George Platt Lynes: Visualizing Queerness Through the Fluid Male Nude

dc.contributor.advisorRudd, Annie
dc.contributor.authorYoung, Marcus Baron
dc.contributor.committeememberJohnston, Dawn Elizabeth Belle
dc.contributor.committeememberGuglietti, Maria Victoria
dc.date2023-05-31
dc.date.accessioned2023-03-28T15:08:11Z
dc.date.available2023-03-28T15:08:11Z
dc.date.issued2023-03-15
dc.description.abstractThis thesis proposes a reading of George Platt Lynes’ homoerotic photographs as queer countertexts – media that subvert and transgress heteronormative codes. Lynes created male nude images from the 1930s to the 1950s. His work, however, was concealed because of American laws that prevented queer identities to exist and thrive in public. A key effect of homoerotic photography is its unapologetic presentation of queerness, and Lynes adapted this form to elevate queer identity through artistic illustrations of the male body as symbols of queer desire. The central argument of this study is that Lynes’ homoerotic photographs queered hetero masculinity by making fluid presentations of the male body. By departing from traditional and “ideal” depictions of maleness that privilege hard and rigid patterns, Lynes offered a way to view the male gender through the subversion of hetero visual expectations. At the theoretical level, this study builds upon Sara Ahmed’s concept of queerness as deviation. Lynes queered hetero masculinity by showing spectators that there are more ways to portray maleness beyond the muscular physiques that were celebrated in the early 20th century. To this end, the thesis engages with a body of theoretical work that considers photography as a means to reveal queer identity, an identity that has been historically marginalised, and approaches Lynes’ nudes through the intersection of homoeroticism and queerness. At the methodological level, this thesis articulates how rejected queerness re-emerges as an acknowledged and beautiful idea through Lynes’ capturing of the male nude. Through a visual discourse analysis, this thesis examines the political, visual, and narrative dimensions of Lynes work as responses to 20th-century American homophobia.en_US
dc.identifier.citationYoung, M. B. (2023). George Platt Lynes: Visualizing Queerness Through the Fluid Male Nude (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.
dc.identifier.urihttps://prism.ucalgary.ca/handle/1880/115964
dc.identifier.urihttps://dx.doi.org/10.11575/PRISM/dspace/40810
dc.language.isoengen_US
dc.publisher.facultyArtsen_US
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Calgaryen
dc.rightsUniversity of Calgary graduate students retain copyright ownership and moral rights for their thesis. You may use this material in any way that is permitted by the Copyright Act or through licensing that has been assigned to the document. For uses that are not allowable under copyright legislation or licensing, you are required to seek permission.en_US
dc.subjectGeorge Platt Lynesen_US
dc.subjecthomoerotic photographyen_US
dc.subjectqueer visual cultureen_US
dc.subject.classificationEducation--Arten_US
dc.subject.classificationGender Studiesen_US
dc.subject.classificationHistory--United Statesen_US
dc.titleGeorge Platt Lynes: Visualizing Queerness Through the Fluid Male Nudeen_US
dc.typemaster thesisen_US
thesis.degree.disciplineCommunication and Media Studiesen_US
thesis.degree.grantorUniversity of Calgaryen_US
thesis.degree.nameMaster of Arts (MA)en_US
ucalgary.item.requestcopytrueen_US
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