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Copyright by Melissa Anne Vera 2019 The Thesis Committee for Melissa Anne Vera Certifies that this is the approved version of the following Thesis: Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: Exploring Abject Performances of Masculinity APPROVED BY SUPERVISING COMMITTEE: Julie Minich, Supervisor Laura Gutierrez Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: Exploring Abject Performances of Masculinity by Melissa Anne Vera Thesis Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of The University of Texas at Austin in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts The University of Texas at Austin May 2019 Acknowledgements I would like to thank my girlfriend, Trinica, my cats, and my pup for their unending support. I would like to thank my thesis supervisor, Dr. Julie Minich for her understanding and encouragement. I would also like to thank Dr. Laura Gutierrez for her feedback and for great conversation. iv Abstract Queer Eye for the Straight Guy: Exploring Abject Performances of Masculinity Melissa Anne Vera, M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, 2019 Supervisor: Julie Minich My analysis of Justin Baldoni and his online series Man Enough and will talk about the ways in which the men in the series attempt to hold themselves accountable to what they consider to be new standards of manhood. They get vulnerable with each other, talk about body image, and talk about the ways in which the #metoo movement has affected their lives. They talk about male privilege and the ways in which they are trying to combat gender inequality, through keeping fellow men accountable. I will examine the character of Rogelio in the CW show Jane the Virgin. I will talk about the ways in which his camp aesthetics and performance of excess lead to his unique queering of masculinity. I will explore the ways in which his self-fashioning as a diva works to make his character less traditionally masculine. I will engage with the ways in which his race and body are separated from colonization. I will be reading his body language and gestures, and the ways in which these devices add to his melodramatic flare. I will also be speaking to the privilege that comes from his status as a man, v specifically the ways in which his gender expression is queer but still gets to be a sort of playboy. I will focus on Jewish rapper George Watsky and three of his pieces entitled “S for Lisp,” “All Like Whatever,” and “Going Down.” I will talk about the ways in which George Watsky fails at what is typically expected of a white man and his masculinity. That is to say that he rejects certain aspects of hegemonic masculinity. In the same vein, he also fails to overcome his privilege as a straight, white man. This is where the running theme of accountability comes into play. He acknowledges this privilege and attempts to rectify the ways in which he profits from a system that prioritizes his needs over the needs of others. vi Table of Contents INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................01 Masculinity, Gender Roles, and the Binary ...............................................................02 Queer ..........................................................................................................................05 Cancel/Call-Out Culture ............................................................................................06 Transformative Justice ...............................................................................................07 Failure and the Refusal of Mastery ............................................................................08 Privilege .....................................................................................................................09 A Note on Style ..........................................................................................................10 Overview ...................................................................................................................11 Chapter 1: Man Enough to Count on Women ..................................................................13 Episode 1 and 2: "Why Don't Men Talk?" and "Let's Get Vulnerable" ...................17 Episode 3: "The Ugliness of Body Image" ...............................................................21 Episode 4: "#METOO" .............................................................................................24 Chapter 2: Rogelio and Queering Masculinity in Jane the Virgin....................................32 Latino Stereotypes ....................................................................................................34 The Performance of Fatherhood ...............................................................................36 Michael Cordero: The Ultimate Brogelio .................................................................40 Beauty, Narcicissm, and Fame .................................................................................45 Chapter 3: Watsky and the Performance of Failure ..........................................................49 Hegemonic Masculinity and a Brief History of Rap ................................................54 Pieces and Performances ..........................................................................................58 vii S for Lisp.......................................................................................................58 All Like Whatever.........................................................................................60 Going Down ..................................................................................................62 CONCLUSION .....................................................................................................................66 Queering Masculinity: What's Next? ........................................................................70 Bibliography ......................................................................................................................72 viii INTRODUCTION “I can and do aspire to be greater than the sum of my experiences, but I accept my limitations.” -Sonia Sotomayor This work initially started as an examination of and inevitably critique of toxic masculinity. Through the process of writing this, I found it best to work outside of the binary of what “good” and “bad” masculinity are. That isn’t the point of this project. I am trying, instead, to understand what goes into the formation of certain kinds of masculinity and how men work against these ideas. This project is about the process of unlearning and relearning, about making mistakes and growing from them, and doing so in the public eye. I think it important to talk about these issues at a time in our society when accountability is so important. Considering the racist and sexist attitude of current President Trump and the growing popularity in movements like #metoo and #muterkelly, it is time we consider what these things have in common and what has led us to a culture that is so vocally intolerant of hate and discrimination. While progress is being made in bringing attention to the importance of bringing race and feminism to the forefront of conversations, with it also comes the recent cancel culture phenomenon. To cancel someone means to dismiss them on the basis of one or more problematic actions. Kanye West in all his controversy comes to mind as a victim (?) of this phenomenon. For the purposes of this project, I offer up actor Justin Baldoni, rapper Watsky, and fictional character Rogelio de la Vega, as examples of men who, while fallible, also hold themselves accountable for their mistakes and the mistakes of other men. As 1 adrienne maree brown, prominent transformative justice advocate would say, “there is always something to be learned from a mistake.” Rather than denying their wrongdoings, these men apologize and reflect and grow. Not to say that these men are exceptional and should be treated as such, but that their behavior be a model for the average man attempting to grapple with their privilege as men in ways that support women. Their behavior, though not entirely revolutionary, is what should come to be expected of men in a society that gives them so much power. MASCULINITY, GENDER ROLES, AND THE BINARY I find it important to talk about the utility of binaries in this work seeing as this work is attempting to complicate those binaries. In this work, I am attempting to move away from the good/bad dichotomy, instead I intend to have a more nuanced conversation. What is in between good and bad, and what do those blurred lines mean for understanding of the world as black and white? Though this is my intention, I still expect to slip up. I’ll talk about moving outside of the binary in the same paragraph where talk about men in comparison to women, as if that binary is inclusive. Even though I want to move past these binaries, they inform my understanding of gender and power now. For my purposes, I hope to complicate different kinds of binaries outside of gender. This includes moving beyond binaries such as, healthy and unhealthy or toxic and non-toxic masculinity. I would like to move away from idealizing and romanticizing masculinity and focusing on the negation rather than 2 the formation of the woman. I take on the queer project of moving past binaries in questioning their utility. When we think of masculinity, we automatically assume that it is equated to manhood. Jack Halberstam states: “Masculinity and maleness are profoundly difficult to