"I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: No more fucking ABBA"Masculinities & Queerness in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

Abstract

[eng] To this day, hegemonic masculinity remains as one of the most significant aspects of our culture, such as in media representation. Furthermore, its problematic nature has been pointed out by feminist and queer literature, as this often-presented rigid notion delimitates a normative conception of gender expression and gender identity. In Australian culture, for instance, the so-called Australian legend is an illustrative example of how gender binary can strengthen dominant practices in rural life. Within Australian society, queer people have been seen as crooked or twisted personalities, incapable of integration in “normal” life forms. Notwithstanding, this paper argues that new masculinities and expression forms are making their way to social recognition as they introduce new and more liberating interpretations of gender and self-clarity. In this regard, the following paper uses The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (Elliot 1994) as an example to present different masculinities in opposition to the Australian conventional bloke.