Brooklyn made some serious noise at The Barclays Center as thousands of fans clacked in unison for Pride Night with the New York Liberty (WNBA). The arena pulsed with energy, nearly sold out and echoing with the unmistakable rhythm of the fan thworp. TENz was invited to guest host the evening, curating both a live tutorial and a mini history lesson on the hand fan’s cultural significance. From ballroom to courtside, the sound filled the stands with a rhythm of pride, style, and celebration.
Hand fans have a significant history of symbolism within the queer community, and their use has evolved considerably since the earliest civilizations. The Egyptians saw them as sacred objects, Tutankhamun’s legendary tomb even contained two elaborate hand fans. Across Asia, fans weren’t just for cooling but for ceremony and symbolism. The Chinese introduced the brisé (“broken”) folding fan, while the Japanese perfected the foldable ōgi, which spread to Europe by the medieval period and became a symbol of status and elegance.
By the Renaissance, fans were the ultimate high court accessory. They weren’t just decoration, they were communication. A coded “fan language” developed, letting women flirt, refuse, or tease across a crowded ballroom with just a flick or snap.
Fans became noticeably integrated into American nightlife culture during the disco explosion of the 1970s and early ’80s. At iconic clubs like Studio 54, or really any party with fab music, the dance floor demanded movement, stern stamina and a steady stream of sweat. A fan wasn’t just chic, it was a essential tool in keeping your face on your face through the heat of the night and early morning.
As disco thrived and artists like Donna Summer and Sylvester ruled both clubs and charts, the fan found new resonance in drag and ballroom culture. Voguers such as Paris Dupree and Willi Ninja wove fans into their signature performance styles, while drag queens carried the theatricality onto their lip-sync stages, punctuating a verse or reveal with a dramatic flick.
Within Drag & Ballroom spaces, the hand fan once again developed its own coded language known as Clacking. The clack or pop became an audio & visual punctuation, a flamboyant period at the end of a sentence. The dramatic “thworp” of a fan wasn’t just a sound, it was an exclamation mark made manifest: a declaration of joy, lust, shade, or even applause.
By the 1990s and 2000s, fan clacking expanded beyond ballrooms and drag shows into raves and circuit parties. Marathon nights with endless dancing, heavy beats, sweaty warehouses fueled by every letter of the alphabet , demanded both performance and practicality. Oversized “clack fans” became commonplace: loud, flamboyant, and functional. They were tucked into jockstraps, waved overhead to cool dancers, and snapped to keep rhythm to the music.
By the 2010s, the fan’s evolution hit mainstream drag and nightlife. Branded fans with slogans like SHADE, WERK, or YAAAS became booming business. RuPaul’s Drag Race popularized the clack for global audiences, transforming what started as a niche gesture into a worldwide meme.
