Bulldaggers, Pansies, and Chocolate Babies: Performance, Race, and Sexuality in the Harlem Renaissance

by James F. Wilson

Bulldaggers, Pansies, and Chocolate Babies shines the spotlight on historically neglected plays and performances that challenged early twentieth-century notions of the stratification of race, gender, class, and sexual orientation. On Broadway stages, in Harlem nightclubs and dance halls, and within private homes sponsoring rent parties, African American performers of the 1920s and early 1930s teased the limits of white middle-class morality. Blues-singing lesbians, popularly known as "bulldaggers," performed bawdy songs; cross-dressing men vied for the top prizes in lavish drag balls; and black and white women flaunted their sexuality in scandalous melodramas and musical revues. Race leaders, preachers, and theater critics spoke out against these performances that threatened to undermine social and political progress, but to no avail: mainstream audiences could not get enough of the riotous entertainment. James F. Wilson has based his rich cultural history on a wide range of documents from the period, including eyewitness accounts, newspaper reports, songs, and play scripts, combining archival research with an analysis grounded in a cultural studies framework that incorporates both queer theory and critical race theory. Throughout, he argues against the widely held belief that the stereotypical forms of black, lesbian, and gay show business of the 1920s prohibited the emergence of distinctive new voices. Figuring prominently in the book are African American performers including Gladys Bentley, Ethel Waters, and Florence Mills, among others, and prominent writers, artists, and leaders of the era, including Langston Hughes, Wallace Thurman, Zora Neale Hurston, and W. E. B. Du Bois. The study also engages with contemporary literary critics, including Henry Louis Gates and Houston Baker. "James F. Wilson uncovers fascinating new material on the Harlem Renaissance, shedding light on the oft-forgotten gay and lesbian contributions to the era's creativity and Civil Rights. Extremely well researched, compellingly written, and highly informative."
―David Krasner, author of A Beautiful Pageant: African American Theatre, Drama, and Performance in the Harlem Renaissance, 1910-1927

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Queer, LGBT, Race, Gender, American History

262 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2010

Reviews

[Trieste · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed Wilson's book. It offers great insight into the experiences of African Americans, and more specifically the queer culture during the Harlem Renaissance - Wilson offers excellent analysis of several broadway/off-broadway shows of the era, as well as describing rent parties, buffet flats, speakeasies, night clubs, and white slumming.

[Mia · Rating 4 out of 5]

read this for class but genuinely eye opening! this book lead me down the most gratifying rabbit hole. I appreciate the format of this book in that it’s more of a collection of narratives rather than a banal retelling of major events and characters.

[Chris Holcombe · Rating 5 out of 5]

James F. Wilson presents a stunning picture of the Queer Harlem Renaissance as told through first-hand accounts, scripts, songs, plays, and other creative works. As a gay man, I was enthralled learning a history that was never taught, nor even recognized. An absolute "must-read."