ENTER SCENE:WHITNEY HOUSTON’S FUNERAL
[FOUR WOMEN (MARY ANN MOBLEY, DOROTHY ARZNER, ELIZABETH CADY STANTON, WONDER WOMAN AS GAL GADOT), AND ONE MAN (PEPPER LA BEIJA) SIT OUTSIDE WHITNEY HOUSTON’S FUNERAL DISCUSSING SURVIVAL AND DEATH AMONGST GENDER AND SEXUALITY. A CONVERSATION ALL HAVE MUCH TO SAY AND SPEAK TOO.]
PEPPER LA BEIJA
It is truly such an honor and pleasure to be an attendee in the remembrance of Whitney Houston. She did the impossible, a woman, a phenomenal singer, a prominent woman of color, and a display of the American Dream.
DOROTHY ARZNER
What a beautiful, yet sad tragedy…
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
The pressure society puts on women is showcased here today, unbearable, unfair, and sick..
PEPPER LA BEIJA
If it wasn’t about her race…
DOROTHY ARZNER
It was about her sexuality…
MARY ANN MOBELY
And if it wasn’t about her sexuality
WONDER WOMAN
It was about her gender.. A vicious cycle that has taken yet another… Suffocating Whitney.
PEPPER LA BEIJA
It’s not just about women, gender, color, or sexuality, this is deeply rooted in politics
that constitutes women’s death or survival based on a false reality the world has deemed
“feminism” (Paris is burning).
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
We cannot allow societal pressures to walk all over women and claim each victim like a trophy. This is based on equality. I fought seventy-two years just for women to have the right to vote. I laid the foundation of what true feminism is. Do not fall victim, for this trickery or bewitchment that has manipulated the idea that feminism is the true criminal mastermind behind women’s rights or equality, for this is gaslighting... Oh how our founding fathers butchered the Declaration of Independence (Faluid, 2006).
MARY ANN MOBLEY
Such damage they have caused…They must be threatened by us.
WONDER WOMAN
I think it’s just pathetic amusement men feel when they want us to be the damsel, weak, or
inferior. If only they knew what was coming. This is war and a war they should be scared of. “If women gain power in war they’ll escape man’s domination completely!” Mars thunders. “They will achieve a horrible independence! . . . If women become warriors like the Amazons, they’ll grow stronger than men and put an end to war!” (Lepore, The Last Amazon).
DOROTHY ARZNER
Maybe we should have written the Declaration of Independence..
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
Funny you say that Dorothy, I did write my own version..” We hold these truths to be self- evident; that all men and WOMEN are created equal: that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure the rights of governments are instituted, depriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”..(Seneca Falls Declaration of Independence).
PEPPER LA BEIJA
Maybe add a little spice honey, can’t forget about us gays…
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
..“The history of mankind is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations on the part of man towards woman, have in direct objet the establishment of an absolute tyranny over her.” “He has compelled her to submit to laws, in the formation of which she had no voice.” (Seneca Falls Declaration of Independence)
MARY ANN MOBLEY
No voice! I went against the grain in my answer for Miss America, and boy did I really stir the pot. Threw them a curveball, bout knocked the host of his feet. He asked me a question that would have otherwise ridiculed me you know what I did? I did exactly that ridiculed the question; How do you get along with the opposite sex? I said according to an article I read, (and what society has deemed a norm) “the first they say is to get him to talk about himself.” Ask him what sports he likes, what his hobbies are, and if he can’t answer any of those you’re just quiet for the rest of the evening. I knew in that moment I was allowed to have a voice I made sure it was heard loud and clear to the world and was not quiet the rest of that evening! (Miss America Pageant, 1959).
PEPPER LA BEIJA
Vogue honey!
(Paris is burning).
WONDER WOMAN
What do they think we have a whole bunch of rocks in our head? We are supposed to just stand there and look pretty?
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
Worse honey, we’re just supposed to carry babies in our stomachs just as quickly as they come out.
WONDER WOMAN
No! I only hope I have helped lay the foundation and “set the standard among children and young people of strong, free, courageous, womanhood;to combat the idea that women are inferior to men, and to inspire girls to self-confidence and achievement in athletics, occupations and professions monopolized by men” because “the only hope for civilization is the greater freedom, development, and equality of women in all fields of human activity (Lepore, The Last Amazon).
PEPPER LA BEIJA
I hope you mean all children honey. Some of these children are barely just surviving, suffering, and dying on the streets because of their gender, race, or sexuality. Just call me Lazarus “The mother of exiles”, as I am the mother of La Beija, of the lost, unwanted, unaccepted, unloved, children who are not treated equal. Who feel they need to hide their true identities and self. Like a fairy godmother I gave these children a night to the ball to show and give the opportunities the world should have granted them. A night to break social standards, societal norms, gender inequality, to be anything they want just for one night without judgement (Lazarus, 2002) &(Paris is burning).
WONDER WOMAN
Sounds like home
(Lepore, The Last Amazon)
DOROTHY ARZNER
I was an exception not the rule…
PEPPER LA BEIJA
I wish the world would understand these children as I do.
MARY ANN MOBLEY
I believe if we lived in a world where men and women communicate and understand one another they will have respect and understanding for other people. But, that sure is hard to come by (Miss America Pageant, 1959).
PEPPER LA BEIJA
I only dreamed my mother understood me. When my mother found out I dressed like a woman, she disowned me and burned all of my female clothing I had collected. She burned my favorite perfume not understanding the depth of what those things meant to me. They weren’t just things. It broke my heart. She did not respect me. I sympathize with lack of respect for women as the lack of respect I have received simply for being gay (Paris is burning).
MARY ANN MOBLEY
I am here to influence women to stand up for themselves to show they are strong and to embrace confidence. To embrace confidence in all aspects, birth control, independence, and strength. We are not just a pretty face or baby makers! The only ones who are deviant are the ones trying to say that feminism is deviant (Lee,1981).
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
Let us not be shackled by these men. Let us be reminded and remind the world the pressures Whitney took on that led to her ultimate death.
PEPPER LA BEIJA
Let’s change and shape equality for women, men, gay, and children of color.
WONDER WOMAN
That we are not defined by the size of our breasts! We are the missing link that will start
a chain of events (Lepore, The Last Amazon).
MARY ANN MOBLEY
Not to be crowned in swimsuits just because of our bodies, how unladylike! To be crowned in gowns (Slaughter, 1945).
DOROTHY ARZNER
Let us write the story, set the foundation of the right direction .
WONDER WOMAN
Let’s us not forget, and keep fighting the good fight
MARY ANN MOBLEY
Let us bring justice to Whitney’s death!
DOROTHY ARZNER
Demand equality!
PEPPER LA BEIJA
For the gays, and children!
ELIZABETH CADY STANTON
For women!
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