Good Article Alert....

...concerning Blaine and Kurt, of course.  Many thanks to a friend of mine (Hi Crystal!) from Facebook as well as Deconstructing Glee for the heads up: there is an excellent three-part discussion of the two characters' singing styles in relation to current societal norms entitled "The Countertenor and The Crooner". (Part 2, Part 3)

Quotage #1:

“Defying Gravity” both reflects Kurt’s character and transcends him, presenting the feminine male voice, as, quite literally, defiant. In Colfer’s hands, this song becomes a manifesto for a new generation of queer kids. Kurt is here defying the dominant gender norms that would keep his voice from taking flight, as well as defying the sex binaries of American mainstream culture that would prevent from him playing a girls’ role. In Glee’s narrative, Kurt protests at not being allowed to sing the song because “it is a girl’s song.” “Defying Gravity” is the beginning of Kurt/Colfer’s gradual erosion and queering of the gendered/sexed norms surrounding popular singing, which Glee most often presents through Kurt’s reclamation of the diva.

(McCracken, from part 2)

Quotage #2:

Glee celebrates the crooner for the very qualities that masculinist America does not: his alignment with the cultural feminine through his preference for romantic songs and commercial pop, his status as an erotic object for male and female audiences, his beauty and sensitivity, his emotional openness and transparency. And Glee’s producers have cast an actor as Blaine, Darren Criss, whose star persona emphasizes and extends these same qualities to a remarkable degree. Like Kurt/Colfer, Blaine/Criss offers a new model of American male performer, one that goes beyond being gay-and-girl “friendly” to truly embracing a gender-queer performance style and persona. Blaine/Criss retains the sincerity of the crooner even as he performs beyond the boundaries of a fixed or normative gender identity.

(McCracken, part 3)


It's an excellent series (and definitely worth checking out). Beautifully written, wonderful points...I especially loved the historical context McCracken provides; it is strange to see how things have begun, changed, and evolved over the years, how society has changed. There's a lot of stuff, too, that your average grade-school history class leaves out (but this is not the time and place for that discussion).

This is the kind of thing I'm talking about: the wonderful things Glee is doing with gender and stereotypes and other themes and traditions. And it makes me so happy. Bring it on, world.

(Sort of related: My dad told me earlier tonight that he thought Kurt's version of "As If We Never Said Goodbye" was the best version he'd ever heard--and I did a little happy dance because I agree wholeheartedly.)