'I Sing, Therefore I Am:' A Ponderance on Black Gender Nonconformity and Sonic Performance
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- This paper approaches conversations about Black gender nonconformity and its relationship to the act of making and performing music. The artist has the unique opportunity to be received and perceived en masse through the visual and audio performances they choose. This ability to self-fashion is critical for Black gender nonconforming people, whose gendered and racialized ascribed identities impose onto them someone they are not. I will be focusing on gender performance as it relates to Black gender nonconforming identities. I will not be attempting to define or encompass the range of ways these performances could look, but will instead be contextualizing and attempting to expand the boundaries of queer performance– why and how do Black gender nonconforming musicians perform their gender and/or their rejection of gender? Through page one, a self-written EP, I will explore the ways in which my performance of gender (or lack thereof) contributes to my expanding definitions of Blackness and the rejection of racialized-gendered socialization. By researching the performance of Black gender nonconforming identities, I am contributing to an area of queer studies that is currently in a stage of growth. I am approaching my research through a lens that is integral to understandings of Black queer theory, a perspective that is not present or fully understood in the general landscape of gender studies. I hope that my work will offer a space of safety and visibility for gender nonconforming folks– research on an identity does not legitimize it (identities do not need legitimizing), instead this research will move us towards a more holistic understanding of Black queerness.
Description
| Type of resource | mixed material, text |
|---|---|
| Publication date | June 9, 2023; June 8, 2023 |
Creators/Contributors
| Author | Roberts, Tyah-Amoy |
|---|
Subjects
| Subject | Gender nonconformity |
|---|---|
| Subject | Blackness |
| Subject | LGBTQ+ |
| Subject | Queerness |
| Genre | Mixed materials |
| Genre | Music |
| Genre | Text |
Bibliographic information
Access conditions
- Use and reproduction
- User agrees that, where applicable, content will not be used to identify or to otherwise infringe the privacy or confidentiality rights of individuals. Content distributed via the Stanford Digital Repository may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor.
- License
- This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC).
Preferred citation
- Preferred citation
- Roberts, T. (2023). 'I Sing, Therefore I Am:' A Ponderance on Black Gender Nonconformity and Sonic Performance. Stanford Digital Repository. Available at https://purl.stanford.edu/bk132gq7745. https://doi.org/10.25740/bk132gq7745.
Collection
Undergraduate Honors Theses in African and African American Studies, Stanford University
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- Contact
- tyahr23@alumni.stanford.edu
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