Scroll To Top
Voices

Black America's
infatuation with butch men in heels

Black America's
infatuation with butch men in heels

Cannick_1

Images of black men dressed as women have become a popular part of black American culture, but does the success of films like Madea's Family Reunion depend on Tyler Perry's real-life heterosexism?

True story: I was in a theater in a predominantly black part of town and there was a poster for Madea's Family Reunion up in the lobby. Several black women who looked to be in their 40s and 50s had gathered around the poster and were remarking how they were going to see the film when it came out. Just then, a black transgender female walked through the lobby and one of the women remarked to her girlfriends, "Look, girl, a he-she," and they all started giggling like teenagers.

On more than one occasion Black America has rushed to the box office to see black men in drag, and with the national release of Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion, black audiences will again embrace the idea of a man playing a female role on screen.

When Tyler Perry debuted his character Madea Simmons, a witty 68-year-old gun-toting grandmother from the hood, his biggest audience was black Christian evangelicals. In fact it was black Christians who launched him to where he his today, packing in theater after theater as he toured the nation with his plays. With a spiritual message included in all of his productions, Perry allowed black Christians to feel good after seeing him prance around the stage dressed as a woman.

But before Madea there was Andre Charles, better known as RuPaul. In the early '90s RuPaul gained fame and success with his single "Supermodel (You Better Work)," a tribute to the divas of fashion. The single placed in the top 30 on the Billboard pop charts, and the music video was nominated for Best Dance Video at the 1994 MTV video music awards. Through the years, RuPaul has appeared in various movies and music specials. He was honored in 1999 with the Vito Russo Entertainer of the Year Award at the GLAAD Media Awards for challenging the limits and breaking boundaries as an openly gay entertainment professional who has furthered the visibility and understanding of the queer community. Still, RuPaul's fame and acceptance has come from mostly white audiences, even though he is a black entertainer.

So why is it that black audiences can embrace a man playing a female role on the silver screen, but still have problems with real life Madeas in their own communities and families?

In the black community, very little attention is focused on transgender people. Common practice is to group transgenders with gay men, even though they form their own community within an already marginalized group. Even in the gay rights movement, transgender issues have been pushed to the bottom of the list for fear that Americans, who are barely able to deal with the idea of marriage for gay and lesbian couples, could even begin to understand the issues plaguing the transgender community.

Madea is a man dressed as a woman, plain and simple. No matter how many feel-good religious messages Tyler Perry feeds his audiences, black Christians are embracing cross-dressing as a form of entertainment. Which is not problematic, except for the fact that black Christians are known for their homophobic views toward anything remotely gay.

But what if Tyler Perry were gay? Would Madea continue to be as popular among black churchgoers? Probably not. Assuming his heterosexuality, Christians can rest at ease that they are not supporting anything gay.

RuPaul, while a great performer, was openly gay and therefore never found the widespread acceptance and fame that Madea has. Famed actor Wesley Snipes gave us Noxeema Jackson in the 1995 film To Wong Foo, Thanks For Everything, Julie Newmar. While heterosexual himself, Snipes's character was flamboyantly gay. Martin Lawrence first introduced us to Big Momma in 2000 and was so successful that he's back with a sequel. He too is heterosexual. And who could forget "Men on Film" in In Living Color, featuring Damon Wayans and David Allen Grier as the very gay film critics Blaine Edwards and Antoine Merriweather. Again, both Wayans and Grier are heterosexual and went on to do great things after the end of the series.

Blacks have no problem with cross-dressing and transgenderism as a form of entertainment. It's only after the lights go down and the camera stops rolling that it becomes an issue if the dress and heels are still on.

Advocate Channel - The Pride StoreOut / Advocate Magazine - Fellow Travelers & Jamie Lee Curtis

From our Sponsors

Most Popular

Latest Stories

Advocate.com Editors