Tea Jones

Date of Award

2025

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Humanities

First Advisor

Clark, Maribeth

Area of Concentration

Gender Studies

Abstract

This thesis examines the ways in which contemporary queer women musicians engage with digital platforms to construct, perform, and circulate their identities across the digital space. Tracing a lineage from the Olivia Records Collective in the 1970s to contemporary artists like Doechii and Chappell Roan, I look at how these artists navigate shifting notions of authenticity, community, and self-presentation—employing DIY strategies across personal websites, social media, merchandise, and music distribution tools. Using affective theory, Susan Sontag’s writings on ‘camp’, and the writings of Audre Lorde and bell hooks as central frameworks for my analysis, I consider how emotional expression and embodied social identity shape community building among these marginalized artists, and how affect drives fans’ identification with and investment in these musicians. This project explores how digital environments both empower and constrain creative expression, offering new modes of visibility while introducing new forms of algorithmic gatekeeping and labor expectations. In doing so, I highlight how these artists innovate within and against the structures of music culture in the digital age. By analyzing the interplay between technology, performance, and identity, this thesis argues that the digital age has complicated but not diminished the transformative power of DIY artistry, offering new avenues for resistance, self-definition, and collective belonging. This project is also deeply personal. As a queer woman, I situate my own artistic practices—zine, music, craft and art making—as part of a broader effort to build and share community. By tracing this musical and visual lineage, I aim not only to document the legacy of queer women in music, but to contribute to it. This thesis is an analysis and an offering, grounded in the belief that the relationship between artist, audience, and space is as political as it is personal. Along with the paper portion of this thesis, I created a digital zine designed to visually represent the connections explored in this paper. The point was to offer an accessible format for this information, rooted in queer DIY tradition. Throughout this exploration, I aim to let you in on my process of creation and its connections to the themes presented. practices—zine, music, craft and art making—as part of a broader effort to build and share community. By tracing this musical and visual lineage, I aim not only to document the legacy of queer women in music, but to contribute to it. This thesis is an analysis and an offering, grounded in the belief that the relationship between artist, audience, and space is as political as it is personal. Along with the paper portion of this thesis, I created a digital zine designed to visually represent the connections explored in this paper. The point was to offer an accessible format for this information, rooted in queer DIY tradition. Throughout this exploration, I aim to let you in on my process of creation and its connections to the themes presented. with digital platforms to construct, perform, and circulate their identities across the digital space. Tracing a lineage from the Olivia Records Collective in the 1970s to contemporary artists like Doechii and Chappell Roan, I look at how these artists navigate shifting notions of authenticity, community, and self-presentation—employing DIY strategies across personal websites, social media, merchandise, and music distribution tools. Using affective theory, Susan Sontag’s writings on ‘camp’, and the writings of Audre Lorde and bell hooks as central frameworks for my analysis, I consider how emotional expression and embodied social identity shape community building among these marginalized artists, and how affect drives fans’ identification with and investment in these musicians. This project explores how digital environments both empower and constrain creative expression, offering new modes of visibility while introducing new forms of algorithmic gatekeeping and labor expectations. In doing so, I highlight how these artists innovate within and against the structures of music culture in the digital age. By analyzing the interplay between technology, performance, and identity, this thesis argues that the digital age has complicated but not diminished the transformative power of DIY artistry, offering new avenues for resistance, self-definition, and collective belonging.

Digital Zine / https://www.canva.com/design/DAGlULvuX7I/8jEtVwpGjj2GKSleszG4dg/view? utm_content=DAGlULvuX7I&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=uniquelinks&utlId=h5ba293c406

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