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“Not Just Boys’ Fun?” The Gendered Experience of American Hardcore Siri C. Brockmeier MA Thesis in American Studies Department of Literature, Area Studies and European Languages ILOS UNIVERSITETET I OSLO May 2009 Advisor: Rebecca Scherr 2 Abstract The goal of this thesis is to shed light on a part of the story of American hardcore, a part that in my view has not been given the space it deserves. Women in punk and hardcore do not own a place in the history of their subcultural communities. Their contributions to their scenes are deemphasized, if not ignored. Drawing from subcultural theory and Joan W. Scott’s view on using experience as evidence, I use song lyrics, images and interviews to contextualize women’s experiences of American hardcore. In this, I attempt to understand how and why some women are drawn to such a closed masculine community, and how they navigate this environment. Women in the scene have been mentioned in works on hardcore, but their experiences and the role of gender in the scene has not been fully studied. Before women can be incorporated into subcultural history, they must be taken seriously as active participants in their environment. This thesis is an attempt at beginning such a discussion. 3 Acknowledgements This thesis is ultimately a cultural production of hardcore. Without the influence and inspiration hardcore has given me throughout the years, my path might have been very different. To my informants for honest input and enthusiasm about the project, to Gry Holmern Halvorsen for constant support I could not do without and insightful discussion that ultimately led to this project, to Pernille Birkeland for scholarly teamwork, to Peter Sehlin for introducing me to hardcore in our youth, to Andreas Øverland, Anette Pedersen, Jon A. Gaasland, Daniel Frankowski, Peter Amdam, and all of Oslo City Hardcore. To the bands that shaped me: BOLD, Chain of Strength, Judge and all the others. Thank you. The finalization of my thesis has been dependent upon many variables, most of all time. I want to thank my parents for their patient support of my work and my advisor Rebecca Scherr for the interest she showed in the project and the helpful input given throughout the process. Finally I want to thank my grandmother, Astrid Øverbye, for igniting the scholarly flame within me. In the words of Youth of Today; the flame still burns. Oslo, May 2009 Siri C. Brockmeier 4 Table of Contents ABSTRACT.......................................................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS................................................................................................................. 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS..................................................................................................................... 4 1. AMERICAN HARDCORE ...................................................................................................... 7 1.1 INTRODUCTION........................................................................................................................ 7 1.2 AMERICAN HARDCORE............................................................................................................ 7 1.2.1 Do it yourself.............................................................................................................. 10 1.2.2 Punk vs. Hardcore...................................................................................................... 11 1.2.3 Women in hardcore.................................................................................................... 12 1.2.4 Race and class............................................................................................................ 14 1.3 PREVIOUS RESEARCH............................................................................................................. 15 1.3.1 The Chicago School and CCCS ................................................................................. 15 1.3.2 CCCS critique ............................................................................................................ 16 1.3.3 Post-subculture .......................................................................................................... 17 1.3.4 Filling a void.............................................................................................................. 18 1.4 PERSONAL INTEREST AND POSITION....................................................................................... 20 1.5 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK .................................................................................................. 21 1.5.1 American hardcore as a subculture ........................................................................... 21 1.5.2 The Evidence of Experience ....................................................................................... 23 1.6 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 24 1.7 CHAPTER OVERVIEW ............................................................................................................. 27 2. REPRESENTATIONS OF GENDER ................................................................................... 29 5 2.1 A GENDERED SCENE ...............................................................................................................29 2.2 THE MULTIPLE FACES OF HARDCORE ......................................................................................30 2.3 LYRICS...................................................................................................................................31 2.3.1 Lyrics about brotherhood ...........................................................................................32 2.3.2 Lyrics about women ....................................................................................................35 2.3.3 Lyrics about sex ..........................................................................................................39 2.3.4 Race and Class............................................................................................................43 2.4 IMAGES OF HARDCORE ...........................................................................................................44 2.4.1 Images of style ............................................................................................................44 2.4.2 A woman’s place.........................................................................................................47 2.4.3 Violence vs. Warmth ...................................................................................................47 2.4.4 Community vs. Individuality .......................................................................................49 2.5 DANCING ...............................................................................................................................52 2.6 CONCLUSION..........................................................................................................................54 3. EXPERIENCING HARDCORE.............................................................................................56 3.1 I HAD ALWAYS FELT LIKE A BIT OF A FREAK ...........................................................................57 3.2 THE MAIN THING WAS THE FRIENDSHIPS.................................................................................60 3.3 YOU KNOW, I DID MY PART ....................................................................................................62 3.3.1 You had photographers, but no one in a band............................................................64 3.4 HARDCORE GIRLS ARE NOT INTERESTED IN CONFORMING TO STEREOTYPICAL FEMININE ROLES67 3.4.1 I'm not gonna wear a skirt to a show..........................................................................68 3.4.2 The girlfriend ..............................................................................................................69 3.4.3 One of the guys ...........................................................................................................71 3.4.4 Sisterhood ...................................................................................................................75 6 3.5 SEXISM AND FEMINISM .......................................................................................................... 78 3.6 WOMEN REMEMBERED .......................................................................................................... 82 3.7 CONCLUSION ......................................................................................................................... 83 4. FINAL THOUGHTS............................................................................................................... 85 5. APPENDIX .............................................................................................................................. 88 5.1 INTERVIEW GUIDE ................................................................................................................. 88 5.2 STATEMENT OF PURPOSE ....................................................................................................... 90 BIBLIOGRAPHY.............................................................................................................................. 92 7 1. American Hardcore 1.1 Introduction There is perhaps no better example of male hegemonic control over popular cultural history than the rewrite

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