23rd Annual Student Research Conference
k.d. lang and Queer Country
Karianne M. Jones
Dr. Marc Rice, Faculty Mentor
k.d. lang is a musical sensation who has performed within numerous genres, ranging from country to pop to jazz. In 1992, she publicly came out as a lesbian, and this move was coupled with a distinct change in her musical style and appearance. She moved from the country scene to pop music, and her androgynous cow-punk look became more of a butch feminine look. Several critics have argued that this shift in appearance and musical genre enabled her to sell to a bigger crowd while sacrificing her original ambiguity. However, this shift was also marked with a distinct rise in feminist activities. Thus, this paper will attempt to discover k.d. lang's ability to encourage feminism and gay rights through her musical styles and performances. Specifically, I will be looking at the Joanie Sommers cover "Johnny Get Angry" and Cole Porter's song "So In Love."
Keywords: k.d. lang, country music, pop music, queer music, feminism
Topic(s):Music
Women's and Gender Studies
American Studies
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 26-2
Location: VH 1010
Time: 9:45