and unprotected. It comes as no surprise, that when they find a community where they feel understood and accepted, and where they feel they belong, they stay. The need to fit in, to feel accepted is so great that despite all the dangers, they continue to live on the streets, where they feel embraced, fulfilled and members of a larger community. Because they are homeless, left school, and have no family support, to survive, to stay alive, they are forced to "turn up tricks" as one of them described. Many of these youths, who joined the gay community, have not had their first sexual experience yet, and the memories of their actions are often unbearable to them. To " turn them off", they turn to drugs. Many end up dead somewhere in motel rooms or other shady