The Iman Time Machine Ball Recap

NYC Pride marks the coming of the House of Iman annual ball and once again Overall Mother Aisha Iman gathered the bigwigs of community health organizations to sponsor a beautiful venue in order to throw the ball. Free HIV testing provided by H.E.A.T. with support from Hetrick-Martin Institute and GMHC women's program.

My disappointment started first with seeing the lack of support from not only the womens houses and walkers but from the mainstream and kiki scene. No ball will ever be a hit if a minimal amount of people show up or walk. Then it was elevated when seeing how many people showed up so many hours late. I, myself was late due to preparing for my sister's graduation party later on that night but the majority of people arrived at least 4-5 hours late and some even complained that the few categoris that were left were taking too long b/c they wanted to run off to attend a club event that night. If people would have arrived on time, the ball couldnt ended within enough time for all of them to go home, bathe, rest and get dressed to be at the club at a good time.

Ultimately, a ball us only as good as the support, participation and respect from the community is.

I would love to read some feedback from those who attended but for those who haven't attended... watch the following videos and "You Be The Judge"!


Best Dressed


Womens Face


Womens Sex Siren


Womens Body


Shoe & Bag


OTA Runway


Butch Realness



SOOOOOOO "You Be The Judge"...

In Memory of Legendary Jennifer Banks Evisu

Legendary Jennifer Banks Evisu, Reigning Miss Gay Caribbean USA, Face & Realness Diva, Hair Stylist Extraordinaire, performer and LGBT activist passed away this week due to medical complications. This post is to honor her memory and her legacy. I usually would write on and on about her life, her accomplishments and her contributions but her actions speak louder than any words I could type. (Click here to read her NY Daily News Article) So I leave it to Jennifer to showcase what makes her such a loved, appreciated and well-respected woman in the ballroom/pageant/LGBT scene...

I present to you...
LEGENDARY JENNIFER BANKS EVISU
Pageantry




Stage Performance


Ballroom






Picture Montage of
The Many Faces of Jennifer Banks Evisu
(made lovingly by Grandmother Susan Mizrahi)


Myself and the 'Getting My Life' staff send our condolences to Jennifer's Family and Friends. She was an inspiration and shall be missed.





xoxo
Roxi

More Ass? Less Class? Same Sass? - FQ Sex Siren

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinion or position of the ball promoters or hosts.

Female Figure Sex Siren - one of the two most popular categories has changed over the last ten years significantly. Much like the evolution of societal views of the sexual image, the category has grown exceedingly explicit which begs to question: Has the video vixen image distorted the respect we have for our female figures? Is it possible to remain classy while parading all your 'ass'ets?

In a previous post regarding the Body category (Let's Get Physical) it was discussed that Body is shaking what your mama gave you, which leads to the assumption of being next to nude but does sex siren NEED to lead to the same assumption?

Our sex kitten icons from the 1950s who sold small doses of sensuality have now been replaced with images of spread eagle vixens alluring their audience with much more than a set of bedroom eyes.



Personally, I idolize a classier sex siren entrance much like Legendary Mother Sinia Ebony...



Now sex sirens resort to less clothes...

Shannon Ex-Khan


And now also contain sexual explicit actions (i.e. dancer moves)...

Icon Overall Mother Angel Revlon


Now don't get me wrong, Revlons and Angel fans, I am sooooo not judging her! I'm one of her BIGGEST fans (and no I don't mean big as in wide haha)! As a matter of fact, she's brought back the sensual sex siren walk recently at the Evisu Ball 2010 and I applaud her and think she looked AMAZING!



So now that you've seen both ends of the Sex Siren spectrum... what do YOU think?

Ball Schmall! This Is The Greatest Show On Earth!

A Ball is a competition where teams of people known as "houses" compete against each other in various categories based on fashion, realness, hair, dance and costume effects just to name a few.

To be honest, a Ball is nothing more than a big show and the judges are forced to choose which house gave the better show. Elaborate costumes, grand entrances, skits and self-confident people displaying their skills and/or talents is what makes a Ball so great.

A Ball is a form of entertainment for those who compete as well as for those who spectate. For competitors, it's showcasing themselves and earning their "oscar" in less than ten minutes. They are fueled on anxiety and confidence that this time they will win. For spectators, its about viewing the outlandish antics, choosing your own winner and hoping that your choice wins.

Many reality tv shows that we watch currently are based on the ideal behind a ball. Our runway categories are mimiced by "America's Next Top Model". Our fashion categories are mimiced by "Project Runway". Our dance categories are mimiced by "America's Best Dance Crew" and "So You Think You Dance". You can find traces of the ball scene in a lot of the competition based shows. Even our couple categories can be traced to the reality dating shows.

A Ball is synonymous with the LGBTQ community but is open to all genders, races, creeds and sexual preferences. Below is a video of the 2010 "Fashion Revolution" Ball presented by GMHC's Latex Project. If you aren't intrigued to see more after viewing this video then you aren't living! (just a joke... I'm pretty sure you're still breathing)