Sex Siren: CJ 007

CJ 007

What is sexy? Who is sexy? What makes them sexy? When posing these questions, people either have answers that contradict their previous answers, or stumble to find a way to quantify what is sexy. Sure we have society and cultural based attributes that make one person more desirable over another, but at the same time there is someone for everyone. Wit sex appeal being fluid and hard to grasp, how can anyone judge someone’s sex appeal over another’s? They can only judge based upon their own perception of what they find to be sexy. Recently I got the chance to speak with CJ 007 about the status of sex sirens, the façade of the family structure in houses, and being disassociated from the House of Milan.

CJ has been making head turns since his Super Ball 9 Hershey Kiss production, with that he became someone to watch. But watching is something that CJ has done when it comes to his fellow sex sirens, and he’s dismayed by what he has seen. “Sex siren has become so twisted and mutilated, half the sex siren who walk now are strippers or porn stars its not supposed to be that,” according to CJ, “Its supposed to be sexy, seductive, when someone sees you hit the runway, they should feel [that something is] left to the imagination.” But with so many sex sirens being naked, the mystique they have is nonexistent. But “you still have a few REAL sex sirens Kenyon [007], Elliot [Milan], Buddha [Balenciaga], they are sexy even with their clothes on.” CJ even holds hope that the category will reform back to the way it once was, those who have it just have it.

Apart from the lack of sex sirens, CJ seems to be disillusioned about the family structure in houses and the disparity in how they are perceived to function as opposed to how they really operate. From the outside looking in, its as if the House structure provides a surrogate family for individuals who may be searching for the necessary structure and support a cohesive family unit. But according to CJ this is not the case, even in first house he was in, “the first house was Manolo Blahnik I was searching for a family foundation. Even with the guidance from Jay the rest of the house was not as receptive. I felt out of place ostracized to an extent. I was the only Blahnik in my region and I didn’t even so much as get phone calls to see if I was still breathing, that’s not a family” “Everyone was real clicky…the New York kids hung with the NY kids, The Philly kids kicked it with the Philly kids…The VF ki ki’d with the VF girls”

After being a free agent for awhile CJ decided to join the house of Milan. “After speaking with Tony and meeting a few of the members I decided Milan would be a good fit for me and I decided to take the step of joining a house again. Milan is an elite house, they are successful on the runway and they exude class. But as time went once again I still didn’t get that family feel, [eventually] I was put out of the House of Milan.” The reason for CJ’s dismissal was “some of the powers that be said I had a lack of confidence and my body could use some work.” Understandably when you are exposing yourself to be judged on physical attributes there must be a certain level of confidence that one possesses. If actions and behaviors like this occur in every house then what is the purpose of joining a house? Is this the singular experience of one person with two houses, or does this speak to a larger issue of Houses, in particular house members not understanding the need to support each other both on and off the runway. But is it even the responsibility for the house or its members to provide a surrogate family for its members? With people leaving houses, joining new houses, only to return to their previous house it seems as if people are searching for something that many houses cannot or are unwilling to give.

Outside of the Ballroom scene, CJ has other activities to keep himself busy, holding an executive position in the motorcycle organization DC Ruff Ryders, events planning, and commercial print modeling are just a few. It’s been almost a year since CJ has appeared on the runway and with his outlook on the scene how much longer will it be ?

Word Association

Nudity...................Sex Siren

Perception.............The way you see something

Reading..................A book, some people need to do it

Affirmation............Don't need it from the ballroom scene

Confusion................A lot of people

D.C..........................Late

Kenyon 007

One word to describe Kenyon 007 (now Free Agent) is unbothered. One of the best ways to cope with working full time, going to school, and also being a part of the flourishing underground culture known as the Ballroom Scene is to not be bothered. There have been stories of those who allow the ballroom scene and the persona that they have created for themselves to take control and dictate all aspects of who they become, but Kenyon is an exception. Part of the allure of Kenyon is the fact that he is unbothered. The smoldering c'est la vie attitude combined with a great body and a handsome face- he embodies the aesthetics that typify the category known as Butch Queen Perfect 10's.

Kenyon's introduction to the ballroom scene, like so many others, happened when his best friend brought him to a couple of balls in 2002. His friend, a member of the House of Prodigy, introduced Kenyon not only to a world filled with gender fluidity, a celebration of both the masculine and feminine ideals, but also to the leaders of the House of Prodigy. When asked how he got inducted into the house, his reply was "I got voted in, unbeknownst to him (the friend)." Since then Kenyon has been turning heads on the runway to earn the status of Statement for his category…all without letting any of the fame and notoriety associated with status get to him.

The interview with Kenyon soon turns to perceptions. With the ballroom scene being a microcosm of the larger gay culture, perception sets the tone in many cases for how and if people chose to interact with what they see. Walking perfect 10's, sexy siren, or body causes one to be perceived as highly sexual. When Kenyon was asked how he is perceived, his response was: "a lot of people take me as being mean, I stay to myself…I observe a lot."

Having competed and won as a sex siren, (where a lot of people pour various liquids on their body, gyrate, and lick their lips until they're damn near raw) it seemed like a logical question to ask what
Kenyon found sexy. His response was "a nice smile, good body posture, physique, it depends. Being naked is not, leave something to the imagination."

Having competed in both Perfect 10's and the Sex Siren categories, Kenyon was asked what the perceived difference was between the two: "perfect 10's (consists of a) touch of realness, face, and sex appeal. With Sex Siren you don't have to possess all of those things."


With the differences, it would reason to think that to be successful in both you would have to sell it differently. Kenyon's advice for himself and anyone else who competes in both categories: "Keep it simple, if you posses what you posses…you really don't have to do too much."

Having crafted his physique by being active in sports while growing up and staying active to keep it up, Kenyon has not let his body or his accolades create someone who is obnoxious or seedy. For
further proof, when asked what was his ballroom high was so far it was not his awards, but the first ball that he went to when he understood everything that was going on. Being unbothered allows you to weather and to cope with the slings and arrows of life, both inside and outside of the ballroom scene. When anyone gets too wrapped up into one aspect of their life, another of equal or greater importance suffer, luckily for Kenyon this is not the case.

Word Association

Sexy- Its an aura, it varies on people it comes down to
an aura

Love- Unconditional

Friendship- True and Everlasting

Epitome- Nothing Higher

Effeminate- Upbringing; if you're raised around women all
your life, you're going to adapt to what you were
around

Masculine- A façade. It could be taken two different ways: you are or you could be portraying somebody. It all depends on the atmosphere and how you portray yourself.

Balance- Control, to enjoy life- the good, the bad, the worse. Life is unexpected, if we knew what was going to happen.

Andre Milan

Clark Kent & Superman

There was a book I read when I was freshman that talked put forth the assumption that any one person can be different people in various crowds. In other words, around your family you are one way, when you are at your job its another way, and with your friends someone completely different emerges. Well the same can be differently applied to the ballroom scene, many people who get life in the scene, or who are legends and icons when they go back to their regular life, the celebrity status fades away and they revert back to how they were previously. This can also be applied to the Andre Milan, the easy going, well spoken, southern sounding gentleman is nothing like the Andre Milan who hits the floor. Selling sex to all those in view, commanding the audience with a look at me bravado that few can compete with. Similar to how Beyonce has Sasha was her on stage counterpart that takes over, Andre goes from being mild manner Clark Kent, to Superman sex siren. Recently I got the chance to talk to Clark Kent about his experience in the ballroom scene.

It all started in 1998, at that time Andre got introduced to the ballroom scene and started to walk face as his first category. But at the insistence of his friends, he decided to give sex siren a chance. His gamble into the category has paid off, culminating into his career high so far being 2004 when Andre Milan rarely lost. When asked what or how does he sell sex Andre laughingly states that he “performs a little soft core porn.” This soft corn porn can range from the part in parcel sex siren tactic of pouring water or oiling up the body and grinding, to stripping down further and further for each round, like going from boxers, to briefs, to thongs, to a smile. But as of December 2006, Andre has decided to take time away from the ballroom scene. By doing so Andre is making sure that he does not become overexposed and thusly taken for granted, so that every time he hits the runway it will be an occasion.

From there the discussion goes into what he thinks of his competitors, who does he step his game up for when he sees them on the runway, and are sex sirens capitalizing on their appeal off the runway. “Sex siren is for thinner people, maybe you don’t have to be super attractive to walk body, sex siren you don’t have to a well toned body, but an attractive face,” is how Andre delineates between sex siren and body. Its easy to think that an great physique means that you are sexy. But this is not the case, being sexy is a not a trait that can be pin pointed to any one particular trait but a feeling one receives when saying someone.

I asked Andre who does he step his game up for when he sees that they are competition. Some would answer that they view all competitors the same, but realistically for most of us that is not the case. Most people put forth more effort for those who we think are going to provide a challenge and hold back on those who are perceived to be an easy win. For Andre, Joseph Aga is one of those that make Andre bring it harder than he ordinarily would. Like with face, sex siren is not one of those categories were you practice for a week before and be ready for the ball.

Sex siren at least physically means you have to keep your body in some semblance of shape which for Andre Milan means working out four days a week. With this preoccupation with the body and explicitly selling sex rationally it would make sense if those who would flaunt it, would not be opposed to being sexual. So I posed the question, are sex sirens more promiscuous than other ball walkers. “I do know a lot of sex sirens that are promiscuous, but likely they were before they began participating in the ball scene. Promiscuous activity for others may derive from new found attention which probably got them to that point.”

Often times in the ballroom scene you hear of these tragic cases were someone who is known for turning their category does so at the cost of being a more productive person when asked what keeps Andre from falling into that trap, he responds its due to having priorities and positive people in his life. “It revolves around your priorities, and what your influences, who set the examples for you. They don’t really train you how you should be; I had people tell me to take my ass to school.” Ironically what Andre is describing is one of the secrets to success; surround yourself with good people and good things will happen to you. Its simple laws of attraction, and part of Andre’s allure is this. His ability to be brazen and modest at the right times, containing polar opposites into one makes Andre Milan the very embodiment of the Clark Kent and Superman.

Word Association Game

College........................................Education

Fights...........................................Ignorance

Milan...................................................Greatness

Love......................................................Nice

Legendary....................................................Eminent

Favorite Category............................................Vogue Fem

Discipline.......................................Lessons

Light and Lovely: Randy Balenciaga

Light and Lovely

Perception is not always reality, after asking people for interviews, interviewing some, this came to light, those who people laud and applause are not always the ones who deserve it, while many of the ones who do deserve accolades whether they receive it or not are always gracious and humble. Many times when you see people in the ballroom scene you rarely hear them speak because they are busy on the runway. Often times I have found myself imagining the voices of those who I am interviewing prior to hearing them speak. Imagine my surprise when I called up Randy Aga and got his voicemail, his message relayed a voice both deep and full of urban inflections and patterns that I would never except from someone who walks for face. It may be due to my own inherent stereotypes of what a face kid should sound like. But upon really talking with Randy, I have come to find out that runway Randy is very different from the Randy that I interviewed. The Randy I interviewed opened up about controversies in face, his choice of house, and dating in the ballroom scene.

Two words to describe runway Randy is light and lovely. But when one looks at BQ face, there seems to be a lot of light and lovelies pumping down the runway looking to get their 10’s. Which leads to the question, in order to be successful for BQ face do you have to be light skin? “Not at all, skin tone doesn’t really have anything to do with why bq face is predominantly light or brown. There just aren’t that many dark and lovelies hitting the floor. If you have a line of face kids at a major ball waiting to receive there 10's, i can almost guarantee you that it will consist mainly of light and brown skin faces.,” is Randy’s explanation for why it seems that light skin seems to rule the category. Aside from complexion face breeds controversy to hear Randy tell it its because “beauty is in the eye of the beholder…one person may be looking for one element while someone else is looking for another version of it.”

Just as face has different attributes that people gravitate to, so do houses. Some houses are known for realness, performance, labels, and of course face. With there being a few houses that are known for face I wondered why Randy chose the House of Balenciaga, “I wanted to join a house that I could cultivate with. the Balenciaga's have an aura they have family aura, a sophisticated aura. I wanted to go someplace where I could grow and not be apart of a face clan with 20 or 30 other face kids.”

Being overshadowed is not a problem that Randy has to face anytime soon. Having garnered such accolades as Liberty Award Butch Queen Face of the Year NY 2007 NJ’s finest, BQ Model’s Magazine face, and being nominated BQ Face of the Year its hard to see how Randy could ever be overshadowed or being told that face was not his category. But in the beginning “I had a couple of people who would tell me when i first started walking some years back, maybe you should change your category. There was this one guy in Chicago who said I should change my category b/c he didn’t think I could go far in the scene. i wonder what he thinks now.”

With this notoriety within the ballroom scene, it must be hard to try to date someone who is a participant or knowledgeable about the scene, because there is no telling if they are with you for you, or for what you represent. “Being in this industry of ballroom you become a piece of meat in the window. Everyone wants to get a sample of it. You have to think with humility and common sense. not with what’s between your legs. I handle it by being humble, sane and mature.” Humility, personality, and a laid-back persona are the true elements of Randy Balenciaga; his face can be seen as a physical manifestation of his inner carta.

Word Association Game

Whitney Mugler...................... Icon

Harold Aga.........................Father Figure

Of the Year BALLROOM............................. Accomplishment

Grand Prizes..........................................Money

Latex Ball......................................................Biggest Ball of the year

Dating.....................................................Not sure how to answer this