Performing heterosexiness on the main stage

The interwebs are pulsing: Jenelle Hutcherson is Long Beach's first openly gay pageant contestant!

Beauty pageants have a lot of notoriety, famous in feminist discourse for reifying a very strict standard of femininity. What then does it mean when a lesbian enters a beauty pageant?

I think this question is interesting because it cuts at the core of what femininity really is and who is able to achieve/possess it. Already the discourse around Hutcherson's participation in the pageant affirms the heterosexual core of femininity.

I have already read two different versions of the statement with which I started this post. One depicts Hutcherson as simply the first openly gay pageant contestant. The other, however, posits her as the first openly gay pageant contestant to wear a tux, insinuating that there have been other openly gay contestants but they did not perform gender deviance as Hutcherson plans to by presenting in the formalwear associated with the male gender.

This distinction necessitates the question: What is the difference between the participation of a lesbian (I'm using the words Hutcherson uses to label herself) who performs normative gender and the participation of a lesbian who does not?

Femininity is a hegemonic category. Basically, femininity is seen as a given category. Femininity is seen as natural, not constructed. The naturalness of femininity makes all the ways in which it is constructed invisible. It also makes invisible the assumption that there is an understood natural category of the ideal feminine. Hegemonic femininity is inextricably linked with white heterosexuality. It is not possible to be appropriately feminine without being a white heterosexual. 'Real' femininity is constructed in relation to men within the context of heterosexuality.

A critical analysis of the behaviors and actions that a female must engage in to construct femininity further emphasizes this point. Many of the behaviors are centered around sexual desirability. But sexual desirability for whom? The intended, implied, or assumed audience is not queer. It's white heterosexual men. The aim is to be heterosexy.

Okay, let's apply this lens back to Hutcherson. Hutcherson is always already marked as not a real woman because she does not engage in heterosexuality. Further, however, she presents a non-normative gender. She cannot 'pass' as heterosexual because of her gender identity. In North American society there is a strong association between gender identity and sexual identity. It is not always accurate, far from it. It is a product of the heteronormativity of society. If heterosexuality is the norm, then females will behave in order to be sexually desirable to males. Intentionally bunking socially accepted and expected norms around gender presentation implies that a person is not interested in taking part in heterosexuality.

Of course, that may or may not be accurate. What is important is that such behavior is read that way. A person who presents a non-normative gender is coded as queer.

So, Hutcherson, with her non-normative gender presentation, would not be able to 'pass' as heterosexual in the competition. Would she want to? Probably not. She seems pretty loud and proud about her position in the gay community. She is running specifically as an other in the pageant. However, as an other, she doesn't really have an option. Her status as a contestant will always be qualified by lesbian.

And what do people think about her entrance into an event that preserves, embraces, and defines femininity?

Well, it really hasn't been that long since she announced her participation. However, she is not just any other contestant. Clearly. She is the gay contestant. Hey, did you know Hutcherson is gay? That means she is not like all the other contestants. Hutcherson cannot compete in the same way as the other contestants because, well, you know. She's gay.

All comments that I have read so far, whether positive or negative, affirm this otherness.

I want to highlight a few themes I have noticed so far in the comments: appearance.

Oh, did I say few? I meant ONE. Yes, about that. The main theme, not surprisingly, is about Hutcherson's appearance. She is "ugly", "butch", and "gross". People wonder why she won't just find a lesbian contest she could enter - I mean, you don't find straight women trying to enter lesbian contests so clearly lesbians shouldn't try to enter straight contests. Fair is fair, mos.

I won't go through all the comments (I know this post is getting long), but I want to check out one in particular: "I don't care that she is a lesbian but she is really ugly!"

I think this comment nicely sums up some of the points that I was trying to get at in this post. Hutcherson is an attractive person. Really though, Hutcherson is an attractive lesbian. She is certainly not heterosexy. So, in terms of that comment, it does matter that she is a lesbian because that is constructing the frame through which the speaker is defining beauty. The speaker is referring to heterosexual attractiveness, or hegemonic beauty. That is why Hutcherson, who does not perform normative gender or sexuality, is not viewed as possessing it or able to achieve it.

I'm interested to see how the discourse around her participation will develop.