macon detornay, drag enthusiast

In the beginning of the semester in IDT, we read an article that was basically about Californian cholas, a Mexican-American subculture. Basically, the paper addressed the idea of presentation and drag; the general gist was that drag isn’t just a word for men in wigs, but rather a far-reaching intellectual concept which can be applied to our fashion and aesthetic choices. Essentially; people dress how they do because they want people to have certain thoughts about them or communicate some aspect of themselves, and understanding the reasons behind these presentations as drag helps us see the deeper reasoning behind these choices. Further, ‘drag’ specifically encompasses the decision to use aesthetics as a means by which to challenge the dominant culture. Normally, this refers to gender, but can also be used in other contexts (or maybe not but that’s how I’m going to use it idgaf). If you want to read it, you can do so here. Honestly it’s a cool piece, would recommend.

Anyways, when we got to reading Angry Black White Boy I thought back to this article and how it sort of applied to our good friend Macon. Whether you view him as an appropriator, an appreciator, or a simple dork, it’s clear that Macon is making very specific aesthetic choices in order to communicate very specific ideas, most of which are pretty challenging to mainstream audiences. While Macon never goes so far as to apply actual blackface, he clearly takes his clothing, fashion, and overall life inspiration primarily from black culture, and in particular the radical black nationalist movements of the late 20th century. In doing so, he seeks to challenge dominate social ideals about race and what whiteness can/should be.

That’s the important thing: what Macon is saying with his dress, his presentation. Macon wants to look like a race traitor, specifically. He wants to distance himself from whiteness and its privileges insofar as he is able. Dressing as he does certainly doesn’t make him black -- and I think he recognizes that -- but it visually marks him as having an interest, as being aligned, on some level, with the black community. Most people within the novel see him as a dabbler or an appropriator, and there’s definitely truth to that. Still, I think that when people see Macon, his goal is for them to wonder why he’s dressed like that, instead of khakis and a button-down like every other Ivy League white boy. Now, we can discuss whether he’s successful in that goal or whether it’s even a useful goal to have, but for the purpose of this blog post, I think it’s enough to say that Macon intentionally uses his fashion, along with his speech and actions, to call into question white supremacy- and I think that counts as a pretty interesting kind of drag.

Everything about Macon is provocative, carefully crafted to disrupt white supremacy from the inside, and his fashion sense is no exception. I think that understanding his fashion as a form of drag, intended to shock and disrupt, lets us better understand the motivations behind his clothing and overall presentation.