“I Will Rock Some Glitter like You’ve Never Seen”: Queer Burlesque, Femme Organizations, and the Public Queering of Femininity

Description: I am currently collecting data for my ethnographic and interview based project on the private and public dimensions of queer femininity.  Based in the cities of Atlanta, GA, Portland, OR, and Seattle, WA, I am conducting observations of queer burlesque troupe performances and of queer femme organizational events; members of troupes and organizations are also interviewed.  I am specifically interested in the private identity based concerns of being queer and feminine and in the public aspects of bringing identity concerns to a public forum.  This project is most interested in the ways that social change around the issue of femininity is sought by my participants.    

I see this research as an intervention into the usual feminist conceptualization of femininity as problematic and into the usual academic conception of normative sex-gender-sexuality alignments.  The project provides useful empirical examples on the experiences of queer feminine women, but also offers a more general knowledge on the production of gender expressions, on the ideological meanings of femininity, and on how social change occurs within sub-cultural communities.

Articles Under Review

Ryan, Maura.  “Crew Cuts, Combat Boots and Babies?: Gender Accountability (and Responsibility) in Masculine Lesbian Talk about Pregnancy.”  [under review at Gender & Society, after a revise and resubmit decision] | Link to Abstract

Ryan, Maura and Dana Berkowitz. “Constructing Gay and Lesbian Families ‘Beyond the Closet.’” [under review at Qualitative Sociology, after a revise and resubmit decision] |
Link to Abstract

Ryan, Maura. “The Shimmy Shake Protest: Queer Femme Burlesque as Sex Positive Activism.” [under review at the Journal of the History of Sexuality]. | Link to Abstract

Meet My Mentors

Dr. K.L. Broad-Wright, Chair of Dissertation Committee
Dr. William Marsiglio, Committee Member
Dr. Milagros Peña, Committee Member
Dr. Constance Shehan, Committee Member
Dr. Kim Emery, Outside Committee Member