Pose

Pose (also seen in all caps, POSE) is a drama television series based on New York City’s African-American, Latino, and Afro-Latino ballroom culture in the 1980s and early 1990s.
==Fandom==
===Houses & Naming===
The chosen families that make up the ballroom culture organize around Houses, and the character’s surname may or may not be their House name. Example: Elektra starts season one as the House Mother of House of Abundance and does not have an established legal surname to go by, so her character name appears as Elektra Abundance.House of Abundance Pose Wiki page. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) It refers to Elektra Abundance during season one. In situations where House names change or characters join and/or form new Houses, the character might have a new surname or a hyphenated surname. Example: Elektra forms a new House in season two called Wintour, so her character may remain Elektra Abundance, appear as Elektra Abundance-WintourElektra Wintour Pose Wiki page. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) It uses Abundance-Wintour and a redirect from Elektra Abundance., or when signifying relevant season two information, appear as Elektra WintourHouse Wintour Pose Wiki page. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) It refers to Elektra Wintour as House Mother.. However, due to how quickly characters may change Houses and House names, some characters may only be referred to with their first name. Example: Instead of using a House name for Elektra, some fics on AO3 use Elektra (Pose) as her character tag on Archive Of Our Own.
===Shipping===
===Season One===
* Angel/Stan Bowes or Angel Evangelista/Stan Bowes
* Patty Bowes/Stan Bowes
* Damon Richards-Evangelista/Ricky Evangelista or Damon Richards/Ricky
* Costas/Pray Tell
* Blanca Rodriguez/Pray Tell
* Damon Richards/Pray Tell
* Pray Tell/Original Female Character
* Angel Evangelista & Blanca Evangelista
* Blanca Rodriguez & House of Evangelista
* Blanca Rodriguez & Elektra Abundance
* Blanca Rodriguez & Damon Richards
* Blanca Rodriguez & Pray Tell
* Gen and/or no pairings indicated.
===Season Two===
* Continuations of season one pairings, including Gen and/or no pairings indicated.
* Candy Ferocity/Lulu Ferocity
* Lulu Ferocity/Original Female Character
* Pray Tell/Ricky While I can remember encountering one Pray Tell / Ricky fanfic on AO3, I did not download or save it before it was deleted. There are zero fics turning up in a search for Pray Tell/Ricky, otp:true on AO3. Search originally done on 10 February 2021.
==Fanworks==
===Fanfiction===
* AO3: Pose (TV).
* FanFiction.Net: Pose (TV).
===Gifs & Edits===
* Instagram: @posefx.tea has an Edits category.
* Tumblr: poseedit.
An example reblogged outside of the fandom was posted by Tumblr user kiwimidnight of a scene of Elektra reading a white cis woman from s2e9 (Life’s a Beach). As of 13 February 2021, it’s received over 325,900 notes:
==Controversies==
===Colorism===
Colorism (also spelled with a 'u' as colourism) implies using “prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their color”The Difference Between Racism and Colorism by Lori L. Tharps (accessed on 10 February 2021) is one of many articles that points to ‘colorism’ first being defined in print through Alice Walker in In Search of Our Mothers’ Gardens: Womanist Prose (1983). as a means to decide who is worthy of opportunities, and resources, and generally, “the farther away one’s skin tone is from dark”‘Pose’ exposes the colorist issues that still plague TV by Tirhakah Love. (Accessed 10 February 2021.) (Archived link). the more opportunities and resources they can access. Some fans of color have noticed a lack of mainstream reviewers addressing colorism in Pose, in part, because “there was a hesitance to ridicule a show that was making history by featuring trans characters played by trans actors. ”Candy’s Life Matters Part Two: Candy, ‘Pose’ And Colorism by Monique Jones. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) (Archived link).
There’s a running gag in season one that Candy carries a hammer to take out her competition before a category. Elektra’s character development at the end of season one from a harsh House Mother to a kinder one inspired by Blanca gets reversed within the first two episodes of season two when she declares herself better than House Evangelista, flips the dinner table, joins House of Ferocity, and then leaves that House to form her own. In contrast, the prominent lighter-skinned trans women characters from House Evangelista - Blanca and Angel - receive season-long character development arcs that don’t get reversed. Some fans have also noticed that all three of the darker-skinned characters - Candy, Elektra, and Pray Tell - have been more likely to swear and use the T-word (or T-slur) compared to lighter-skinned characters using “transsexual.”Dear Pose, Candy Deserved Better by (JustinJ1232). (2019, July 10). Youtube, uploaded by King of Reads. (Accessed on 10 February 2021) (Archived link).
Both Candy and Elektra have also been the recipient of violent narrative arcs based on real events that happened to lighter-skinned trans women. One of Elektra’s dominatrix clients dies during scene preparation, and her method of hiding the body in a suitcase in her closet is based on the mummy found in Dorian Corey’s closet after her death.The Mystery of Dorian Corey, the Drag Queen Who Had a Mummy in Her Closet by Christopher Rudolph. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) (Archived link).The Cadaver in the Drag Queen’s Closet, Doughty, Caitlin. (2019, July 20).Youtube, uploaded by Caitlin Doughty - Ask A Mortician. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) (Archived link). Candy, who had transitioned from stripping in season one to full service sex work in season two, dies sometime during an encounter with a client and is found in a motel room, which is based on the presumed circumstances of Venus Xtravangza’s death and her body being found in a motel room.Venus Xtravaganza Wiki. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) While Ryan Murphy and executive producer/writer Janet Mock wanted to address the reality of violence against trans women of colorPose Has A Colorism Problem by Jessica Rae. (Accessed on 10 February 2021.) (Archived link). in season two, Candy’s sudden death at the hands of a client stood out against the handling of Angel’s client relationship with Stan Bowes throughout multiple episodes in season one:
However, there’s room for Pose to make different decisions around dark-skinned characters in season three, which is expanded upon in the following quote:
===HIV/AIDS and the relationships===
In season two, Ricky finds out he’s HIV+ and approaches Pray Tell for guidance and companionship. Fan reactions to the transformation of Pray Tell & Ricky to Pray Tell/Ricky have been mixed.
==Archives, Communities & Resources==
* Instagram: posefx.
* Reddit: Pose FX.
* Twitter: PoseFX.
* Tumblr: Pose FX.
==References==
Category:Live-action Television
Category:Fandoms by Source Text