MUS 132 free response 2

What is irony?

A rhetorical device where what is said differs from/contradicts what is meant

What is ironic in the lyrics of Strange Fruit?

• In the second stanza, opens with pleasant, pastoral imagery (southern breeze, magnolia, gallant South) — then reveals the "strange

• "Pastoral scene of the gallant South" / "sudden smell of burning flesh" — beauty vs. horror in direct contradiction

• The title itself is ironic — "fruit" suggests something natural and nourishing; the reality is racial violence and murder

Irony was effective because

• Forces the audience to interpret multiple layers of meaning simultaneously

When and where was Stange Fruit performed?

1939 premiere at Café Society, Greenwich Village — NYC's first racially integrated nightclub

Always performed as the last song of the set

What is Holiday doing in performance to convey hidden meaning?

She furrows her brow, contorts lips, raises her left eyebrow to signal the audience that the lyrics are not literal.

She growls and overemphasizes like "strange fruit" and "bulging eyes" to build intensity.

she barely moves her body — so all attention stays on her face

The lights go completely dark except for a spotlight on her face — so there's nowhere else to look.

How is Simone combining both the tragic and comic in “Mississippi Goddam”?

Opens with a manic, upbeat show tune, But lyrics describe racial terror, Jim Crow, and broken promises of American democracy Uses understatement (meiosis) — describes catastrophic injustice casually: "Alabama's gotten me so upset / Tennessee made me lose my rest"

According to Heard, did Simone prefer to categorize her music by certain

generic descriptions?

No — she refused to be pigeonholed into any single genre

she resented being type-categorized because her music was a wide range of genres 

What topics/issues does Simone bring up in “Mississippi Goddam”?

Racial segregation and terror in the American South, Mocks Civil Rights gradualism — "too slow!" refrain critiques nonviolent strategy as insufficient

Racial injustice, Jim Crow, and civil rights reforms are being made too slowly

Describe the relationship between Simone and her audience members.

Annoyed by her audience but does not form a wall with them, she wants to draw them in and confront them with the truth of racial injustice in the US.

the concept of "hypnosis" — Simone deliberately built mood across songs until the audience was emotionally captured

Strategy: seduce white liberal audiences with humor and eccentricity first, then confront them with political content they didn't necessarily pay to see

What does ballroom culture protect community members from?

Black and Latina/o LGBTQ people in poor/working-class urban areas face constant threat of race, gender, and sexual violence

Describe the house system found within ballroom culture.

Socially (not biologically) configured family-like structures that serve as sources of support

Houseparents provide guidance, life skills, and parental support to "children" of various ages, races, genders, and sexualities

Led by "mothers" (mostly butch queens or femme queens) and "fathers" (mostly butch queens or butches) — collectively called houseparents

Describe the gender system.

ballroom views sex, gender, and sexuality as malleable, mutable, and fluid

The system recognizes three categories of sex: female, male, and intersex/transsexual — and views sex as an ongoing process, not a biological endpoint

The six-part gender system:

• Butch queens — biologically male, identify as gay/bisexual, can be masculine, hypermasculine, or feminine

• Femme queens (MTF) — transgender women at various stages of gender reassignment

• Butch queens up in drags — gay men who perform drag but do not live as women

• Butches (FTM) — transgender men, masculine lesbians, aggressives, studs

• Women — biologically born females who identify as lesbian, straight, or queer

• Men/trade — biologically born straight-identified males

What is realness? Describe how realness functions within this community.

"Realness" = the ability to convincingly pass as a gender-conforming person

Two functions:

• At the ball — it's a competition standard; members are judged on how convincingly they embody a gender identity in categories like "femme queen realness" or "thug realness", presentation of themselves

• In everyday life — it's a survival strategy; passing as gender-conforming protects members from homophobic and transphobic violence on the street