Code-switching and Wish-fulfillment in Ballroom

Shantelle Fields Dr. Harris English 2017 19 April 2026 Code-switching and Wish-fulfillment in Ballroom Before starting to go into this discussion on black people in ballroom, there are two things which first need to be defined. Within the black community there is something known as code-switching, which is defined as the practice of alternating between languages, dialects, or styles of speech and behavior depending on social context. While there are other minority communities who participate in code switching, it is most commonly associated with the black community. Secondly, wish-fulfillment is defined as the gratification of a desire, especially symbolically as in things like dreams or daydreams (Merian Webster 2026). Code switching and wish-fulfillment are a part of the black experience within ballroom. When it comes to code-switching for black people it is often so they will not face discrimination from outside of the community, and when it comes to black queer people there historically has been a risk of violence and discrimination if they are perceived as anything other than straight within the black community. In an interview, Conversations Pioneer Junior LaBeija by the Open to All Entertainment YouTube channel LaBeija, who was the mother of House LaBeija, speaks on the history of ballroom. “We have to remember that Ballroom, for those of us that was there, ballroom was a grooming school, a charm school for you to hone your skills to go out into mainstream and become a productive member of society”. (Conversations Pioneer Junior LaBeija 7:28). To be considered a “productive member of society” at the time involved, having to be straight and cisgender so much so that LaBeija in reference to black queer people “we wasn’t allowed to go no other place to act up.” as there was a very clear racial divide among white and black queer people. Dorian Carey in the 1990 documentary Paris is Burning, one of the many queer black people interviewed, spoke in part on the realness categories and what they were for in terms of code-switching. “It’s not a takeoff or a satire. No it’s actually being able to do this. It’s really a case of going back into the closet. They give the society, they deliver what they want to see, so they won’t be questioned. Rather than having to go through prejudices about your life and lifestyle, you can walk around confidently, blending in with everybody else. You’ve erased all mistakes, all the flaws, all the giveaways, to make your illusion perfect.” (Paris is Burning 20:08) Realness categories served as a way for people to test out their code-switching abilities and make sure that they would be able to pass among people outside of the community. “When they’re undetectable, when they can walk outta that ballroom into the sunlight and onto the subway, and get home and still have all their clothes and no blood running off their bodies, those are the femme realness queens,” (Paris is Burning 22:32). Carey’s description of what makes a femme realness queen gives the viewer a look into what it means in terms of safety to be able to pass and how ballroom acts as a place to learn how to become undetectable. Ballroom itself is about more than just learning and honing code-switching skills it also acts as a form of wish-fulfillment for the people that participate. Carey speaks on this in the interview as well as, providing the context that as a black person at the time, it was hard getting anywhere within the working world and those who did were usually straight, but in ballroom you could live the fantasy of being able to hold those positions. In Paris is Burning, (15:27)“therefore you’re showing the straight world that, ‘I can be an executive. If I had the opportunity, I could be one, because I can look like one.’ And that is fulfillment”. Categories such as, executive, allowed them to be able to show off how well they could act in those corporate jobs that they would rarely be able to get into at the time. Paris is Burning, also states that (7:06) “They don’t have a home to go to, but they’ll go out and they’ll steal something and get dressed up, and come to a ball for that one night and live the fantasy”. (Paris is Burning 7:06) LaBeija, who was also apart of this documentary, expresses how ballroom was a form of escapism for those who were homeless. Another type of fulfillment that is found in this documentary comes from the formation of a chosen family that happens among these people who are often rejected and kicked out by their families. An unnamed member of the house of Xtravaganza provides the perfect example of this when talking about the mother of her house, Angel ‘Angie’ Xtravaganza. The unnamed member states “My birthday will come, and I always get a birthday gift from Angie. Won’t get one from my real mother. Like when I got out of my house, Angie let me stay with her till I got myself together and I got working, and she always fed me…I wouldn’t trade her for any other mother.”(Paris is Burning 30:14). In having these houses, that act as family, it fulfills this wish that many have for family within the ballroom scene. The documentary “Kiki” from 2017 continues this idea of wish-fulfillment within ballroom. “When you come into the scene, you create a family, you have gay brothers, gay sisters, and you can pick your gay parents or your gay parents pick you. You know, you find the people you fit with, and everybody loves you as if they’re family”. (Kiki 20:38) The description of houses by the ballroom commentator Simba, expands on how many people have gained a family from houses. Ballroom not only is shown as a place where chosen families are formed, but also allows people to have a place in which they can see themselves in a way that they previously could only dream of. “When I came out into the scene, the scene helped me realize that transition was possible from a male to a female and to be able to live the life you know, that you want to live… I would see, like, the friends that I have around me and then realizing that it’s possible to be happy living this lifestyle”. (Kiki 25:44) In being able to be received in an encouraging and supportive environment with people like herself, the woman in this documentary, who is not named, was able to have her needs met by the people around her who are able to make her feel safe enough that it allowed for her to explore a side of herself that she would not have otherwise. The black community has always had places and ways to come together and express themselves that allowed for wish-fulfillment and learning things like code-switching. Within subsets of the black community, such as the black queer community, these places are just as important if not more important as those communities often feel ostracized by both the black community and the queer community. As time has passed the feelings of being ostracized has decreased, but it does not take away from the importance of such spaces. It is important to recognize how these spaces allow for forms of expression and to acknowledge them as a part of wish-fulfillment and code-switching within the black community.