Abstract

The purpose of this study is to investigate visual signs of queerness at The College of Wooster through a written thesis and photo collection. I utilize queer theory, feminist ethnography, and work of Nan Goldin, a queer feminist photographer, as the inspiration and framework for the methodology and theoretical structure of this research. In this study, I aimed to decipher how modern queerness physically manifests through the study of its predecessors: Victorian dandyism, the Harlem Renaissance, 1950s gay and lesbian culture, and the 1990s to the present. According to this research, Victorian dandyism and its queer implications have not left queer culture, they have merely shapeshifted and resulted in different physical manifestations of our modern time. This study, and its examination of Wooster’s queer culture, results in a photo collection of queer students currently inhabiting its campus. Observation of clothing, body modifications, creative expression, and melancholia throughout queer history and queer culture on Wooster’s campus prove that there are coherent gay semantics that merit examination.

Advisor

Sikk, Helis

Department

Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies

Disciplines

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies

Keywords

queer markers, queer, LGBTQ+, gay, lesbian, Victorian dandyism, Harlem Renaissance

Publication Date

2018

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis

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© Copyright 2018 Evan White