Queer in the Choir Room: Essays on Gender and Sexuality in Glee

by Michelle Parke (Editor)

Overview

These new essays examine the many ways that issues of gender and sexuality intersect with other identities and practices--including race, religion, disability, music and education--on the Fox hit program Glee. With gender and sexuality concerns at the crux, the authors tackle such specific aspects of the show as the coming out narrative, Glee fandom and fan fiction, representation of sex education, and the intersection of Broadway music and queerness. The aim of these essays is to open up a dialogue about Glee--which is often dismissed by critics and fans alike--and to reveal how scholars are critically engaging with the show around issues of gender and sexuality.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786495931
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	10/28/2014
Pages:	296
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Michelle Parke is an assistant professor in English at Carroll Community College, near Baltimore, Maryland. She has published in Studies in Popular Culture and The Pedagogy of Pop, a collection of essays centered on teaching popular culture.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: Why Glee?
I. The Narratives of Coming Out: “I have to just be me”
Coming Out: Challenging Portrayals of Diverse Sexualities (Tracy L. Hawkins)
Forced Out of the “flannel closet”: The ­Coming-Out-Gay Imperative (Taylor Cole Miller)
II. The Intersectionality of Queerness and Other Identities: “I’m not interested in any labels, unless it’s on something I shoplift”
Race and Ethnicity
“The only straight I am is ­straight-up bitch”: Santana, Kurt, and Discursive Constructions of “Post”-Identity Ideology (Benjamin Phelps)
Defying Blackness: The E(race)ure of Mercedes Jones (Anita M. DeRouen)
“We’re all freaks together”: White Privilege and Mitigation of Queer Community (M. Shane Grant)
Religion
The Princess and Her Queen: A Queer Duet (Rachel E. Silverman)
Going Beyond Grilled Cheesus: Glee and Queer Theology (Erin Kathleen Marshall)
Disability
“I still have use of my penis”: Disability and Queer Sexuality (Meredith Wiggins)
Sexualities
“So, is this the part where you judge me?” Adolescent Sexuality (Niall ­Nance-Carroll)
Let Me Get This Straight: Attraction and Actions (Christine L. Ferguson)
No Substitute for Comprehensive Sex Ed: Analyzing Sexual Ethics (Jane B. Meek)
The Musical Theatre Performer
Glee and the “Ghosting” of the Musical Theatre Canon (Barrie Gelles)
III. The Complexities of Gender—Overachievers, Good Girls, Bad Girls, and Tough Guys: “That attitude starts in high school”
Gold Stars and Slushies: The High Cost for Overachieving Girls (Kasey Butcher)
“I’m a Slave 4 U” but Only When I Want to Be: Female Sexual Agency
 (Melissa Esh)
“The Power of Madonna”: Unleashed?  (Rebekah Lobosco)
Doppelgängers in Lima: Gendered Identities and Divided Selves (Sheryl Lyn Bundy)
IV. “I know what Glee is. I’m a total Gleek”: The Cultural Reach of Glee and the Many Roles of Its Fandom
Glee Literally Means Glee: The Queer Art of Community’s Parody (Nicholas Alexander Hayes)
“Everything is Klaine and nothing hurts”: Klaine Fandom and Explorations of Teen Sexuality by Female Fanfiction Writers (Emily ­Hamilton-Honey and Amy Patrick)
About the Contributors
Index