Biography

I am currently an undergraduate at the University of Warwick. I study sociology and this summer am completing an URSS scheme on the intersections and realities of Queer women and rural space. I identify as queer and am from rural North Yorkshire. Therefore, I feel personally as well as academically invested in my research. I am interested in queer biopolitics/biopower and the relationship between queer bodies and the state. I am also attracted to work on the politics of space, and environment, sapphic culture throughout the 19th century broadly, and queering and feminising political economy.  

Abstract

Queer culture is commonly reproduced through urban, male culture that neglects the experiences of queer Rural women. As ‘invisible lives’ By Martha Barron Barret argues; “there is no gathering for gay women. The isolation is overwhelming’ (p.76) However, her research understands the complexity of individual experiences. It is contrasted to ‘one of the reasons we get away with a lot is that people just don’t believe there could be lesbians in Oklahoma. Out of sight, out of mind.” (p.16). I aim to understand the intersections between ‘queer’ and ‘rural’ through empirical investigation of women’s historical and contemporary lives. My methods combine archival research with questionnaires and interviews. The archival research involves examining evidence such as ‘Dyke Dreams’ from Glasgow Women’s Library. The questionnaires evoked 100 respondents and in-depth interviews were created from this. Queer history and research have been supressed and erased- with many of the publications having to self- publish and having restricted circulation due to homophobic publishing laws- this is prominent during the section 28 era. My paper presents emergent themes from the research. These include how queer women navigate rural isolation- through subcultures such as Riot Grrrl and through independent publishing, and how some even thrive in the secrecy. This research was done in accordance and support of URSS at the University of Warwick.