University of Limerick Department of Sociology Working Paper Series Sociology UNIVERSITY of LIMERICK
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sociology AT UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK sociology AT UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK sociology sociology UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK AT UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK University of Limerick Department of Sociology Working Paper Series sociology UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK Working Paper WP2014-02 March 2014 Aileen Dillane1,Martin J. Power2, Eoin Devereux2 1Irish World Academy of Music and Dance, University of Limerick 2Department of Sociology, University of Limerick I am a ‘Humosexual’ and I need to be loved: A Queer Reading of Morrissey Available at http://www.ul.ie/sociology/pubs/wp2014-02.pdf I am a ‘Humosexual’ and I need to be loved: A Queer Reading of Morrissey Aileen Dillane, Martin J Po"er and Eoin Devereux Introdu$tion: “I am a Humasexual” Within hours of the publication of the Penguin Classic ‘Autobiography’ by Morrissey on October 17th 2013, the bulk of me#ia commentary focuse# on the singer’s account of his relationships $ith a man (Jake Walters) and a $oman %(ina Dehghani). After years of te#ious music press speculation and conjecture concerning Morrissey’s sexual preferences, many commentators conclu#e# that Morrissey had -nally admitte# to being gay* .o$e/er +ust t$o #ays later Morrissey $ryly refute# this narro$ interpretation of his boo! by stating: 12nfortunately I am not ho"osexual. 3n technical fact 3 am humase,ual. 3 am attracte# to humans. 4ut of course *** not many1 %Morrissey 2013). O/er three #eca#es, me#ia #iscourse in the music press and else$here concerning Morrissey’s se,uality ha/e focuse# in turn, on his self- #eclare# celibacy6 his se,ual orientation and his references (co#e# and other$ise' to 7ay experiences in particular* Such "yopic commentary ser/es to ignore the totality of ho$ Morrissey has treate# the co"ple, 9uestion of human sexuality* :ather than going #o$n the ‘is he;<isn’t he;’ cul-#e-sac this paper takes, as a starting point the $ay in $hich Morrissey’s creative output has consistently recognise# the fluidity of sexual and gen#er identities. >ueering and 9ueer #iscourses play a fundamental role in achie/ing this. 3n this paper $e #emonstrate ho$ Morrissey has e"ploye# his music performances and stage personae to challenge hegemonic assu"ptions about gen#er and sexuality in creative and pro/ocative $ays. Morrissey’s $or! in/ites a #eep textual reading that re/eals a co"ple, counter5hegemonic stance on the issue of gender and sexuality* We #o this through a close critical reading of his 1997 song ‘3 Can Ha/e Both’*i Our paper is organise# as follo$s: We begin by intro#ucing Morrissey and pro/ide an o/er/ie$ of the gro$ing bo#y of scholarship focuse# on his $or!* We then examine ho$ 9ueer theory has been use# to make sense of Morrissey and ho$ 9ueering in turn is in a"ple e/idence in his o/erall creative output* (he main part of our paper presents a #etaile# analysis of the song ‘3 Can Ha/e 4oth’* Our analysis #ra$s upon the standar# metho#ological approaches use# in Popular Music Stu#ies. '(o is Morrissey and why does he matter) As leader of (he Smiths and since his e"ergence as a solo-artiste in 1988, Morrissey has attracte# a #e/ote# global fando"6 an appeal $hich rests on his ability to combine a sense of ‘authenticity’ and ambiguity* He remains one of the most contro/ersial, co"ple, and iconic -gures $ithin popular culture6 a man $ith a Ameasure of cultural po$er to circulate commo#ifie# representations of the national au#io/isualB (Zuberi 2001, p.24)* AMany of his #isciples $ill tell you that by ad#ressing the #ifficult sub+ects most artists a/oid he’s someho$ helpe# the" handle life; through his open struggles to find a soul-mate to cope with the deaths of friends, to make any sense of this fuc!e#-up worldB %4ro$n 2009). It is fair to say that Morrissey has remaine# an anti-establishment -gure $ho continues to pro/o!e argu"ent and debate amongst critics and his many fans. 4ut who exactly is he; Morrissey e"erge# into the public eye in the early 1980s as the instantly recognisable 9uiff adorne# lead singer of the highly influential band ‘(he Smiths’* (he band signe# to ‘:ough (rade :ecor#s’ and release# their -rst single in 1983. Despite a hugely pro#uctive perio# together the band split up in July 1987. Morrissey’s -rst solo albu" Viva Hate $as release# in 1988 and he has had a prolific career since that time* On 17th October 2013, Morrissey's ‘Autobiography’ $as publishe# as a 1conte"porary classic1 under the Penguin Classic label, entering the 2H boo! charts at number one selling approximately 35,000 copies in the -rst $ee! of its release %4ury 2013). On 15th January 2014 Morrissey announce# that he had signe# a t$o5 recor# #eal $ith Capitol Music and he has no$ begun recor#ing the -rst of those albums* As a solo recor#ing artist and as leader of The Smiths, Morrissey has adopte# a range of contradictory and o/er5lapping positions in relation to his o$n identity* O/er the past 30 years he has maintaine# his reputation as a contro/ersial artist $ith his $orl#5/ie$ being primarily Jeft $ing and in some people’s eyes (and on certain sub+ects) /ery ra#ical. His republican /ie$s, Athe /egetarianism and animal rights, the celebration of gay and lesbian artists”, his “hostility to e/eryone from (hatcher to 4ush” and his comments on “immigration and the protection of 4ritish culture fro" outside influences” continue to court contro/ersy %4ro$n 2009). He has publicly #efende# the actions of the Animal :ights Militia, stating that he belie/es such /iolence is acceptable because it is perpetrate# against those $ho far" fur or conduct animal experiments, people $ho ha/e therefore “brought it on themsel/es” (Allar#yce 2006). 3n a recent ‘8tate of the Lation’ ad#ress he lambaste# the “la/ish expense of the :oyal $e##ing at a time $hen $or!ing-class Mngland $as told to cut5 bac! shut5up and get stuFe#B 9uestione# the une9ual treatment of $or!ing class people by the me#ia, and challenge# the establishe# understan#ing of the 2H riots (Morrissey cite# in E#mondson 2013, pp*KK -71). As a multi-layere# (and sometimes reluctant' icon, Morrissey has attracte# the attention of scholars and become the focus of a gro$ing bo#y of academic $riting (see for exa"ple 4race$ell, 2009; Martino 2007; :enyolds and Press, 1995; 8tringer 1992; Zuberi, 2001; Ha$!ins 2002; Hubbs 1996; Martino 2007, Po$er et al 2012, and )e/ereu, 2009), $hich see!s to make sense of his hugely significant contribution to popular culture and to issues concerning the politics of identities* Of particular interest in this regar# has been an e#ite# collection fro" Coulter and Campbell (2009) $hich has focuse# e,clusively on (he Smiths (1982-1987), 7a/an .opps text (2009) $hich examine# Morrissey fro" the perspective of literary criticism, and Simpson’s Saint Morrissey (2004) $hich applie# 9ueer theory in atte"pting to understan# the singers cultural signi-cance* Ninally )e/ereu, et al’s (2011) multifacete# collection in/estigates Morrissey’s en#uring career as a solo-artiste in terms of #ebates about representations; fando" and post5"o#ern identities (especially concerning ethnicity, social class and gender'* Speaking early in his career Morrissey argue# that A(he Smiths create their $orld and not many people #o thatB %(he 8outh 4ank Sho$ 1987). Since that time he has consistently given us “songs that $ere about the real $orl# rather than a “fantasy island romance or techno craze# incoherenceB %:ogan 1992, p.143). (he Morrissey<Smiths canon has been pre#ominantly concerne# $ith White Mnglish $or!ing-class life fro" the perspective of those $ho ne/er 9uite -t in. Side by side $ith this are combinations of discourses which are of a sexually ambiguous nature* Accor#ingly it has been argue# that Morrissey is understoo# as a “raconteur of the marginalize#B (Po$er 2011), particularly of the $or!ing-class but also of those $ho are cast as someho$ #ifferent (Manco 2011). 3n essence Morrissey represents Athe outsiderB %7irls and 4oys: Se, and 4ritish Pop 2008' an identity that (at least in part' comes fro" his formative experiences. He $as the younger child of an 3rish immigrant family in Manchester yet he was also the self-e#ucate# son of an assistant librarian, spending se/eral of those formative years in a "o#erately $ell to #o suburb* (hese autobiographical strains permeate his $or! in /arious $ays %Coulter 2010, p.165' and one explanation for his conflicting identity mix of upper5class articulation, $or!ing-class absorption and Lorthern /alues is his inability to -t in any$here (Kallioniemi 1999, p.308). Morrissey’s ability to combine the ‘authentic’ %$hich is of course a construct' and the ambiguous ha/e ensure# that his local concerns %$hich are concerne# $ith the universal themes of alienation and #islocation) ha/e tra/elle# far and wide* His $or! has the ability to realise people and places in a belie/able manner creating inno/ative mo#alities to /isualize the"* Pet his representations of these ‘outsiders’ are by no means straightfor$ar#* Characters in Morrissey’s lyrics are often people that are trappe# in a humanity that is impose# upon the" (WoronzoF 2009).