“It's Like Mixing Paint”: Songwriting Gender Diversity and Alternative Gender Cultures with Young People as an ‘After-queer’ Methodology

Elly Scrine

doi:10.15845/voices.v19i3.2852

Abstract

This paper conceptualises songwriting as an ‘after-queer’ approach for exploring notions of gender and sexuality with young people. The article draws on songs created by seven groups of young people in music-based workshops which took place in schools with participants aged between 14–17. During these workshops, songwriting was used to explore the participants' imaginings of what gender might look like in their "perfect world". 'After-queer' scholarship is introduced and referred to throughout the paper as it relates to queer theory and research with young people, particularly focusing on discourses of risk and vulnerability that emerge across these fields. The paper highlights the value of creative and arts-based methodologies in queer research, through which expansion and questions of possibility, alternative, and identity can be raised and responded to. 'After queer' is offered as a useful lens for critical analysis, particularly in light of complex questions related to the promotion of "diversity" that emerged through the findings.

Highlights

This article draws on songs created by seven groups of young people in music-based workshops, to conceptualise songwriting as an after-queer (Talburt & Rasmussen, 2010) approach for exploring gender and sexuality with young people
The gendered terms I use to identify participants are based on the way they identified themselves during the workshops
In Australian contexts this requires attending to the ways gender fuses with Whiteness and settler-colonial relations to re-inscribe notions of progress and citizenship. This project echoes findings from international research which demonstrates the importance of providing spaces for young people to explore notions related to gender and sexuality and express their ideas and visions for alternative cultures

Summary

Introduction

This article draws on songs created by seven groups of young people in music-based workshops, to conceptualise songwriting as an after-queer (Talburt & Rasmussen, 2010) approach for exploring gender and sexuality with young people. The paper demonstrates the value of creative and arts-based methodologies in queer youth research, through which notions of expansion, alternative possibilities, and identity can be raised and responded to. I seek to highlight and critique dominant narratives present in research related to young people – narratives that focus on woundedness, victimhood, and risk, and that position queer and gender diverse young people as inherently vulnerable. I write the paper as a queer person myself, who is White, socialised as a woman, and nondisabled. In relation to matters of gender and sexuality, I am informed by the work of scholars who reflect upon the VOICES: A WORLD FORUM FOR MUSIC THERAPY

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