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“Are You With the Band?:” Gender Construction and Feminist Action Within DIY Punk
Communities
By Brian Hausman, Spring 2013
Abstract
This research explores the ways in which gender is constructed and contested within DIY
(do-it-yourself) punk communities. Despite the efforts of feminists within the subculture,
women and other gender and sexual minorities still experience unequal status. This research
examines how gender roles within the subculture are actively contested through a number of
media influenced by the do-it-yourself ethic. Self-publication of music, zines, and the creation
of feminist collective groups that address gender inequality are methods used by people looking
to challenge the patriarchal norms of punk communities.
Table of Contents
2
Abstract...............................................................................................................................
............1
Introduction.........................................................................................................................
............3
Research
Questions.....................................................................................................................5
Methods..............................................................................................................................
............5
Benefits of
Research........................................................................................................7
Research
Limitations........................................................................................................8
Research
Setting...............................................................................................................9
Gender, Subculture, and
Punk..................................................................................................12
Internal Gender-Resistance Movements.....................................................................17
Gender Construction and Feminist
Action..............................................................................18
Media for Gender
Resistance.......................................................................................19
Perceptions of Gender and Feminism Within the
Scene.........................................23
Waves of Feminist Action and Reactions to Gender
Resistance............................25
“Are You With The
Band?”........................................................................................................28
The Punk
Audience........................................................................................................32
3
Conclusion..........................................................................................................................
.........33
Works
Cited.................................................................................................................................3
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Introduction
Women have fought for more inclusion and power within punk communities since
the inception of punk music. Although these communities are often built around creating
alternatives to mainstream ideas and institutions, many times they reproduce patriarchal
gender roles and expectations (Force 2009:298). Lauraine Leblanc, in her book “Pretty
in Punk: Girl’s Gender Resistance in a Boy’s Subculture,” explains how femininity is
constructed within punk communities. Leblanc writes that, “Punk girls are subjected to
the same kinds of pressures that most Western women encounter, forced to play a nowin game of femininity” (Leblanc 1999:135). Despite the fact that patriarchal attitudes
and practices still exist within this subculture, some women are finding ways to enhance
their roles within these communities. This can be seen in the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) punk
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scene, where women use methods such as self-published zines, more participation in
playing music, and gender-focused collective groups to challenge patriarchy within punk
and as a source of gender empowerment.
Women using punk as a source for empowerment is not an insignificant or recent
phenomenon. Perhaps the most notable gender resistance movement within punk was
the Riot Grrrl movement of the early 1990’s. Julia Downes explores this movement’s
impact on empowering women within sub cultural communities. She writes, “Punk rock
and feminism have both opened up cultural space for the proliferation of women’s
subcultural resistance” (Downes 2012:205). In the essay, she continues to give
examples of how women have used the punk community to challenge gender
boundaries within the scene.
Most of the literature on the subject looks at the larger women’s movements
within punk from the past, such as Riot Grrrl or the British female punk bands of the late
1970’s (Freedman 2009;Downes 2012;Dunn 2012). However, there is relatively little
literature on the punk scene’s current gender resistance movements. Although not as
heavily written about as past movements, women’s movements within punk
communities still continue to exist and impact the patriarchal aspects of punk culture.
Influenced by the Riot Grrrl movement, women continue to self-publish zines addressing
gender inequality and women’s empowerment. Others are turning to playing music in
punk to challenge gender discrimination within the scene. Although it may look
differently than it did during the Riot Grrrl movement, the DIY punk scene is still acting
as a source of empowerment for women.
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This paper examines the ways in which women involved with the DIY punk scene
use punk music and culture to enhance their roles within the community. I do this
through a qualitative approach of examining the current ways in which patriarchy exists
within punk, and the ways in which it is challenged. I used a few different methods,
including conducting interviews with people involved with current gender resistance
movements within punk, content analysis of lyrics by contemporary bands who actively
challenge gender boundaries, and by observing the ways in which gender is performed
at punk shows or other DIY punk spaces.
The thematic sections of this paper begin with examining the ways in which
gender is constructed within DIY punk communities. It looks at the ways in which
inequalities and hierarchy are produced specifically within the subculture. I then
examine the ways in which certain media is used to resist gender and promote feminist
goals. Next, I examine the ways in which gender is perceived within DIY punk
communities and give insight into how gender resistance movements come in waves.
Finally, I sum up the paper with the section “Are You With The Band?” which I feel gives
a concrete example of the ways in which gender is constructed, resisted, and how it is
perceived by people within DIY punk communities.
Research Questions
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What are the
ways in which gender is performed within the do-it-yourself
(DIY) punk scene?
2
How does the DIY punk scene address gender inequality within its own
community?
3
In what ways does the DIY punk community enhance women’s roles within it?
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4
How does the DIY punk community use different media (music, zines, etc) as a
means to promote agency for women and non-gender conforming people?
Methods
I chose to explore my research questions through qualitative research methods.
This included interviews with people involved with gender resistance movements within
DIY punk communities, participant observation through attending shows, and through
content analysis of music, zines, and comments on websites that revolve around DIY
punk communities.
Interviews were perhaps the most useful part of my research. I interviewed three
different people who are involved with gender resistance movements within these
communities. One interview took place in person, while the other three took place
online. As someone who has previous knowledge on the subject and subculture I
studied, I had an idea of who I should ask to be interviewed. All of the people I
interviewed play in well-known bands within these communities, and are pretty
influential members involved with gender resistance. My interviews followed a semistructured format. I had a set of questions that I asked all interviewees, but also asked
specific questions for certain interviewees. For example, I asked one interviewee
Lauren Denitzio about a compilation album she put out, but still asked her general
questions that I asked everyone else.
I interviewed the following people: David Combs, also known as his stage name
“Spoonboy,” who plays in the Washington D.C. based band The Max Levine Ensemble.
Lauren Denitzio of the Brooklyn-based bands The Measure [sa] and Worriers. Jessica
LaHood of Brooklyn-based bands Death First and Carnal Knowledge. All of these
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bands in some way address gender inequality within punk. Some of the members of
these bands produce zines while others produce more overtly feminist lyrics in their
music. These interviews were my favorite part of my research, as well as the most
useful. They were the most important part in shaping the direction my paper went in.
There were certain themes that I had not thought of before doing interviews. For
example, the “Are You With The Band?” section was one that I never thought to write
about before interviews. It happened to be a consistent theme for the women musicians
I interviewed, and ended up becoming one of the more important parts of my research.
Participant observation took place at punk shows, which can be seen as the focal
point of most punk communities. I only went to what would fall under the category of
“DIY” shows. This was mostly house shows, however one of the most important shows
I went to was at the First Unitarian church in Philadelphia. This venue, located in
downtown Philly, is a popular place for shows, and could be considered a DIY venue
since it is not for-profit or corporate run. The observations I would make had to do with
gender, such as the ways in which gender would be talked about amongst show goers,
the spatial relationship between men and women, and the proportion of men to women
as musicians in bands as well as showgoers.
I used content analysis to explore lyrics to songs, the content of zines, and to
examine internet comments. I pulled direct quotes from zines, and found zines to be
the most helpful medium used in terms of my research for this paper. I analyzed song
lyrics, but rarely incorporated the actual lyrics into my paper. Instead, I used lyrics to
make general statements about the use of music as a source of gender resistance.
Internet comments on the website Punknews were another source I used to analyze the
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ways in which gender was perceived by people within DIY punk communities. I
analyzed comments on articles that were about gender and punk, most notably an
article written by one of my informants, Lauren Denitzio, entitled “Do You Know What
Makes me Feel Unsafe?” in which she calls out the ways in which she experiences
sexism in punk. The article had both positive and negative reactions, and the
comments offered varying perceptions of gender and punk.
Benefits of the Research
The potential benefits of my research lie in the fact that there has been a limited
amount of research done to analyze this subject through an academic lens. I’m using
broader ideas and theories—such as gender performance and construction, feminism,
resistance, subcultural capital, etc—to analyze a specific subculture. The subculture
that I’m exploring, politicized DIY punk communities, is a subculture within the larger
punk subculture that hasn’t necessarily been explored in-depth academically. The
benefits of this research are exploring how these larger concepts regarding gender can
be applied to this specific subculture within a larger subculture. I see this as beneficial
not just for the sake of expanding the academic knowledge of a certain subculture, but
also because of the specific ways this subculture relates to larger concepts and theories
of gender. Understanding the tactics women use to resist gender within this subculture
is valuable, and can potentially be used by other people or subcultures to promote
gender resistance with their own communities. It may also be useful for people involved
within the DIY punk scene. Since the scene is not necessarily centralized in a specific
location, it may broaden the perspectives from within the scene itself. People may think
about their own community differently, or borrow ideas and tactics from other people to
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positively change their roles within that community, as well as the community itself. The
analysis of these theories connected with this subculture could perhaps lead to more
social action for people outside of and within the DIY punk scene.
Research Limitations and Delimitations
The limitations of my research have to do with the size of the subculture and difficulty in
making generalizations from it. The do-it-yourself (DIY) punk scene isn’t a centralized
community. People who identify with the DIY punk scene exist in countries across the
world, and perceptions and forms they take on may vary depending on the specific
group of people, the city, or the country. For the sake of my research, I’ll be looking at
communities within the United States, focusing on bands and people in certain cities
across the U.S. who identify with the DIY punk scene. The results of the research
therefore can not be generalized to apply to every DIY punk scene across the country or
anywhere else in the world. The research methods I chose also contain a certain
amount of bias. For example, the people I chose to interview were people who I was
already familiar with. I had a general sense of the ways in which they understood
gender within punk, and had I chose a different way of choosing participants to
interview, I could have had a more varied set of responses.
Research Setting
Defining the setting for my research has been among the more difficult aspects of
the research process. Previous research into punk subculture has looked at the term
“punk” as a singular, broad subculture. In my research I had originally looked at what I
thought I could define as a singular subgenre of the broader punk subculture. I decided
to use the parameters of the “DIY punk scene” as my research focus. I found yet again
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that these parameters were too broad, and encompassed too many drastically
subsections of this subgenre. Further research pointed me to even more rigidly set
parameters of what I looked at as the “politicized DIY punk scene.” This proved to be a
more effective definition of what punk community I was going to research. However,
once I began interviews for my research, I realized that this wasn’t a singular subsection
of subgenre of a subculture, rather that it was made up of a number of different punk
communities that, in general, held common values. This community is essentially made
up of different small communities that are loosely connected across cities, rural towns,
and suburbs in the United States. In this section I will describe a brief history of the
broader punk subculture and the roles of women within it, as well as define more indepth the subgenre of punk that I specifically chose to study.
Previous studies on the broader punk subculture recognize it as one that is
oppositional to mainstream culture and ideologies. Many studies, such as Dick
Hebdige’s The Meaning of Style (1979) note fashion styles of punk subculture as
symbolically representing resistances to mainstream culture. Though it’s exact origins
cannot be pinpointed, all observers agree that the subculture started in the mid-1970’s.
Although perhaps the most notable gender-related movement or time period within punk
is in the early 1990’s with the Riot Grrrl movement, women have been a part of punk
since its inception. English bands such as the all-female group The Slits, and femalefronted group X-Ray Spex played an early role and challenging the notion that punk is a
boys club. X-Ray Spex frontwoman Poly Styrene wrote feminist lyrics that would later
influence the Riot Grrrl and other gender-resistance movements within punk. Her
opening line to the song, “Oh Bondage Up Yours! says “Some people think little girls
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should be seen and not heard, but I think, Oh Bondage Up Yours!” This song directly
challenges hegemonic ideas about gender that permeate into punk culture.
As I will point out more in-depth later in my research, punk goes through high and
low points of gender inclusion. Even though the late 70’s saw a number of prominent
female-fronted or all-female bands, the 1980’s hardcore punk scene was seen as being
hyper-masculine. Although some prominent 80’s hardcore bands such as Black Flag
and The Germs at times featured female musicians, women were rarely included within
punk culture in the 1980’s. As a reaction to the hyper-masculine, male-dominated
scene in the 80’s, the Riot Grrrl movement formed in the early 1990’s, and became
known as perhaps the most influential period in punk for women in the scene. Bands
such as Bikini Kill, Sleater-Kinney, and Bratmobile, actively contested the hegemonic
ideas about gender roles within punk subculture. Using the DIY ethic, the Riot Grrrl
movement produced zines and music that not only inspired change within a subculture,
but was influential enough to impact those outside of punk culture (Downes:2012).
The do-it-yourself (DIY) ethic is perhaps one of the fundamental values of many
punk communities. The term speaks for itself, but generally refers to creating a
subculture where members create their own music, book their own shows, and manage
their own bands without influence from outside agencies or institutions. Dianna from the
band The Wild explains the importance of the DIY ethic in punk, saying
“DIY punk became an alternative, a sub-culture to the dominant ideology that
kept alive a world of injustices like racism, classism, homophobia, sexism, and
cut-throat capitalism. The ‘do it yourself’ attitude taught us that if we wanted to
play music we could, we could put out our own albums, we could tour around and
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make new friends and sleep on their floors before the drive to the next town”
(Dianna The Wild)
The DIY attitude, as Dianna talks about it, is not just an efficient means of producing
music, but an active force in challenging dominant oppressive ideologies. It challenges
dominant notions of who gets to produce and experience music and culture. Culture
isn’t created through influential media or record companies, but instead is created on a
more grassroots level. DIY punk communities are not all overtly political in their
messages. Some are more politically active than others, and the ones that are I will
refer to as politicized DIY punk communities. These communities are more inclined to
be overtly political in their messages, which usually involves challenging ways in which
capitalism, sexism, homophobia, racism, classism, etc. manifest themselves in society.
Differences in these communities are not rigidly defined. The very definition of
what constitutes a “DIY punk community” or a “politicized” community are fluid and
constantly contested. Each community that could be characterized as being a
“politicized DIY punk scene” could look different from each other. This was evident in
my interviews when I would ask informants questions about the “DIY punk scene.”
Many responded by saying they couldn’t make generalizations about such varied
communities that fall under the same category. One informant said “There's no one DIY
punk scene, so I can't make generalizations about what's common or not” (Denitzio
2013). Jessica LaHood, frontwoman of the band Death First, said “I have seen...sub
genres of DIY punk being more isolated from each other, which can lead to folks [in]
one sub genre being more invested in being inclusive and working towards social
justice, while another sub genre becomes completely apolitical. This also changes in
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different cities, for instance in New York and other large cities there's more subdivision
of scenes” (LaHood 2013). This shows us that communities that may define
themselves using the same terms could have very different values and goals.
In my research I will use the term “politicized DIY punk communities” to refer to
the loosely connected groups of politically conscious and active subgroups of the punk
subculture that operate under the DIY ethic. My research doesn’t focus on one
community, and instead draws on information from different politicized DIY punk
communities in the United States.
Gender, Subculture and Punk
The construction and performance of gender within the Do-It-Yourself (DIY) punk
scene is complex and contradictory. On one hand, patriarchal norms are recreated
through expectations of gender performance within the DIY punk scene. From previous
research gathered (Leblanc 1999, Becker 2012, Downes 2012), it is apparent that
women involved feel underrepresented and restricted in their roles because of their
gender. On the other hand, the DIY punk scene also acts as an outlet for women, men,
and non-gender conforming people to challenge patriarchal and other restrictive gender
norms. For my research, I first explore the ways in which gender is constructed within
the DIY punk scene. I then examine the ways in which gender norms and expectations
are challenged within the DIY punk scene, such as the use of self-published zines, more
inclusion of women in bands, and the creation of safe-spaces and feminist collectives
that are conscious of the ways that patriarchal norms restrict people’s roles within the
community.
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It’s important to layout the major theoretical ideas behind my research. Ideas in
feminist theory such as gender performance, positionality, and the social construction of
gender are key elements in the framework of my thesis. Linda Alcoff and Judith Butler
are two feminist theorists whose ideas of gender as a construction and social
performance will be used as groundwork for my exploration of gender within DIY punk. I
will borrow from major feminist theorists ideas that gender is socially constructed. That
is, traits of masculinity and femininity are not biologically inherent, but learned through a
number of social forces and institutions. Linda Alcoff (2010:368) writes that “…the
mediation of female bodies into constructions of woman is dominated by misogynist
discourse.” Judith Butler (2010:441) writes “…gender is an identity tenuously constituted
in time, instituted in an exterior space through a stylized repetition of acts.” Their ideas
can be translated to the DIY punk scene, by examining the ways in which gender is
constructed within this particular subculture. This is important for the ways in which I
frame gender, which goes against essentialist folk theory that says gender trait are
inherent or biological.
Another important set of theories revolve around understanding the ways
subcultures exist as different than mainstream culture. I use the work of Sarah
Thornton, Dick Hebdige, Paul Willis, Jenny Garber, and Angela McRobbie to apply
theoretical ideas about subculture in general to the specific one that my research is
focused on. Hebdige (1979) and Willis (1978) use the term homology to explain the
way in which hierarchy and order is established within subculture. They use it to show
the ways in which the values of a particular subculture reflect the ways in which order is
established within subculture. I use Sarah Thornton’s concept of subcultural capital,
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which she (Thornton:1995) describes as “Subcultural capital is the linchpin of an
alternative hierarchy in which the axes of age, gender, sexuality, and race are all
employed to keep the determinations of class, income, and occupation at bay...it
investigates the micro-structures of power entailed in the cultural competition that goes
on between more closely associated social groups.” I will use this concept to examine
the ways in which subcultural capital is unevenly distributed between genders with DIY
punk communities. I draw on Jenny Garber and Angela McRobbie’s analysis of the
exclusion of women from subculture to examine the ways in which women fit into
subcultural analysis. They write (McRobbie and Garber:1975),
Very little seems to have been written about the role of girls in youth cultural
groupings. They are absent from the classic subcultural ethnographic studies,
the pop histories, the personal accounts and the journalistic surveys of the field.
When girls do appear, it is either in ways which uncritically reinforce the
stereotypical image of women with which we are now so familiar... where girls
are present, but where the way they are present suggests that their cultural
subordination is retained and reproduced. (1975:113)
Women appear to be invisible in subculture, and where they are present, their roles are
seen as peripheral. These theories will be used to look at the ways in which women are
unevenly represented within DIY punk communities, however will look at the ways in
which women in this subculture use it to express themselves and make themselves
present.
I will also use Antonio Gramsci’s (Gramsci:1971) concepts about hegemony as
well as counter hegemony to analyze the ways in which power is distributed in this
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subculture. Hegemonic ideas about gender normalize patriarchy within mainstream
culture, as well as the punk subculture. This can be seen within punk subculture
through a number of ways, an example being the ways in which the all-male punk band
is seen as being normal, while female musicians are seen as being an exception to the
norms. But, as Gramsci points out, hegemony is never complete. There are certain
communities and instances within punk where strong counter-hegemony is seen
through more inclusion of women within the subculture.
Although the boundaries of what the term “DIY punk” means are not well defined,
I will use it generally to refer to the more underground, self-directed forms of punk, and
not the larger, more commodified forms of punk. I explain in-depth the exact
communities I will be studying in the settings section of this paper. Kevin Dunn
(Dunn:2012) explains this difference between the DIY and “corporate” punk worlds in
his article “If it Ain’t Cheap, it Ain’t Punk.” He shows how the more commodified forms of
punk are ones centered on bands signed to mid-sized or major record labels, and the
DIY punk scene revolves more around the ability for independent labels and individual
bands to put out their own music. In a self-published zine by Dianna Settles of the DIY
punk band “The Wild,” she explains that DIY is more than just the scale of music
production, and perhaps more importantly is a broader philosophical idea. She says,
D.I.Y Punk as a genre, a scene, and a philosophy was started by people
who were tired. Tired of what the mainstream had to offer, tired of not
being able to relate, and tired of waiting for someone else to change that
for them. DIY punk became an alternative, a sub-culture to the dominant
ideology that kept alive a world of injustices like racism, classism,
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homophobia, sexism, and cut-throat capitalism. The “do it yourself”
attitude taught us that if we wanted to play music we could, we could put
out our own albums, and we could tour around… (Settles 4).
Here, she explains that DIY isn’t only about the means in which music is distributed. It’s
a bigger philosophy that is built upon challenging dominant ideologies of mainstream
culture. It’s about creating a reality that makes it possible for one to fulfill their own goals
without the help of larger, powerful structures and institutions. Understanding the
importance of what DIY means as an ethic is necessary for examining how and why
gender is constructed and challenged within the subculture.
Lauraine LeBlanc further explores the process of constructing femininity within
the punk scene in her book “Pretty in Punk: Girls’ Gender Resistance in a Boys’
Subculture.” In her research, she offers some good qualitative research and theoretical
background on the construction of femininity specifically within punk. Her research is the
most specific to the general punk subculture, and while some of her research is useful
to mine, its important to realize that the DIY punk scene of today may not look the same
as the punk scene she researched. Still, she points out that, although constructions of
femininity within punk may be different than mainstream ones, they are still created in
relationship to a male-dominated subculture.
Previous research on gender construction in punk would point to the fact that the
punk subculture has it’s own separate categories of masculinity and femininity. Leblanc
(1999:140) says, “In the male-dominated world of punk, masculinity defines the
subculture’s norms, values, and styles.” Despite the fact that women may understand
their roles as women within the punk scene as different than mainstream ones, Leblanc
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(1999:135) also points out that “Punk girls are subjected to the same kinds of pressures
that most Western women encounter, forced to play a no-win game of femininity.” This
shows us that despite the fact that constructions of gender may be different within the
DIY subculture than mainstream ideas of gender, that women in DIY punk still face
many of the same challenges against patriarchy as women outside of the scene do.
Internal Gender-Resistance Movements
Most of the research regarding gender and punk that I’ve found focuses on, or at
least draws upon the Riot Grrrl Movement of the 1990’s. The Riot Grrrl movement was
an internal movement in the punk scene that sought to empower women in punk
through creating networks of gender conscious bands, more inclusion of women in
bands, and self-published zines that addressed feminist issues. The Riot Grrrl
movement had not only an effect on women within the punk scene, but on gender roles
in other subcultures as well (Downes 2012, Becker 2012, Kennelly 2009). Downes
(2012:204) says, “Riot grrrl created a series of sonic moments to create punk-feminist
community and provoke young women and girls’ subcultural resistance and exploration
of radical political identities.” We can see how this type of attitude influenced the earlier
quote from Dianna Settles about the DIY punk scene being a place that provides
alternatives to dominant ideologies that encourage oppressive ways of thinking and
acting.
The Riot Grrrl movement certainly had a profound effect on gender relationships
in punk rock and other cultures. In my own research, I’ll use the example of Riot Grrrl as
a means of looking at the building blocks of contemporary gender-resistance within DIY
punk. However, unlike most academic research on gender and punk, I won’t focus
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entirely on the Riot Grrrl movement, since I’ll be examining and filling in the gaps
regarding gender-resistance movements within the current DIY punk scene. One
important effect that Riot Grrrl has had on the current gender-resistance movements
within DIY punk, is the emphasis on women creating music and literature that is
specifically focused on the empowerment of women (Dunn 2012, Bikini Kill 2010). The
Riot Grrrl Philosophy explains why the movement exists, saying “BECAUSE us girls
crave records and books and fanzines that speak to US that WE feel included in and
can understand in our own ways…BECAUSE we see fostering and supporting girl
scenes and girl artists of all kinds as integral to this process” (Bikini Kill 2010:476).
Again, we can see how this may have paved the way for someone like Dianna Settles of
The Wild to self-publish her own zine about gender within the DIY punk scene. Settles
speaks about ways of creating safe spaces and opening up dialogue in constructive
ways about gender within the DIY punk scene.
Gender Construction and Feminist Action
Gendered activism within politicized, DIY punk communities manifests itself in a
variety of ways. This is partly a result of different communities experiencing different
ways in which gender is constructed, performed, and contested, however there are
some consistent themes seen in many of them. For example, most people I spoke with
involved with gendered activism within these communities described gender equality as
not a linear process of improvement, but rather something that comes in waves. A few
years of feminist bands and discourse is often times met with reactionary, anti-feminist
politics. People see their communities has having high and low periods of feminist
action, and understanding this contestation of gender as a dialect rather than a linear
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process is important for understanding the ways in which gendered activism manifests
itself. My research explores the ways in which sexism manifests itself, as well as the
ways in which patriarchy is challenged within DIY punk communities.
The ways in which sexism and patriarchy is experienced varies from scene to
scene, and person to person. In this section, I will point out a few of the consistent
themes found in my research--the invisibility of women, and the construction of women
as being different than men. Women are, in general, seen as peripheral members
within the scene. The construction of gender roles within DIY punk communities has
rigid boundaries that, even though may be more subtle and different than mainstream
ones, still exist and separate the expectations that men and women have from each
other. Paul Willis’ concept of homology, which Dick Hebdige (1979:134) summarizes as
“...the symbolic fit between the values and life-styles of a group, its subjective
experience and the musical forms it uses to express or reinforce its focal concerns” can
be applied to the ways in which men, women, and people of other genders view their
relationships to each other within these communities. According to Hebdige (1979:134),
Willis argues that homology “...shows how, contrary to the popular myth which presents
subcultures as lawless forms, the internal structure of any particular subculture is
characterized by an extreme orderliness: each part is organically related to other parts
and it is through the fit between them that the subcultural member makes sense of the
world” This shows us that, even though many aspects of punk seek to challenge the
hierarchal structure of dominant systems of power, many times power is reproduced in
different forms within this subculture.
Media for Gender Resistance
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It seems that, even though gender roles are unevenly reproduced within these
communities, people involved with gendered activism in these scenes still see them as
being places where gender is actively and effectively contested. This can take place in
a number of ways which again, vary from place to place. However, it seems that the
most important media in which gender is challenged are through music, zines, the
creation of feminist collectives and safe spaces, and through active dialogue between
members of scenes. The DIY ethic encourages individuals to self-publish themselves
through this medium, a means of producing music and literature outside of the
traditional capitalist modes of production. This allows individuals who may otherwise
not have access to produce these things, especially those who are marginalized within
capitalist production such as women, to have an opportunity to express themselves
through these mediums.
The creation and distribution of zines within the DIY punk scene may be
overshadowed by the music of punk communities. For some, especially those who do
not play music, zines offer the opportunity to get their ideas to punk communities
outside of music. Sari, who describes their relationship to punk as a “love/hate”
relationship, finds zines to be an important outlet for expressing themself.
“In my own personal journey through the badlands of punk, making zines has
been the most legitimizing force in being able to make me feel included, as if I,
for the first time in 10 years, finally have a good enough excuse to be at a punk
show or in a DIY space. Unable to play music and not living in a punk house,
being a zinester has been a really important way for me to feel like I’m actively
22
contributing to punk/DIY culture and a lifeline with other GSM folks in these
spaces” (Sari)
Sari finds that zines offer people not involved with playing music an opportunity to
participate in DIY punk communities. They also find that through zines, they can reach
other gender and sexual minorities to create a better sense of community and identity
within these male-dominated communities. Since men overwhelmingly represent the
musicians and performers within punk scenes, alternative ways of being included in this
community open up space for women and other gender-minorities to feel included within
these communities. Zines challenge traditional capitalist production of literature by
allowing essentially anybody who is interested in producing them an opportunity to do
so. They can be made available to people in these communities at shows, in radical
spaces associated with punk communities, and the internet.
Some people in these communities use zines to specifically address gender
inequality, such as musician Spoonboy who says, “I’ve written zines...to try and
contribute ideas that hopefully work towards changing punk from being a kind of
patriarchal space to a less patriarchal space.” Others use it to provide information that
may otherwise be available only to those who with access to purchasing books, using
the internet, or accessing libraries. Even if they don’t directly address social inequality,
zines challenge capitalist production by opening up opportunity for more people to both
produce and access information and works of literature. Other non-musical mediums in
which to promote feminist action and resist gender discrimination within punk
communities besides zines are also important to increase participation from
marginalized members of these communities.
23
Another medium in which feminist issues are addressed is through music. In a
later section of this paper, I will discuss more in-depth the ways in which gender is
represented in bands. Here, I will discuss the ways in which music is made to promote
feminist ideas through lyrics. Although not all women in bands choose to write explicitly
feminist lyrics, others utilize their roles as performers address gender inequality. Jessica
LaHood, singer of Brooklyn-based bands Death First and Carnal Knowledge says,
In each of the bands I've been in we have lyrics that are explicitly feminist and
talk about being a lady in the punk scene and in the world. I think one of the first
songs I wrote lyrics for was about how I wished that the ceiling would cave in on
guys who dance really aggressively at punk shows. I've also written alot of songs
about intimate partner violence and sexual violence, which of course is not only a
women's issue. Partially I'm drawn to this topic because in my professional life
I'm a social worker in a program that provides counseling to survivors, so its
cathartic to scream my head off about these issues (LaHood 2013).
Here she explains that her lyrics address feminist issues both within and outside of punk
culture.
The creation of all-female or feminist collectives that stem from DIY punk
communities are another example of non-musical forms of participation with punk. In
my research I found two members involved with the same Brooklyn-based feminist
collective, the For The Birds Collective, which not only aims to increase participation
from marginalized people within punk communities, but to also expand feminist action to
other audiences outside of punk. Lauren Denitizio describes her involvement with the
groups efforts, saying
24
“I've been a part of For the Birds since its inception almost six years ago. We run
a zine distro, host events, run workshops, maintain a blog and website, etc. We
came out of the punk scene but haven't limited ourselves to that one identified
audience. I think it has actually been really valuable to take a DIY punk ethos into
feminist activism and realize how our smaller communities have the opportunity
to expand and connect with each other and foster greater dialogue around
intersectional feminism.” (Denitizio)
She sees these feminist collectives as important for a number of reasons. Not only do
they connect like-minded people within punk communities and promote feminist action
with them, but also to expand their audience and promote feminist action outside of
punk.
Perceptions of Gender and Feminism Within the Scene
Its hard to concretely say whether I've seen changes in the way gender and
gender roles are perceived in the punk scene because I don't think that change is
a linear process. There have been some times where I felt as if I was witnessing
progress and then a short time later it will feel as if there were five steps taken
back (Jessica LaHood)
Before starting my research, I had the idea that even though sexism certainly
existed within DIY punk communities, that punk was generally perceived by people to
be an exceptional subculture in addressing gender inequality. As I began to study these
communities, I learned that perceptions of gender within punk were not as black and
white as labeling something as being either sexist or feminist. People within punk
communities have differing opinions about the degree to which sexism exists, and also
25
the degree to which it is a useful subculture for promoting feminist action and gender
resistance. I found people involved with gender resistance within punk to feel at times
jaded, and at other times inspired by the communities they are a part of. Many people
get involved with punk communities with the idea that it can be a place that is outside
the influence of mainstream oppressive norms. Jessica LaHood says,
“When I started going to punk shows in high school I had the naive idea that the
punk scene could be a space that had somehow evolved beyond sexism that
pervaded the rest of society. I think partially I saw that because I was really
hungry for a space that transcended mainstream norms, and also because when
I started going to punk shows I met women who actively behaved and presented
themselves in ways that flew in the face of traditional gender roles...The longer I
was in the punk scene the more I began to recognize that the punk scene was
just as much a part of patriarchal culture as everywhere else” (LaHood 2013)
Her perspective shows us that even though some women within punk may present
themselves in ways that challenge mainstream expectations of gender, that punk
communities still can be just as patriarchal as mainstream culture or other subcultures.
Still, even though she doesn’t see punk as being immune to patriarchy, she says “I do
believe that there are some subgenres and communities in punk that are more open to
having dialogue about how systems of oppression impact our lives, but it very much
depends on what part of the punk scene someone is in” (LaHood 2013).
Even though some people within the scene may see some differences between
gender construction in punk and mainstream society, people recognize that you cannot
separate the influence of gender socialization and politicized, feminist punk
26
communities. Matt Canino, a male-bodied singer of popular DIY bands such as
Latterman and RVIVR has this perspective, saying
“People in power, the systems of power are dominated and run by men. That
informs everything in the country from your school, to your friends to the punk
scene. We like to believe that we're different and that we're underground and
radical, but we live in the world which is socialized by these systems, and we
exist just as a reflection of greater mainstream society” (Punknews:2011).
This self-realization that, even though you are apparently part of a “radical” culture that
seems outside the influence of mainstream ideology, that in reality you cannot separate
the influence that mainstream culture has on subcultures. Still, perceptions of how
gender is performed is constantly changing. Gender resistance is not a linear process,
and certain waves of feminist action effect not only positive perceptions of how gender
is performed, but also reactionary anti-feminist politics by people within these
communities.
Waves of Feminist Action and Reactions to Gender Resistance
As I discussed in the brief history of punk I gave earlier in this paper, feminism
can be seen as coming in waves within punk scenes. This can be seen by looking at
punk as a broader subculture with the early 90’s Riot Grrrl Movement being a reaction
to the male-dominated, masculine 1980’s hardcore punk scene. It can also be looked at
on a more micro-level within DIY punk communities. People involved with feminist
movements within these communities see periods of lots of discussion and action
surrounding gender equality and others where it is less prevalent. This can be looked at
in shorter periods of times than decades or entire movements.
27
In my interviews for this research, I asked people if they had seen any changes
in the way that gender is perceived within DIY punk. The answers varied, which I
attribute to both personal experience as well as the particular community are involved
with. Some felt that since their involvement with these communities, they had seen
more inclusion of women. Others felt that not a whole lot had changed. One informant,
Spoonboy, stated that progress of including women within punk was not linear, and
experience depended heavily on which community they were associated with.
Upswings and downswings in feminist action and inclusion of women seemed to be
experienced by people I spoke with. Lauren of The Measure (sa) experienced a
positive change since she first got involved with punk communities, saying
The first thing I think of is that when I started going to shows there were ZERO
bands with female singers at local shows. NONE. I grew up in New Jersey and I
still dealt with that. Later on I found out that there was at least one femalefronted band in New Brunswick during that time but I hadn't encountered them.
Now I feel like most bands in the area have women in them, to be honest. It
seems like its more of an anomaly in pop punk or a scene like New Brunswick to
have a band that's all male-identified folks. Serious, major change there.
(Denitzio 2013)
At least in the community she has been involved with, she has witnessed progress in at
least one area of increasing gender representation in punk.
In 2011, the website Punknews published an essay titled You Know What Makes
Me Feel Unsafe?” written by Denitzio that called to attention the ways in which she
sees sexism manifest itself within punk communities. This article sparked a polarizing
28
debate in punk discourse about the existence of sexism within the scene. The article
was effective in opening up dialogue, and reaching a broad audience of people who
may not be affiliated with more politicized punk communities. However, it also
highlighted the less politicized, more sexist sides of punk communities as well. In my
research, I looked at the comments on the web page the article was written on to look at
the ways in which feminist critique of punk was perceived.
A theme in the reactionary perspectives I saw had to do with calling the author of
the article a “reverse-sexist,” with claims that the punk scene was generally past
sexism. Some comments acknowledged the fact that there were some instances where
sexism exists, but generally viewed them as an exception to the norms. Accusations of
reverse sexism included “Due to the sexist nature of her comments, I can't take
anything she says on the subject seriously. Feminism is a fight against oppression, not
the opposite sex. When she makes blanket statements and reverse-sexist comments
she hurts her own cause and voids the few valid points she did make” (Punknews).
Reverse-sexism is a reaction that can also be seen in response to mainstream feminist
movements. This is another example in the ways in which punk can reproduce
mainstream patriarchal attitudes.
Others seemed to view the DIY punk scene as being, for the most part, free of
any sort of gender inequality. Comments such as “I was just telling my friend the other
day that I was super surprised about how un-sexist the scene is becoming and stoked
about it” and “Everyone knows that sexism, racism, [insert]ism are all bad, but I really
doubt there is a real epidemic of honest sexism/racism/homophobia occurring in the
scene” contrast the perspectives told by people involved with gender activism within
29
the subculture. This shows that the idea that sexism and gender inequality are a strong
part of punk culture is not a universal idea with punk communities. These types of
comments are made in direct response to an article written by someone who has
experienced being a woman and musician in punk, who has claims to experience a
sense of inequality in the scene.
Some responses to the article were met with more overt hostility, and were more
overtly sexist, openly claiming that punk was for men, or by hauling sexist and
homophobic slurs at the author. Comments like “Wow, someone sounds like they need
a tampon” and “She’s a dyke, remember?” are direct attacks at the authors gender and
perceived sexuality. Others more openly defended punk as a space male-dominated
space, with comments like “It's a male dominated scene, THAT WE STARTED” and
“when your (sic) in a male dominated field you have to change for us... not the other
way around.” Although it’s more of a rarity that sexism is overtly expressed within punk,
there are still examples of punk continuing to be centered around masculinity. One of
the biggest places that gender construction as well as resistance can be seen is the
punk show. In the following section, I will use the example of the punk show to highlight
certain ways in which gender is perceived, constructed, and resisted.
“Are You With The Band?”
Since the punk show is arguably the focal point of most punk communities, a
great deal of importance is put on the bands who play these shows, and the musicians
that make up these bands. One of the benefits of these smaller punk communities is
the ability to develop more personal relationships with members of these bands
compared to other musical subcultures. Even though on the one hand there is an
30
emphasis on band members and showgoers being equal in their contribution to the
communities they make up, there still remains a sense of prestige that is reserved for
musicians even in smaller scenes. These roles as musicians and, even though it goes
against certain values of DIY punk communities, the prestige that comes with these
roles, is generally occupied by male members of these communities. The exclusion of
women and other gender-minorities from occupying space as musicians on stage is
actively challenged and contested by certain members within these communities.
In 2011, Lauren Denitzio put out a compilation album that featured only female
fronted pop-punk bands that are all currently creating music. The title, “Are You With
the Band?” was used to address a consistent challenge that female musicians in these
punk communities are faced with. Denitzio explained the significance of the title of the
compilation saying,
“The title of the compilation comes from a fairly common anecdote among
women in bands to be asked if they’re WITH the band. As in, they’re not IN the
band, but the roadie or merch person or partner. It’s pretty offensive when it
happens, and it has definitely happened to me, so I was interested in using that
reference in some form. No, we’re IN the band, thanks” (Denitzio 2013)
The implications of that question, “Are You With the Band?” suggests that women are
not expected to be part of the process of making and performing music within punk.
Women are seen as periphery members of the subculture, whose relationship to making
music is seen through their relationships with the male members of bands. Their
relationships to bands could be seen through non-music making tasks such as selling
merch or being a roadie, but they aren’t expected to be part of the music-making
31
process until they are actually on stage performing, which even then poses a new set of
challenges. This compilation came to be as a response to this expectation that roles of
women in bands are limited to tasks that don’t involve creating music. A compilation
that features only female-fronted pop-punk bands shows that not only can women
participate in creating music, but that they are doing so in a significant way.
Once on stage, the challenge of proving themselves equal to men doesn’t stop
for women in punk bands. Regardless of one’s ability to play music well, or create
music in bands that are well-liked within the scene, women’s positions as musicians is
still seen as lesser to the same positions occupied by men. When “are you with the
band?” is the question asked before female performers get on stage, it is usually
followed by “you play well for a girl” after the performance. Women in bands also
frequently note feeling patronized by other male musicians in the scene by constantly
being doubted that they understand how to use their gear. Jessica LaHood, singer of
the Brooklyn-based bands Death First and Carnal Knowledge sees this saying “I've
definitely talked to female musicians in punk who've been asked if they are strong
enough to carry their amps” and sees instances “where folks ability to play their
instrument or operate their gear is questioned” (LaHood 2013). These two ideas--”are
you with the band” followed by “you play well for a girl”--is a consistent theme in my
research talking with female musicians. My research deals with a number of different
DIY punk communities rather than a singular, centralized scene, and these ideas are
consistent (although to different degrees) in all of them.
Women in punk bands is not something new within the subculture, but is
something that has consistently been seen as an exception to the norms of who is
32
allowed access to play music. But how, in a subculture that since the late 1970’s has
sought to challenge the ideologies of mainstream society, have women so consistently
been excluded from the music making process? Spoonboy says,
“The central social gathering of a punk scene is generally the punk show...even
though punk is more than music, music is usually the central unifying factor, and
its generally played by male socialized people, which speaks a lot about our
culture, like who is allowed to take up space, who’s taught to get up in front of
people and expect that people care about what they have to say, and who is
encouraged to learn how to play music and pick up an instrument, which in our
culture is generally men. Men are the most visible actors of punk, and that filters
into all aspects of punk generally” (Spoonboy, 2012)
This is an example of the ways in which some mainstream gender norms and
expectations are reproduced within these punk communities. (Add paragraph about
feminist theory of gender).
Female musicians in punk bands contest the dominant gender expectations
within punk communities. Although women’s ability to play music has been questioned
in almost every account of women playing in bands that I’ve come across in my
research, the same women also speak about the ways in which playing music has
helped them challenge the patriarchal all-male punk show or band. But even the role of
female musicians as challengers to the patriarchal norms of the scene is contested
within the scene by different women. While certain bands are actively outspoken
against gender discrimination, other women don’t see their roles as female musicians
as necessarily being feminist. Some female musicians don’t see being outspokenly
33
feminist as a necessary component of them being performers, and resent others’
expectations that they actively address these issues in their role as performers.
I see both the outspokenly feminist as well as the non-political female
musicians/performers as both being active participants in resisting the dominant gender
ideas of punk communities, albeit in different ways. The critique of women who aren’t
actively feminist or political as performers in punk bands doesn’t seem to acknowledge
the fact that by simply being a female-bodied or other gender-minority performer is in
and of itself a form of resistance against patriarchal expectations of who occupies space
as performers. Some women performers experience feeling a sense of tokenization in
their bands. Jessica LaHood says,
“On the one hand, I'm a lady in punk, so of course I want to support other women
in punk coming to my town, and its really gratifying to play with other folks who
may have some shared experiences with you. But then on the other hand, it can
feel tokenizing to feel that you're being asked to play a show for reasons that
might not include your music.” (Jessica LaHood)
This shows us that the role of women performers is even contested by women
performers themselves. Denitzio expressed this same sentiment in describing the
process of selecting bands for the “Are You With the Band?” compilation. While she
wanted to highlight female musicians, she also didn’t want to select bands simply for the
fact that they had female musicians in them. She says “I think it’s really solid music
from really solid bands who all happen to be female-fronted,” emphasizing the fact that
this is not only about women, but about the music is well. She acknowledges the
tokenizing experience that women face, and wants to highlight the fact that women
34
aren’t only capable of producing music, but producing music that is worth listening to.
She also recognizes that not all of the songs of the compilation are outspokenly
feminist, saying “There are bands that chose to be more political about it; there are
others that didn’t.” (Denitizio).
The Punk Audience
As I mentioned in the beginning of this section, the punk show is often seen as
the focal point of punk communities. Having addressed the ways in which gender is
expressed in bands and musicians, I find it just as important to address the ways in
which the punk audience observing the shows experiences gender. The audience is
also a space in which gender is contested, and can also be seen as a male-dominated
space. The space the audience occupies is often seen as a place of aggression and
masculinity. Wendy Fonarow (Fonarow:1995) observed the spatial organization of indie
shows, and noted in her research the spatial organization of gender at them. She noted
that “...there are acute gender distinctions in terms of bodily distribution. At indie gigs,
females consistently constitute only 35 percent of the audience. In zone one, females
generally stand in the front three rows or slightly further back in the peripheral side
areas. The mosh area is primarily male” (1995:362) She sees moshing as something
produces “an emotional feeling of community and connectedness with others in this
area” and that being in the front is the “most exciting” area as well as makes you
“closer” to the band. Since men occupy this space, feelings of community and
connectedness matter based on gender, and men are therefore “closer” to the band
than women because of spatial organization of shows.
35
Although people feel a sense of community within “the pit,” where for example
the expectation is that if someone falls everyone will pick them up, that community
feeling is reserved for men. The band RVIVR have been amongst the more
controversial bands within DIY punk today with their opinions about the way the
audience should participate. They are known for calling people out for acting
aggressively within the audience, and also for encouraging women to come to the front.
I have been to several RVIVR shows and have witnessed them singling people out in
the crowd for the way they are acting, as well as between songs reminding people to be
mindful of others space. This challenges the dominant ideas about how the audience
should react within punk.
Conclusion
Throughout the process of doing this project, I constantly doubted that what I was
studying was important to write about. I went through a long period of rejecting punk, a
subculture that I’ve been involved with since I was a young teenager, while doing this
project. The weekend after I completed the first draft of this project, I went on a trip
from Asheville to Philadelphia to see RVIVR, a band that I have referenced in this paper
and that inspired me to look critically at my own approach to punk. A late start and a
heavy rainstorm had us racing the clock to make the show on time. I sped through
Philadelphia and found a parking spot several blocks from the venue. We jumped out of
the car and sprinted through the pouring rain down the streets of Philly to the basement
of the First Unitarian Church where the show was held. Not more than two minutes
after we got into the basement, the band struck their first chords of the show.
36
After one of the bands more aggressive songs, singer Erica Freas of the band
addressed the crowd. “We are not the soundtrack for a bunch of dudes pushing each
other. If you want that, go to another show. We are not that kind of punk.” She was met
with cheers from the crowd, who consisted of significantly more women than most punk
shows. The feeling of this show was not what you would expect of most punk shows.
The crowd sang and danced along to the music without there being a competition
around who could push and be pushed the hardest. Going to this show made me
realize why I had chosen to write about this topic. All along I really wanted to expose
that this kind of punk scene existed, although as I’ve pointed out in my research, it’s far
from perfect. I wanted to further explore what made this type of punk different and
important to the members within it, as well as what sort of challenges this different type
of punk faced.
It seems that the way in which people view their own position in these
communities I researched is really up to the way they choose to perceive it. It seems
too optimistic to label these communities as a haven for feminism. However, it’s also too
cynical to see them only as sites that reproduce patriarchal attitudes from mainstream
society. There are moments when it is blatantly obvious these communities are still
dominated by masculinity and male members within them. But there are also pockets
where it feels as if rigid social hierarchies are temporarily suspended. The show in
Philadelphia is one of those instances. Just as gender resistance movements come in
waves, so do the feelings of inclusion and importance within these communities.
Moving forward, I find myself once again more connected to punk after doing research.
37
It’s not perfect, but if you look for it, I am optimistic that anyone can find moments of
transcending rigid social structures within these communities.
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