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‘It’s not a boys’ club’?: Masculinity in Australian underground hip hop

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posted on 2022-11-11, 03:26 authored by Gemma Clendining

The Australian underground hip hop scene is a creative community, but it is a community of predominantly male artists. This gender imbalance is a widely acknowledged fact within the Australian literature on hip hop. However, few scholars have elaborated on what this looks like in practice, or what effects this imbalance has on female artists. Based on interviews with current underground hip hop artists, this thesis seeks to examine how gender roles are experienced, maintained, and challenged in the underground scene. Drawing on Raewyn Connell’s notion of ‘hegemonic masculinity,’ Kalle Berggren’s concept of ‘sticky masculinity,’ and Tony Coles’ formulation of ‘mosaic masculinities,’ this thesis highlights the ways in which male artists negotiate their masculinity through underground hip hop by engaging in practices that lend themselves to the construction of a respected masculinity. I argue that the underground hip hop scene represents a space in which masculinity is navigated and ultimately affirmed. This thesis also investigates the effects of masculine practices on women, showing the challenges to their legitimacy as artists as well as their experiences of sexualised, unsafe spaces. However, this thesis also looks to the future. I explore how masculine hegemony might be challenged and transformed. I highlight changing gender dynamics within the underground scene, and male artists’ changing relationship to masculinity. In centring gender, this research therefore contributes to what is an underexplored but empirically observed part of creating and engaging with hip hop in Australia.

History

Table of Contents

Introduction: ‘A handful of women in a sea of dudes’ -- Chapter One: Researching gender and masculinity in Australian hip hop -- Chapter Two: Between community and competition: negotiating masculinity through underground hip hop -- Chapter Three: ‘Who is this imposter?’: Negotiating the underground as a woman -- Chapter Four: ‘Doing it for the love of it’: locating change in the underground scene -- Conclusion -- References -- Appendix

Awarding Institution

Macquarie University

Degree Type

Thesis MRes

Degree

Thesis (MRes), Macquarie University, Faculty of Arts, 2022

Department, Centre or School

Department of Anthropology

Year of Award

2022

Principal Supervisor

Eve Vincent

Rights

Copyright: Gemma Clendining Copyright disclaimer: https://www.mq.edu.au/copyright-disclaimer

Language

English

Extent

73 pages

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