Susan Snchez Casal
icholasa. 7975. EI Bronx Remembered. New York HarperCollins
, Cherre. 7984. Looing in the War Years: Lo que nunca ps por sus
n: South End Press.
, Cherre, and Gloria Anzaldta, eds. 1983. This Bridge CaIIed My Back
y RdicI Women of Color. New York: Kitchen Table Press.
j, Aurora Levins, and Rosario Morales. 7986. Getting Home Alioe.
Firebrand Books.
:nice A. 1994. "Segregated Student Housing-By Choice."
r Higher Education, v. 5, n. 2 (September 1994).
iez, Luis 1.7993. Alwys Running; La Vida Loca: Gng Days in L.A.
Touchstone Press.
[994.
"Who We Are." Hungry Mind Ret:iett) (Fatl 1994).
1996. "Steal This Book." Hungry Mind Reoiew (Spring 1996).
Ronald. 7979. lron Cages: Race nd Culture in L9th Century America.
lOxford University Press.
Lourdes. 7997. "The Construction of the Self in U.S. Latina
l" In Chandra T. Mohanty, Ann Russo, and Lourdes Torres, eds.,
I, Women and the Politics of Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana U
;Mitsuye. 1981. "Asian Pacific American Women and Feminism."
rd Anzalda (1983).
Chapter Sixteen
Home, Hot tses, N onidentity t
Paris Is Burning
CHANDAN C. REDDY
I audiences of Jennie Livingston's Paris Is Burningl view a pho-
of European models on the cover of fashion magazines, adver-
for million-dollar condominiums, and a magazine story on the
ntial eighties Hollywood "famTly," the Carringtons from Dy-
the husky voice of Octavia Saint Laurent provides the viewers with
caption to the montage: "seeing the riches, seeing the way people on
lived, these huge houses, and I would thin these people have
) rooms in their house, oh my God, what kind of house is that,
we've got three. So why is it that they can have that and I didn't? I al-
felt cheated. I always felt cheated out of things like that."
The ironic pathos of Livingston's documentary, effected by contrasting
e fantasy of equal opulence with the grave disparity between Holly-
set and New York tenement, is repeated in another cut of Octavia
in the film.
Striking a pose of iconic femininity, standing on a platform raised
rove the level of the camera, dressed in a two-piece yellow bathing suit,
interrupts her "form" by announcing, "I don't think the world
been fair to me. Not yet arrryay." \ /hile submitting to the interpella-
demand for a normative and idealized femininity that "recruits" sub-
who both "internalize" and "speak" its ideologies, Octavia equally
ices her material nonequivalence to that demand, forcefully articulat-
a contradiction. Her identification with an ideal concept of femininity,
rnded by herself and the fashion industry is simultaneously trou-
by a persistent contradiction.2 Lisa Lowe eloquently formulates this
hadiction as inherent in all interpellations in which the ideological
nd for identification is in tension with the "contradictory material
356 Chandnn C. Reddy

conditions witl-rin wl-rich that demand is made."3 Tl-re logic of identical

equivalence, that each thing or person is formally identical with another,
governing every articulation of identity, is interrupted and contradicted
by Octavia's voicing of material strata (her cramped "home"), inequity ("I
always felt cheated"), and utter nonequivalence (corporeal difference) be-
tween herself and her feminine ideal.
I open with these two moments of subjective contradiction, in which the
interpellative fantasy of formal equivalence and identity is disrupted by tl-re
demand for material strata, racial formations, and gendered'differences re-
quired to build and maintain the opulent American "Dynasty" home, be-
cause it situates this cl-rapter's route to thinking about (White) American
domesticity. Much of Marxist literature, concerned with the contradictions
of "modern" European and American capitalist economic processes, has
explored the domestic, the home, and tl're family only to the degree tl-rat it
considers these sites as ideological locations or "Ideological State Appara-
tuses" that interpellate and socialize subjects for the State and modern na-
tional economies. Yet if we rethink the (White) American "Home" from the
standpoint of racialized gendered subjects, it becomes clear that the Wl-rite
Home and its private sphere are not simply sites adjacent to modern public
life, or a historically anterior site of a simpler economy that serves solely an
ideological function. Rathel that standpoint forces a reconsideration of the
White U.S. Home as a social location whose msterial reproduction and
maintenance require the forms of social division and organization (the
racial formation of domestic labor, the gendered division of labor, and the
colonial differential of the wage scale) instantiated and sustained by the
modern U.S. State and its public culture.
This chapter explores tl'ris standpoint from the material and cultural
position of "queers of color." Specifically, I take up the relation estab-
lished between "home" and "houses" by the documentary subjects of
Livingston's Paris Is Burning to extend that standpoint to bear upon in-
quiries into subjective social and self-formations. I begin my examination
of the "houses" of the ball circuit captured in the documentary Paris Is
Burning with a genealogy of racial/ethnica people's history in the United
States, focusing on the paradox by which racial/ethnics were excluded

processes of group and self-formation from the experience of being ex-

'ddv Hom e, Houses, Noniclent ity
357
, made."3 The logic of identical pelred from their own dwellings
and families for not conforming
dictarion of and demand -"ii
formally identical with another,
"houses" that make up the g""a =d urJ JJ""r types.toTrre the
is interrupted and contradicted r* u'" :uit are sites oi criticar im_
r cramped "home"), ir-requity ("I ""r,r'oi
not only becuse they form counter
l:1,1".",
crar rormatlons that provide
alence (corporeal difference) be- both support an
queers of color interviewed
in Liviiston,s
rctive contradiction, in which the
trtrililtouses"
never replac" tl-i:1"1" .'..putotherwise, the docu-
e and identity is disrupted by the mSstSlis film never replace
nal home fr the origi_
lns, and gendered differences re-
of the ball
, brutally expelled with the ,,houses,,
American "Dynasty" home, be-
rinking about (White) American ber trre " viorence or tr.," nTile":T,:",::'Jii.#'ii-
rncerned with the contradictions perform"o.,r,i,.,,i,o"
the pleasures and demands
iarternative riving, wrr'e
pitalist economic processes, has same time functiorring as
an ,,interl'"*iu',u.y clevice,, btwee^ at the
family only to the degree that it and queer subjects' rnr" "nrr"r;;rtrl""tivities homes
supplement the often viorent that form precisely to
ns or "Ideological State Appara- u"a experience of the home_
rcts for the State and modern na- "oriit.rtrve
ential lies not in rearticulting
lite) American "Flome" from the rather in forrning shared ,iti"""
i""i.ed ater_
tf_,ut able each
i, it becomes clear that the White lectively remember the home
as a site of contra_
y sites adjacent to modern public nditions.
ler economy that serves solely an
>FX.
nt forces a reconsideration of the
hose materinl reproduction and in his 1970 essav ',
division and organization (the Marxist philosoprer the
rdered division of laboq, and the the
stantiated and sustained by the tal-
ss from otlter economic processes,
from the material and cultural
such ,r:iT
erncapiraristerarrom,,i::f ",
ly, I take up the relation estab-
ry the documentary subjects of
:i:Jii:,-,i1i:I[Tl:l5nl;
work and maintaining
hat standpoint to bear upon in- rr) and the relations o"f
nations. I begin my examination ,
not within the social re their position) occurs
red in the documentary Paris Is
spheres "o.rtrid"l' th! .u. ut rather in sites and
ca people's history in the United
plains, th" r';p.;;";;;: rion' As stuart Hall ex-
:h racial/ethnics were excluded
main of th"'r"pr.,r"t tion occurs "in the do-
t times when their "labo" was
church. "5 A rhr;;; *",
and reproduction. Unaccounted
list discussions of the home and
I ;.u
1n"1r_
i nsriru Liorrs,,qr"",$Ji
role, like that of the^State g"";;;;i"
il ili"r.l:
repro_
ilor,I argue, take up the critical n. These Ideological State Appr
ut:u"o"i u"
he model of the "home" offered
*otr_
/ lmpure, and nondiscrete, with a particular
'attending to the ways in which elf to other material apparatuses
uu""r,t o.
rf color, and second, by exPand- each apparatus remalns distinct
tique of the home to interrogate
.istorical from others;
origins ancl conditions, often-produc_
:om the experience of being ex- ortant "conflicts and noncorrespondences
be_
 Chandan C. Reddy

tween hailing apparatuses."T What establisl'res a "complex unity" among

these apparatuses is thai they all have the function of "hailing" individu-
als and transforming them, although always only partially, into formal
subjects. Often, hailing apparatuses build upon the logic or fantasies of
equivalence and identical repetition found within the functionings of
other Ideological Apparatuses. Yet, as Lowe suggests in discussing Dicte,
a cultural text that itself thematizes the relation between an individual
subject and a variety of hailing apparatuses (educational, religi.ous, colo-
nial, and citizenship): "Dicte is more specific about multiple hailings,
particularly about the conflicts and noncorrespondences between hailing
apparatuses; while they may intersect or coexist, or be linked through the
use of similar modes and logics, these apparatuses are often at odds with
one another."s
Equally, Ideological Apparatuses produce contradictory interpella-
tions, not only because they might conflict with an adjacent or previous
interpellation, but because each apparatus is itself a mteriql institution.
The forms of strata, division, and "difference" found within that material
site and required for its maintenance and reproduction are often the
ground for negating the fantasy of equivalence or identity lodged in any
hailing.
This segment of the chapter examines the rhetoric of the "family wage"
and the "American Standard of Living" during the early twentieth cen-
tury as an important illustration of the forms of contradiction found be-
tween interdependent hailing apparatuses-in this case the Family and
Citizenship Apparatuses-and the contradictions that emerge internally
in any distinct apparatus from the standpoint of its need to function ma-
terially and reproduce. I begin with an exploration of home and housing
in the United States to set up a genealogy in which to situate the relation
between racial/ethnic people and national rhetorics of the home. While
this might seem like a long detour on the way
practices of late-twentieth-century ball culture,
critical thematic emerges from "queer of color"
contextualized within the problematic relation between racial/ethnic
people and home and housing in the United States. In the following dis-
rlrJiotr I track the rhetorical uses of "the home" and "the family wage" as
 =.--l

ieddy
Hotne, Houses, N onrten
ti ty
rlishes a "complex unity" among
states' the mocrern state
re function of "hailing" individu- was, and continues to be,
centrar in producing
lways only partially, into formal trre
ld upon the logic or fantasies of ,qi1:HT:iT""fi
describe
T'fi
rhe relarionship
ilril'i"?';i",i,.'I'l,u,."o,he
rund within the functionings of between i"gi"
rwe suggests in discussing Dicte, -'' rvrrr
l,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,1conatr,.rarguerhat-iil.ui"oi"r,n"
ture attached themselves
r relation between an individual
form in which to narrate
nes (educational, religious, colo- n
signified a discursive and moments, the "home"
rpecific about multiple hailings, ervand outsid e or irs regula
:orrespondences between hailing torv jurisdictior, u'o*if,
ized and gendered r"uJ. tr
J."".*a i"r:"ri:nr;:i_
coexist, or be linked through the ro. ur.,a'igno.
exact period when the during the
rparatuses are often at odds with stut" ,"pfr"r;f;;;;r,ffi,r"d labor
quivalence.
cduce contradictory interpella-
purpose in
ict with an adjacent or previous
modernity.
us is itself a materisl institution. conceprs of both nation
ence" found within that material and modernity. Af rhe same
lnd reproduction are often the
a specifica'v modern home,
rime, rhe
t" .h" ;;r; *,u, *, ari::#il:
;il;;thin larger
'alence or identity lodged in any for its existence. As the contem_
Admjnistration (FHA) showr,
:he rhetoric of the"family wage,, which the State and the capitai_
during the early twentieth cen-
orms of contradiction found be- -formations.,, Althougi_r the
and racial and ethnic i he location in which
ies-in this case the Family and housing in the United ""rrlt.rr"
adictions that emerge internally practices, and unequ
point of its need to function ma- the product of State a
xploration of home and l-rousing gesting that through the
in which to situate the relation
ral rhetorics of the home. White
queers of color," a sub up from which to re_
e way to discussing the cultural rn. That is, ,,queers of
Iture, I maintain that a powerful to interact, remembe,
:olor" cultural production when of color to home and
relation between racial/ethnic
ited States. In the following dis-
rome" and "the family wage" as
rcializing subjects for the State. I
:tween racial/ethnic people and
rat this exact ideology produced th. The home became embedded
within the so_
My examination begins with an practices that defined the
modern arld
lme. Whereas Althusser's essay n of the family wage and the ,,American
"uior,.
Stan_
only with respect to how theY dent, the Amrican ,,home,,
was defined as ex_
functions of the State in rcpro- By the late nineteenlh
this chapter that in the United .."1tu1f, organized labo in the
rheroric rf rh" ;'i"1;";;,
lied arou'd the United States ral-
and rhe ,,American Standard
360 Chandan C. Reddy

of Living." Earlier, producerist republicanism had equated "wages', a

"slavery," reserving "freedom" as a feature to be enjoyed only by individ-
uals with jobs that were not on the wage system. By as soon as the mid_
1880s, such an equation failed to signify, and instead the idea of a wage
economy became coupled with notions of "progress," indexing the a_
vances of the nation and the modern capitalist economy. Lawrence Glick_
man neatly summarizes this shift:

With living wages-defined by most male breadwinners as sufficient earn-

ings to meet the ever-expanding consuming needs of their farnilies-slavery
could be avoided and its opposite, republican freedom, gained. . . . Rathei
than counterposing wage work with freedom, workers began to equate the
two. The new slavery, in this context, was not wage labor but low standards
of living; by the sarne token, republican freedom became equated with the
American Standard of Living.e

The "American Standard of Living" not only marks the transition to_
ward a wage economy; it also highlights the fact that by the end of the
century in the United States, organized labor-citizen, male, and
"White"-increasingly was defined against the "unorganized', and ,,in-
formal" segments of labor, which were female, noncitizen, and non-
White.
By providing a measure of equivalence by which each worker was said
to be identical to the other due to a shared or common standard of living,
the discourses of the "American Standard of Living" and the ,'family
wage" that gripped the United States in the early 1900s demonstrate well
the role of ideologies and ideological apparatuses in transforming indi-
viduals into subjects as equivalent units of abstract labor. Yet, in the
United States, both capital and (organized) labor defined this subject as
exclusive of racial, immigrant, and female populations.
Although the concept of the "family wage" purportedly raised the
wages earned by a male worker, in order that his wages might support
the entire family, it also had the specific effect of depressing women's
wages by defining women as secondary earners and defining the male as
the breadwinner. The "American Standard of Living" was said to be a na-
tional and culturally specific standard acknowledged to be higher than
the "European Standard of Living," which was itself higher than the
"Oriental Standard of Living."to Ordered in a hierarchy of standards, this
rhetoric of national equivalence recognized from the outset a tension and,
more specifically, a contradiction between an ideological apparatus that
generated national political and social equivalence and the need for a
stratified and racialized labor force. Because the demand for "informal"
labor existed precisely at that moment when there was a drive toward
"organized la6or" wlihin a modern economy-displaying a formal link
tddy
Home, Houses, Nonidentity
361
nism had equated "wages" and
re to be enjoyed only by individ-
: system. By as soon as the mid-
and instead the idea of a wage
of "progress," indexing the ad-
italist economy. Lawrence Glick-

breadwinners as sufficient earn-

g needs of their families-slavery
ican freedom, gained. . . . Rather
om, workers began to equate the
not wage labor but low standards
'eedom became equated with the

Lot only marks the transition to-

s the fact that by the end of the
zed labor-citizen, male, and
inst the "unorganized" and "in-
e female, noncitizen, and non- grants were barred from forming
precisely because of political and"c
: by which each worker was said man notes:
rd or common standard of living,
ard of Living" and the "family If the American standard enabled
white mare workers to fashion
the early 1900s demonstrate well themserves
)paratuses in transforming indi-
its of abstract labor. Yet, in the
ed) labor defined this subject as
[epopulations.
I wage" purportedly raised the
er that his wages might suPPort ng to spend less, not vice versa.lt
ic effect of depressing women's
earners and defining the male as WAS
rd of Living" was said to be a na- that
rcknowledged to be higher than yo
'hich was itself higher than the
I in a hierarchy of standards, this chased,":l
:ed from the outset a tension and, regulatory lo_
en an ideological apparatus that n brothels or
equivalence and the need for a p the logic of an 1g9g labor leade4,
:ause the demand for "infotmal" at the home, not the salon or the
when there was a drive toward t of consumption.,,tz
rnomy-displaying a formal link _States,
famrly, labor market,
lation, interpellating certain
 362 Chnntlnn C. l?.edcly

paratuses are founded.

The White home in the United States at the turn of the century was
rhetorically ancl materially defined by
ple. As an Ideological State Apparatus,
one hand, it became tl-re site that ,,resol
eddy
I simultaneously racializing oth-
ites, of which the family or the
'ical force of the family wage and
:rformatively cited resulted not
crucial function in interpellating
:ause it served ultimately to pro-
;ress, and stability to shifts in the
neven and unstable and depen-
y firstly because it exposes how
rearticulated the "home" as an
resticated" unruly capitalist eco-
he "home" became a discursive
dern political nation for a stable
:ess. Secondly, as this moment
has historically served, as Al-
deological State Apparatus tl'rat
,of modern life. Yet to the extent
I location tl-rat both appropriates
tiation from the racialized work
rted by the conditions produced
nains a contradictory apparatus.
location that dynamically inter-
in modern "public" culture and
differentiation and social strata
;enance and reproduction; due to
rdictory apparatus of subject for-
e "American Standard of Living"
anced by Althusser on the ideo-
rducing the relations of produc-
I interpellated individuals as na-
d justified the depressed wages
r and the appropriation of gen-
Jrve as a reminder that any ideo-
lamily Ideological State Appara-
atus or technology preciselY due
;ions on which interpellating aP-
i at the turn of the centurY was
s exclusion of racial/ethnic peo-
served paradoxical ends. On the
:d" tlre tensions within a caPltal-
Home, Houses, Nonirlentity 363
ist crassed societv by furfiting
the poriticar demand of
stract equivalerrce.'on tlr"oill",i the'ation for ab_
racial/erhni. p"ol_l:,j.1- ,".o_e rhe sire that excluded
b"i;;; p"r, rhar equivalence.
them to have other ,,national,,
",
iunura, of livinf,
,r.1, u, ifJ)iHi
Standard,,, the ,,Negro
s;;r;;;; ,lr
nmigrant
American home an dr",t;;;;; e
ii","g,,
Standarct.,, rf the
an.Ideological Apparatus
that secured the rela
solving,, contradictions within tl.re
".orlo-i"
culture, a'd the ,,_private,,i''r,'ril" rr, s
"home,, articulated a ,
"o"t.uJi"t-io ;";"""
tion of national eouivalence
sitioned racial/etrnic people""d
i,, " Utn
or, i"rr"gi*rr
the national home.
The ,,home,, as a dis
ntly within po_
arts of this cen_
ld. yet the home as a site
ive and reproductive la_
rhetorics of ,,home,, rg tl_re New Deal era, the
ar inificantly linked, albeit
differently rrorrr ir., tt-," ,
workers d rr e * s.::,ff il:i,j ri,rj;
ilH: ilk:i mi:,", an r
invisible to the law, as
wren New Deal or tic service and agricul-
tural labo, *ortJomi
came collapsed intoho of color that easily be-
Not only was theAm
but the foims of lator rocated ,,within,, racially exclusive ways,
outside the state llgulatory it were artificially demarcated as
reach. Al
augurated federal social
citize"rnif, ii
citizenship along racialized
Ires 9f
prevrous era of the family
and
wage and the American
f:'59 theconcept of tire _1" r""#;i"
rmportant New Dear institutions, WpA; or
rti." or",iy ,,heads of househords,,,
:* j*r ;;; ii".
femare tabor. Buildt' often
",.1,,,io;;; ;;"".ar sov_
rectly, and reproduced a welfare state that di-
ed racial/ethnic workers urrj
ties. It l**.rrli
provsionsarocated,l''1li:i?'?'i,?Ji,".:rr,if
ffi ifiiTii
":':'ffi:"'j.:'r"ii"a"i'"','l"naspuertoRi"ia,,au,
mun. Wnii"-""")"'*"' y titled ,,possessive Invest_
ownership *ihil;"" Act of 1934 brought home
gories inirre;;;
singAdministratijniriil:::r{"ff:^:
 364 Chnndnn C. Iteddy

of the loan norey towarcr whites and

"ti;:l: away from communities
of
Lipsitz argues that tl.rroughout
oped policy and distributedoni
widened the gap between the res

ties, which resulted in gross disc

"color-blind,, State strove to ,,reso
gated communities, in part
rgyglt to give "cultural,, exp
vided housing. The State al

discrimination at tl_re I
va ety is continuous with
cu e American Home and
r "Whiteness,,, a
-' tive experience of structural advan_
ially defined national terrain. If the
for its imperialist wars and racist ac_
interpellatir-rg its citizenry
ts who had equal access to
he architecture and estab-
hich the federal government chan_
red a contradiction for racial/ethnic
lly robbed of their property and de-
e State.la Tl.ris is,
in part, why fair
hts were so forcefully staked out
ts Movement.ts It also suggests that
generated by people of color in the
of collective endurance against the
anchisement. Queers of colo4, with
C. Reddy
Home, Houses, Nonidentity
hites and away from communities of
their experiences ofhor JGS

terial, ideological,
twentieth century the FHA devel_ and
:hat more than any other state organ
rces available to Whites and thse
nities. Lipsitz suggests that ,,during
, urban renewal helped construct
. . This 'white' unity rested on resi_
tccess to housing and life chances
tf color."\7 Even after the important
rf color, housing discriminadn per_
:hough the State declared itseff t be
'-bind" housing policy, it refused
to
'n clauses written to protect minori_
nination in the private sector. The
:" the persistence of racially segre_
r an official multiculturaliim t'hat
*)t
Marxist models that
took for granted the
that were unable ro
veloped critical
tink *"g"i;;;
",.T.1]:'..the
typicat worker and
laboiin
-"a"i,
,' tuf;;ff
oi"=:iii::.l1yusgd the home
o;th J-
tr'
, lJi";,:' j:#a ;; *
n a; u
" in "i,,',.",o
:ntative American home as still home the ,,mode era;1;;Jui"stic sphere and "*
the patriarchal
es_ figured n"*
,,,o*un,ri-,;"i;T",tf
"riti.,ll"
on at the I
ous with
triarchy as separate :mmil*':.-i"*':ii:
Iome and
tive. rorm s .r,,
i

uo,a1 I
d y"
""'
t" ;";iil':. rt"f i*::T,l:lf
,o;-
teness," a
remini,m-as,;l,T'?ilX1r'':i:l1:hy;iiilii'y,Marxisr
ve experience of structural advan-
expressed uniary
i"r;rtr. ;;;:,:::1"""p,,1 of the home as sire rhat
" * omui
lly defined national terrain. If the l!. )'^';;*',,iffl'i L"#',Jh''"ho-uri roni,lu,, apoi,, t
sense or the home
rr its imperialist wars and racist ac- Tl-" "r "."it?'v inrerests dirr;;;"d'?h":;"tjl^lh" as a
part by interpellating its citizenry
n-subjects who had equal access to
tied in the architecture and estab-
ich the federal government chan-
d a contradiction for racial/
' robbed of their property and
State.18 This is, in part, why
ffiffi+*;tff*ttrff*trgffi
ts were so forcefully staked
Movement.le It also suggests
;enerated by people of color in
rf collective endurance against
nchisement. Queers of color,

ru*mm*ffigW
366
Chnndnn C. Reddy

ratus.,, This is true, in part, because

location of racial/ethr.,i. ho_", u,
that State entity tl_rat might oth_
_imagine and recruit them
as
cial ideological function that ,,ser_

we can better understand the sig-

alerrce, and nonidentity between
Lowe reviews the wori< of Stuart
cial formations produce their own
nd groups can organize around. He
tegory "Black', in England, suggest-
site is botl-r the articulation of domi-
lation by minority or counterhege-,i
C. Reddy
Home, Houses, Nonidentity
der, class interact in such a way that 367
ric women are intertwined. . . . The
monic groups.
tton to the con
tded on the situation of women of
forces involved
al systems theory and the ,,internal
a, contested
men of color's experiences for ex_ process.,/24
rhrs notion a bit
Jnited States, are inadequate to the further
ler relations in the Unite States.
necessary attacks
on -
domination, it mav
women of color," Glenn makes the a
to the structure in
racial/ethnic homes and ,,White,, do
nance.2s
ts of "home" and "housing,, estab_
to and often against the racial and
nclude informal extended kinship
f,r" workers, whose exclusion from
ly members to the United States de_
tivity; collectivity and horizontality
"wage pooling"; shared and group
hers' high levels of labor forc parl_
public/private distinction in the
Lched to family businesses such as
,rkin
* )
sof >{-

nof
Lnd materially impossible and their
'ithin the State, then, racial/ethnic
of counter-knowledges of how so_
rracticed differently from the form
;ticity and the racial and gendered
:ial/ethnic "domesticities-,, can be
with, but also run counter to the
atus." This is true, in part, because
ocation of racial/ethtri. ho-e, as
ty that State entity that might oth-
es-imagine and recruit them as
ial ideological function that ,,ser-

we can better understand the sig-

alence, and nonidentity betwr
Lowe reviews the work of Stu
I formations produce their
groups can organize around.
gory "Black" in England, s
: is both the articulation of
;ion by minority or coun
 368
Chandan C. Reddy

fusion of social identities, they

separate cultural productions
fr

Yet the subjectsof parisseem to

trv onto.r'"
"..,.-',"v
seze precisely
u." r"
the apparatus that constitutes ,lT,ty:ff:iiliiil
representation. What is most their otherness to achieve
instructive to
the
the subjects of paris, cognizant
of the paraaox, e
the camera (and to Liv"ingstnj;;h-; ff;"*""

the divide. As racialized, pooq,

and sexual mi
thar suggests tnt uoth s""iJl"ri,y
:l1i9.t:,
are sites that must disavow this
field of po*". t
:red, and sexual oth".r.
s supposed prior real
cific avowal that both
ceful sites of exclusivit
C. Reddy
Home, Houses, Nonidentity
luce cultural formations that fail to 369

ey,,contain,,, histories
communities.

:m1-Iamety, the objec

truth. Rather than consi( : moral imperative
for
generation of a crisis of
u precisely the paradox of their en_
the difficult situation of having
to
;titutes their otherness to achive
: to the viewer is the way in which
lradox, embrace, by playing up to
mclamental impurity of their en_ upon simulation and
accept a falsifying logic that sug_ entation; it is, as
y re-present social reality, they ap_ ny given perfor_
n. The subjects of paris, skild in dded]. Realness
it one reason why representation eality, but as the aes_
hat a field of power is Iocated i4 Jackie Goldsby
xual minorities, they maintain ere is ,realness,,
lreality and public represen culture. .. . The
power to legitimate the of erasure precisely
ese image(s) indeli_
others. While no
ior reality, in Pris the criti e children try.,,s2
at both normative rep
<clusivity that must refuse
esticity. And ,,Liv_
 370 Chnndnn C. )?.eddy

ingston's e'rtry into the houses constituting tl-re ball cornrnurlity owed
as
much to Craig Gilbert's seven-montl-r stay with the Louds [in Ai Atrrcrican
Fnmily) as it did to Alex l{aley's search for l-ris ancestors [ir-r Roofsl.,,3s
]s
as tl-re film declares througl-r the voice of one its docurnentary subjects,
"This movie is about the ball circuit ar-rd the gay people that,s involvd
in
it and how each person/s life brought them to hiJ circuit.,, within tire
course of the film, that circuit ranges from living in conditions of impov_
erished l-rousing to turning tricks or-r the corner; from creating forms
of
mutual support to throwi'g forms of fierce sl-rade; from movig into tl-re
center of national public fame to collective mournings of lost ,,clildren.,,
Paris Is Burning references domesticity and the "io*"," yet it does
so
on from a position of eccentricity. while much of tl-re subjects, lexicorl
and language is "mopped" from tl-re a.nals of domestic life, domesticity
is not the center of the documentary's dramatic structure. Rather, the
fil
is organized arou^d the ball circuit, trre houses that sustain it, and the
members who walk tl-re floor. Domesticity is the absent presence tl.rat
punctuates the life narratives of many of the interviewed sujects. Homes
and domesticity in Pnris are co'stitutive, yet absent. As pepper LaBeija
proclaims, "I fill the void these kids have without parents.,, wt,it" domes_
ticity in Paris is an intimate experience unique a'd particular to each sub_
ject, the "circLrt" is the occasion at wrrich ech subjct,s experience
is col_
lected and shared through laterar and vertical reltions r.rith ,,brothers,,,
"sisters," and "mothers."
Pris collects testimony from ma.y of its central documentary subjects,
Pepper LaBeija, Dorian Corey, venus, and Angie Xtravaga^za, tn the
ab-
sence of home, followi.g it up with a series of cps and"interviews orga-
nized around the linguistic cue "House." within t^he dramati. s"q.r"rl.irrg
of the film, then, "houses" are suggested as explicit responses to and im-
permanent structures built for, in part, the experience of domestic loss,
evacuation, ejection.
Although at first it seems as though both Livingston and the documen-
tary subjects posit these "houses" as possibly more accommodati'g
homes, fulfilling the ideal promises of a Lniversally incorporative lovin[
domesticity, a more complicated architecture of the "hoirses,, emerges.
D,orian Corey initially responds to Livingsto.'s question with ,,A house?
They are families. You could say that. Thiy are fmilies.,, yet, already in-
tonating a failed metaphor of ,,houses,, and ,,family,,, Corey continues:
"Houses are families for a lot who don't have famly. It,s not a man, a
women/ and children, which we grew up knowing i a family. This is a
new meaning of family. It's a question of a group of human beings in a
mutual bond." As though exhausted by the lengtli of her own answet she
quips, "A house? I'll tell you what a house i. A house is a gay street
gang." In Corey's commentary, ',houses,, shift from establishing identity
Reddy
Houte, Houses, Noniclerrtity
rting the ball community owed as with family, to refor
371
ay with tl-re Louds [1n An Americnn
with.a street gang.
for his ancestors [in Roofs]."sa y",
movrng from rearl.i
of one its documentary subjects, with other formation
I the gay people that's involved in
gangs) that cannot
tl-rem to this circuit.', Within the r
om living in conditions of impov-
re corner; from creating forms of
erce shade; from moving into the
ive mournings of lost ,,children.,,
ty and the "home," yet it does so
hile much of the subjects, lexicon
Lnals of domestic life, domesticity
ramatic structure. Rather, the film sure, and recognition.
Le houses that sustain it, and the
for example, is sel to
icity is the absent presence that v
f the interviewed subjects. Homes
'., y1t absent. As Pepper LaBeija
: without parents." While domei_
lnique and particular to each sub_
h each subject's experience is col-
'ertical relations with,,brothers,,, and not a physical
ns founded in the
its central documentary subjects,
it is to recognize
rd Angie Xtravaganza, on the ab-
their own hmes
of clips and interviews orga- tes, the houses in
1ie9
'Within the dramati" s"qnerl"ing
I as explicit responses to and im-
the experience of domestic loss,

rth Livingston and the documen-

possibly more accommodating rng subjects who are
aways in the process
universally incorporative loving ng partially to changing of
:cture of the "houses" emerges. material
the houses of paris aie
c?ucial col_
gston's question with "A house? d subordinations generaied
tey are families." Yet, already in- xposing nodes of affinity in the
,"Jiir,y between
and "family," Corey continues:
't have family. It's not a man, a in the inter
p knowing is a family. This is a 8u:,1"*':'i,til"i:i"i1:
,f a group of human beings in a us,s death, she was ut
u Cfr.irt*as show
ne length of her own answer, she
to the State morgue
tuse is. A house is a gay street after her murdei in
shift from establishing identitY use nobody came to
ngie,s recognition of
 372
Chandnn C. Reddy

Venus that transfor

and identical to th

engage the home as

a

neous s
sexuals, reoP transsexuals,
identi of color-who are
ese heterogeneities.
Instea
). lleddy
Honrc, tlorrscs, Nonidctt|ity
onymous corpse, unaccourted
for 373
act not only of the State, but of a
:ory and remembers her ,,legencl.,,
)use of Xtravaganza, who mirst
in_

part, sites that are es

ologies and material
e central purpose
is not

Notes
d Victor Bascara for
:ach subject as the product of their
an
ose contradiction elaborates itself
ttradiction-a damage that, in re_
rldsby locates as eq"ually found
nses to racism.38 ,,The fact of the
-from assimilationist to national-
r exclude and silence its (queer)
I the subjects who bear its traces
rf collectivities that collect unlike
rf community. pe. Directed by
Jennie Livingston. Academy
Enter_
place into community heteroge-
sexuals, gay men, postop trans- trans. Ben Brewsrer (New york:
:i!rn:{:."'"ttty,
who are not "unified" by apnor
the Original: The
ties. Instead, the houses ae ex- Subject of Dicte,,,
arcn and Elaine in Writirtg Setf
H. Kim (Berkeley: Third
Woman
 374 Chnndnn C. Reddy

4. I use the term "raciar/ethnic peopre" to designate

a heterogeneous sociar
grouping composed of different sets of iaciarized ppuhtions.
Trr'term does not
signify a differences and heterogeneities within
thecateg history of State racializiion_a histori_
cally situ eut populations with their unique experi_
ences of racialization i.r relation to a common repressive
state. Maxine Baca Zi.n
and Bon.ie Thornton Dil rrave provided one definition
of ,,raciar/ethnic peopre,,:
The terrn racial-ethnic
nated and rernain cul
clude (1) the systemat
ancl (2) their distinctive cultural arra
African American, Latino, Asian Am
structed as both racialry and curturally disti'ct. I' tl.ris
book we use such
terms interchangeabry because trrey are curre.tly used
in both popurar and
scholarly discourse.
I would add that it is the role of multiculturalism to imagine
cultura forma-
tions that are pure al'rd crosed and rendered discrete
from onenother. Raciar/eth_
I forlnations as heterogeneous, impure,
uralist multiculturalism might levl im_

coalition and linkage between distinct s

late the logic of either au undifferentiat
manded by state multiculturalisrn or a
ethnicity.demanded by cultural models. see Maxine Baca Zinn and
Bonnie Thornton Dill, "Difference^atio.alist
and Domination,, , itt wontett of Cotor itt LI.s . so_
ciett, eds, Maxine Baca Zinn and Bon.ie Thornton
Dill (philadelphia: rempte uni
versity Press, 1.994), p. 1,2.
5. stuart Half "signification, Representation, Ideology:
^structuralist Debates," Critical sttrlies Althusser and trre post-
in Mnss Conuntntlinilors, volume 2, Number
z 1985), p. 98. I have rear^ed greatly from this
{u1e noi ."rf ""t wrrar is
val*able in Altl'russer's essay, but aso about what po.t,"rroy,f his essy signifi_
ca't elaboratiolr and reformulation from the standpoint of people 'eed
irr.rg *i,Lir-' u
racial national society such as Britain in the 19g0s.
6. Hall takes issue with the narning of these private
and civil institutions as
"Ideological state Apparatuses" becase it sirnpiifies
trre more o',a
urgent questions "o,''fti.ut"a
,,civil soci-
en when
ety" is granted a
idloroges that r ;ttffi"t:"j:
tonornously. Hall

His [Althusser's] does not give sufficient weight to wrrat

Gramsci wo'ld call^omenclature
the immense complexit"ies of society in mdern sociar
forrnatio^s-"the trenches and fortifications of civil society.,, It does not be-
gin to make sense of how complex are the processes by which capitalism
must work to order and organize a civil society which is not, techniclly, un-
der its immediate control. These are importaniproblems i. the field of ideor-
lan C. Reddy

Home, Houses, Nonidentity

r_F
r/:)
ogy and culture whi.h rL^ r^--,-
the formulation, "ideological
courages.,r rof#In srate apparatuses,,,
en_
See Hall, p. 101. Fo

apparatu
much the
tion as th
dissent.

.56.
.56.
ing rhe ,An
ifuol'nu',i"[);3i.,::ili;.i,:*::fr:

ls established not
only
the capitalist class,
bui
specific
capital-
board,
alleth-
'pp.23r_2.
p.232. I
r/
to the term by Stu_
I location the State
many different social
y historical fomation. I

ortant problems in the field of ideol- es and is multidimen_ /

of the crucial sites in

es of different kinds
 376
Chandan C. Reddy

are condensed.,, Hall

bring togethe r or art
cal discourses and so

in Constructions of Citizenship
.766.
of

passed under the Fair

Labo

ay an adequate wage
and
th of the Male Breadinnei:

rban whites still lived in

p.374.
chment: Transformation

s.
w
w
o
t

on.
ddy
of the State is, in part, precisely to
ructured instance, a range of politi-
is added). Equally, though, subju-
nge of discourses and practices, si-
lhe exact terms of domination and
State: Constructions of Citizenship
995), p.766.
ural and political formation "people
this chapter speaks includes social
r relation to the United States in the
y of. "racial" formation in relation to
ate in their "homelands." For exam-
Ld to the people of Puerto Rico, who
.S. colonial tutelage since 1898. AI-
:edlework industries militantly de-
lvocate to include Puerto Rico in the
ir Labor Standards Act, the FLT and
nands. When provisions associated
, they were meted out in specifically
. For example, food stamps, a pro-
he Puerto Rican population in the
rsfer payments, are specific ways in
aids industry and capital in supple-
lucing their actual wages-support-
reocolonial economic formation. As
rorkers, these transfer payments are
lt do not pay an adequate wage and
fla, The Myth of the Male Breadzuinner:
Llder: Westview Press, 1995), p.'17.
ent in Whiteness: Racialized Social
:ican Studies," American Qunrterly,
Home, Houses, Nonidentity
377
nd philosophy, pp. 127_86.
Marriage of Marxism and Feminism:
men nd Reaolution: A Discussion of the
ed. Lydia Sargent (Boston: South
End
R*iar Erhnic women,s Labor:
:g:*::":X:oor..""i^,1
3. Gender and Class
Race,
i, ;';::,'::,:;i"'"
Laoor: rherne Intersection
rnrersection of
of Rndicar potiticil Er;;;).o
12. N,mhe" ? r.roa2\ _.^o#i:t.j louy vor,l*"
l,,i:?:::',i?l_?,:t l" 19.9 1* ;"" ^*;;ii;;":;'::;i::## iii
:jJffi "l::'1;,:"j5,,:::::ll*;"""i."ini;;i:ili"'ff
il; Agarwar/ "I'atriarchy and the ,Moderniziig, .;""7
'.*';:1#:;i'l
0j,"-._,:^il1.l l]";
Anintrodulti;;,;;;';;",rla State:
of patrinrchy: State, Community
A/rnj_i_:.-^ ^:_ , ^.ruc.tures Communita and Houehold .
Houschnt in
Y#';i7::i;iffi
" n","-",y;;;idi""',i',ffi
*.'j:l:':y:ll*:_Jir,*,,"i1"1,"liiW:::i;:{;''ri
I T 1l': is book for a history of the cotonil
:,i_^*?"i":ruationortn@nit.;il;il;"br".iffi
British feminisms. :ii::,::""1i1
bori, p.105. Glenn,s critique is pow_
one segment of it.
SZ. See Hall, ,,Signification,,, p. 113.

,,.SZS+.
lnt of suburban whites still lived in
1." Lipsitz,p.374.
lnd Retrenchment: Transformation
ss,7992), pp.145_56.
'r," in Critical Race Theory: The Key
rl Crenshaw et al. (New York: The
le is an important one from which I
Marxist readings of the law sug-
ltus that stymied dissent and "re-
n within the juridical sphere, for
erience of exclusion from the law
gitimating apparatus or state tech-
:ontributed to a "racial" overdeter-

tz,s book explores the form as a hetero_

 t/3 ()l ('.
trt t tt ltt t t lit't lr I t

8c'll('otl:j l('tr('llttl hits cltrbcc lrollt t.r,l_tl.csstr/o o,t.(rr]t1:riyt,lrl

itrit,l .r. 1.'t j

I vvor.l( of l,tula lltino\^,itz ll :ihilpitr, lly

I r,an orrly inatctrlrrittcly ilclcx tlris ir
Lhis
tivtt f llis lrot.li 9l-Lh cltapl.r.. Sc. l,'l.l
:'lltt l)ol ilit,s ol l)ottrtrrurlrifV (Ncr,v Vr.1<:
2ll (]rroLctl in f cssc (r'r'crr, "r'r'is r ras Bur.rrcc,,,
Netp yrr '/.rlrr,s, Aprir rg, r99:,
scclion 9, p. I I

too r.ictt Lo srnlntal.izc irr any otrc l.Lickt,

l,ar.tictrl.l,y irpo.1 t,r. iy tIiu<.ig
,,3cntlt,r,,, is
f rvjthjt trt, r,onLtrrL ol. thc, fn,
./,
li.Vctrlrs,q l.tcc antl class dcsl.its. lnl_

rlclt lront prrbcr.ty io acJUlthoOcJ_tcncl L

urocJcls oI linr_.ar.ity. ln llrrglish litct.aturc

lrclrt o1 ttc pr.otagonist fl.our yorrtrftr1 i
hoocl t'csolvcls lhc inconsisLcltcics, chaos, anc conft.lsion ol chilclho,cJ a'cJ
ihc stlbjccL's clotlrpltlliou into stabc iccntity. *ar.ks
oltcn this is rlarkccJ by hcL.*rs.xual
rcsis, arrtl irlent ity. li,cl
1.sy111aysis,
il.our thc standpoiltt oI scxil] tillcl.ttncc
l.cntir[iolt ar-rti constiLution, has histol.i_
icl, anrl nrrrltiply collsIitntccJ srrbjcrct. .lir

s ,,o,,1,r, w,c,-r .rhc,. ri,r.nrs .r,,,u.,,.:,,:,1]':l;]lll::lllll,ff:il];l-

l.rolrsionaI histor.y, irt rvhich gt,nclct., t.acc,
orrsly cctcmririing thc sul.rjcc,l,s lor.urs
cl' rtroclcls ol clcvclopt.ncn[ rc: thntwtr
r.clil.ruu li ktcl .

t 09.
. I t3 _.'t4.
" anrJ its lctlaLirul to ihc colonia subjcct,
,,,c,i/ (L)r,rr-ra,n, N.C.: )'kc U,,ivc,.,,.u ,,,.,,1JJi'1.,T;1t'iJ'ii"i'i,i:i,|1 ff';
i
li'{
ii
 __.-
rrr C. lit:tltlq

regressivc anc.l racJical c,

rycss1vc11
I wrrrk of paula labinon or fcmi_ I t n t [_]o t.t st,s, No rt i
r l c t t I i l.y

r .,,,,, ;ry'; ;,;; :" ;:ii',:,1 379

lvc this prrrtiotr of tll., iJ ll,i' ; li,l
"
r r,, n ri ,", ;;.:;;;l).,'^
" i:ll
"
Brrrnecl,,, Ncru york
Tinrcs, Aprl 18,
lg9g,
ted, p.132.
'ed, p.131.
t fhc Discttrsiac
Lirnits of ,,Scx,, (New york:
oo rich to summariz '.
)articularly
inrporta
"gendcr,, wiihjlr
th
for Venlrs,s
race ar I

raly ways. This essa

tions of kinship, to
t
sites tha t cal'retle
ublic culture.
l:nr:,ls Brrrtritrg,,,in
"t errr,r,r Looks: pry-
Ma.rtlra C.vcc johl
C."yr..,,.', n,rA
^r'cls.p.
Y3), ltrl.
t, p. 131 .

subject,s
r is com_
e lnove_

rrares.rire j:ii
to rnarrrrc adulrhoocJ.
:.:lT:
Lu (oltuston of childhoocl Aduit_
o,.l ,no.t
Ulten thrs is marked
t y tr"t"ror"^r
irr rrre
j]1."11:l!,r, Eve_n pycrroa,,o
ndpoilrt of scxual diffcrnce
sra
ryJ,
a.nd
f.1t;rur
a,rro .colrstitrtiotr, llas histori_
rnultiply constituted subjcct. To
Itrancc into sc,xuality
as a cJcstabiliz_
.' cross social rclations
and ilrc arbi_
which genderr, race,
the subject,s forms
opnent are tirrown

t-74.
d its relation to the color.rial
subject,
h Writing nttrl the post-Cotoninl Mo-
1993). See also his chapter in this