James Barker and Dolly Parton
Dolly Parton, queer country, and why ‘back to normal’ is not a good idea.
James Barker is a third year PhD student in Music at the School of Arts and Cultures at Newcastle University. His research draws on how popular music industries, particularly the country music industry, marginalise and exclude anyone who is not a cis white straight man, but also how genre relates to ideas of identity including gender. His work also draws on queer theory and trans theory and the marginal position of LGBTQ+ people in country music, which is even more pronounced for trans people and people of colour.
For his current PhD James uses country musician Dolly Parton as a case study to explore LGBTQ+ Inclusion. As part of this James has written a journal article on Parton's persona and life-writing as constructed by her LGBTQ+ audiences, a book on the queer reading of Taylor Swift situated within country song writing conventions, and an essay for a photography book on Dolly Parton.
I asked James in what ways the pandemic and the government restrictions of the past two years highlighted anything to do with gender in his research, and he told me why he has a problem with the concept of ‘back to normal’...
“The uncritical idea of 'back to normal' has particularly struck me in terms of how 'normal' means marginalisation for a lot of people. There have been some shifts within the country music industry such as a move to streaming that are changing how some of the misogyny operates. For example, country radio may be slightly less of a gatekeeper, but streaming platforms take their cues from country radio in defining country: women are marginalised, and Black and queer artists are virtually erased.
James thinks that interdisciplinarity is important in gender research for a variety of reasons....
“Some individual subjects can be quite dated in their understanding of gender and so there is sometimes a practical need to draw on scholarship from other areas as well as forming a supportive community. Interdisciplinarity is also an important reminder that it is all our responsibility to tackle misogyny, racism and homophobia in all its forms and this should not be left to one discipline of group of researchers.”
As an early career researcher James’s experience at Newcastle University has been positive so far. However, he thinks that there’s a need for improvement regarding collaborations and how intersectionality is practiced at the university:
“As an individual I feel my experience has been more positive and I'm respected. I do feel as my research area is quite specific (especially in the UK), so I don't always have the practical support or someone to talk to who understands the particular issues in the country industry. Also, it seems that gender, race and sexuality can ”