General
hustling
What does hustling mean?
Hustling, in the Paris Is Burning sense, is escorting, sex work, and the other survival hustles many in the scene relied on to get by. For young, poor, often homeless LGBTQ kids shut out of straight employment, it was how rent got paid and how looks got funded. The documentary lays it bare without flinching: the glamour on the ballroom floor was frequently bankrolled by hard, dangerous work off it.
"She'd be hustling all week just to afford the gown she walked in on Saturday."
Origin
Survival slang in the ballroom scene; escorting and sex work, documented in Paris Is Burning (1990).
Frequently asked questions
What does hustling mean in ballroom culture?
It refers to escorting, sex work, or other survival hustles within the ballroom economy.
How do you use hustling in a sentence?
Within the scene, someone might say 'A lot of the kids were hustling just to make rent'.
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