Rumblings: Some Days This Entire Town Feels Like A Giant Dollar Store, And We’re Just Clerks Humping The Merch
>>> When we saw the headline “Readers strut their anger against the Mummers” on today’s Byko column, for a moment, our hearts SOARED! Finally, we thought, the people of Philadelphia have WOKEN UP and realized that this RACIST TRANNY PARADE is but another long-standing black eye on our city. Finally, we figured, even Byko-reading proles have realized that, as a people, WE ARE ABOVE THIS. But no. What is the piece really about? Byko readers who actually take this Mummers shit seriously, whining about how the parade could be “better.” We don’t even know what that means. [DN]
>>> Sigh. Well, at least the Skybus comes here now. Cough. [BizJournals]
>>> And the latest in homegrown Philly physical therapy? Frankford Avenue Wii-Hab. Pardon me, kind sir, but do you think this ambulance could drop me off at La Colombe so I can be with the Frenchies and snobs who deserve me? I simply cannot bear you people anymore. [MediaSyndicate]
January 10th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
“Byko readers who actually take this Mummers shit seriously, whining about how the parade could be “better.” We don’t even know what that means. [DN]”
It means:
And it means:
http://www.vaudevillainsnyb.com/?page_id=37
Joey, I understand that a minority of the Mummers are quite offensive. The Vaudevillains were nervous as to how they would perceive a young eccentric group of artists when we joined. But we continue to be surprised at how welcoming and kind they have been.
I just don’t understand why you are petitioning to end the longest running parade in America? 10,000 Mummers pour their hearts into this event all year long. The Vaudevillains are proud to be a part of this tradition and we have worked hard all year long to correct the incorrect assumption that it is a “RACIST TRANNY PARADE”.
The Mummer Parade will go on marching long after we are gone. To correct this “long-standing black eye on our city”, shouldn’t we work with the Mummers instead of throwing stones from the sidelines?
If you’re with me then join the Vaudevillains for our monthly mummer meetings held at Space 1026 the first Wednesday of every month at 7pm. The next meeting is February 6th.
Learn more here:
http://www.vaudevillainsnyb.com/
January 10th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
This post is mighty simplistic and transphobic. Swell.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
Dude. “Racist tranny parade”? If you’re gonna bust some of them for being racist, maybe try not snickering at them for being “trannies” in the same breath.
The Mummers Parade is an unbelievable folk tradition, a living, evolving piece of historical art in this city. When you spit on it, you spit on Philly, and you create us vs them, yuppies vs townies friction that does absolutely nothing to benefit this city or your cause.
Besides the Vaudevillains, I saw a hippie peace brigade (who were actually unironically strutting for peace) and some kickass non-white brass bands in this parade. And I had an awesome fucking time, and marvelled at all the effort, like I do every year. The negative elements to the parade won’t die out because you call them racist trannies, they’ll die out because they’ll age out and be replaced by new brigades with more modern values.
Don’t throw the 100 year old, beautiful baby out with racist baggage bathwater.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:41 pm
I think this stems from Philadelphians extreme sensitivity. Do citizens of Rio fear outsiders will think little of them because Carnival always leaves dead bodies due to thick crowds & 8 inch blades? Do citizens of New Orleans worry that Mardi Gras represents misogyny and race-based police beatings?
Are Philadelphians simply embarassed and outraged by white people in elaborate costumes drinking and peeing in public? Is it racist because its 99% white peeps? Perhaps it maybe ethnically discriminatory due to a lack of Greeks and Latvians? A large number of Irish-Americans participate in this event, no?
What I’m saying is Philadelphia should be proud to have an event that has lasted so many years that the sunbelts like Phoenix and Charlotte will never come close too. When I was a small child I remember on New Years day the parade that we’d see on the streets of the small Portuguese island my parents left, Madeira. The Mummers Parade is the closest thing I’ve seen to it on this side of the Atlantic.
Be proud that they finish with a whimper unlike most annual pagan spectacles. The problem is the disorganization and the drunkness that comes from the comics. Everything else about the event, especially the string bands, should remain intact.
January 10th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
That one group dressed up in Mexican “brownface” with fake moustaches and sombreros looked pretty racist to me.
January 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
“That one group dressed up in Mexican “brownface” with fake moustaches and sombreros looked pretty racist to me.”
I agree completely that there is racism and lazy uses of stereotypes in the parade. But how do we change this?
The Vaudevillains are up against Comic Brigades like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LFQX43AVpDk
I have a relationship with the Mummer community and many of them were offended and surprised by Ryan Creed’s recent article in the City Paper that stated:
“The obstacles to starting a Mummers brigade are not only practical, but also psychological. In their hundred-year history, the Mummers have earned a reputation of aggressive racism, misogyny, homophobia and classism. The criticisms are not unfounded. Black-face was a popular costuming theme until it was banned in 1964, and women were barred from performing until 1975. However, it is the intimidation resulting from “ownership” of the Mummers Parade by mostly straight, white, blue-collar men — many of whom are carrying on a decades-old family tradition — and a legacy of the small-but-vocal minority of threateningly intoxicated, slur-throwing Mummers let loose in the city streets that keep most Philadelphians as onlookers instead of participants.”
The Mummers don’t see themselves this way. How can we educate them? Send me your opinions at aryon@space1026.com and I will express them to the Murray Comic Club.