Reading Joey Soloway: popularizing feminist and queer theory in independent film and television

Abstract

ABSTRACT Engaging with ideas of hegemonic masculinity, femininity, homosexuality, and heteronormativity, this article examines the film and television work of Joey Soloway as a means of studying the popularization of feminist and queer theory within contemporary American independent media. By focusing on representations of non-normative genders and sexualities (including sex work, transgender identity, and polyamory), I explore the ways in which Soloway pushes feminist and queer theory beyond the limits of the popular. Through overt references to feminist and queer filmmakers and theory, I argue that Soloway’s film and television work subverts traditional modes of storytelling. Examining Soloway’s first film Afternoon Delight and their two series for Amazon, Transparent (2014–2019) and I Love Dick (2016), as well as the coverage of Soloway’s work within the popular press (for example, The New York Times, Newsweek, Huffington Post, and Rolling Stone), this article also analyzes how Soloway’s own authorial persona and their public identification with queerness intertwines with the personal, the political, and the popular.