Fans of TV's Pose will devour Ricky Tucker's illuminating exploration of the history of the New York ballroom community. Ballroom, ball culture and house-vogue is a culture founded more than a century ago by LGBTQ+ African American and Latinx people in Harlem, where they found and continue to find acceptance and families of choice.
Tucker names each chapter after a dancefloor category ("Vogue," "Realness," "Body," etc.). The first chapter ("Werk") gives a fascinating history of ballroom culture's representation in media, including Jennie Livingston's 1990 breakout documentary Paris Is Burning, the release of Madonna's "Vogue" and the line between appreciation and appropriation. "This pivotal moment in her career wouldn't be the first or last time Madonna shook one hand with Black culture only to pickpocket with the other," writes Tucker. What makes this book really shine is Tucker's skillful combination of personal, wry autobiography, interviews with pioneers and legends in the ballroom community, and scholarly research.
One chapter spotlights hidden figures in the origin of ballroom during the Harlem Renaissance--including Langston Hughes's complicated feelings about witnessing an annual drag ball in the 1920s. "He vacillates between awe and disdain, or rather, shade so shady you'd think he was the emcee of said ball as opposed to an innocent bystander," writes Tucker. Other topics include queer youth, trans lives, gender norms and resolving body trauma.
And the Category Is... is a valuable book highlighting the long-hidden history of the Black and Latinx LGBTQ+ communities that created ballroom culture. It's an entertaining and inspiring history lesson. --Kevin Howell, independent reviewer and marketing consultant