“Taylor’s Version Pt 1: Gaylors” with Stephanie Burt

Are you ready to become a showgirl? Poet, scholar, and Swifty extraordinaire Stephanie Burt joins me to talk about Taylor Swift’s musical genius, queer fandom and relationship to femininity. There was simply too much to squeeze into one episode, so make sure to listen to part one first and hear all about the Gaylors, before switching to part two, to learn about Taylor;s relationship to femininity, class and race. Stephanie will also tell you why she thought the “You Need To Calm Down” video was a big mistake…

Follow Stephanie and myself at @notquitehydepark and @queerlitpodcast for even more content!

References
Stephanie Burt’s We Are Mermaids (Greywolf Press, 2022)
Stephanie Burt’s Super Gay Poems (2025)
Stephanie Burt’s Taylor’s Version: The Poetic and Musical Genius of Taylor Swift (Basic Books, 2025)
Stephanie Burt’s “Prayer for Werewolves”
Poetry Unbound
John Donne
Katherine Philips
Geoffrey Chaucer
Walt Whitman
Charlotte Mew
Sarah Records
Heavenly
Tender Trap
Blueboy
Ella Darling
Motown
Carole King
Dolly Parton
“You Belong With Me”
Red
Reputation
Miss Americana (2020)
Lover
Rachel Hartman’s Tess of the Road
Gaylorism
Gaylors and Hetlors
“When Emma Falls in Love”
“All Too Well”
Joe Jonas
Taylor Lautner
Jake Gyllenhaal
“Back to December”
John Mayer
The Life of a Show Girl
Elizabeth Taylor
Katharine Hepburn
Ophelia Hamlet
Julia Serano
Frozen
Mononormativity
Evermore
“Tis The Damn Season”
The Taylor Swift Holiday Collection
“Christmases When You Were Mine”
Crass
Grace Petrie
Taylearning podcast
“Clara Bow”
Britney Spears
Miley Cyrus
“You Need to Come Down”
Adeem the Artist
Journey to Fearless
Lara Heimert
@notquitehydepark
Rachel Gold’s In the Silences
Imogen Binnie’s Nevada
X-Men Gold 30
D.A. Powell
Team Dresch’s Captain My Captain
Slater Kinney
Heartbreak High
Sex Education
Rachel Hartman’s Seraphina

Questions you should be able to respond to after listening:

1. How does Stephanie speak about the relationship between poetry, lyrics and music? Where does this become relevant in Taylor Swift’s work?
2. What does the term ‘Gaylor’ refer to and why are there so many of them?
3. We speak about sapphic forms in this episode. What makes a form sapphic for you?
4. What is feminophobia and why could being femme be read as giving up power? How does this relate to trans femininity?
5. What does Stephanie suggest about the representation of class in the “You Need To Calm Down” video?
6. Why does Stephanie stress that Taylor knows that she is white? How does Stephanie describe Taylor’s engagement with race and the music of Black women?
7. Does Taylor’s music speak to you? Why or why not?