Rockin' out of the box: gender maneuvering in alternative hard rock

Abstract

Schippers' account of the rock music subculture in Chicago between 1992 and 1995 is an ethnographic study based on casual interactions with a core group of rock fans, interviews with rock musicians, and field trips into bars and clubs of the Wicker Park area. The result provides fascinating, informative anecdotal information. Drawing from theorists Anthony Giddens, Candace West, Don Zimmerman, Judith Butler, and others, Schippers interprets performances, gestures, and language as well as values-both implied and explicitly stated-as maneuvers employed by members of that subculture to undermine expressions of (and attitudes reflecting) sexism and bigotry.-Choice An astute analysis of rock music's gender politics that manages to be both perceptive and fun to read-a rare feat.- Arlene Stein, author of Sex and Sensibility: Stories of a Lesbian Generation Given the long history of feminism and its contested place in popular culture, important, practical questions arise: What effect, if any, have feminist ideas and practices had on the lives of young men and women who grew up with them? How do these individuals negotiate the realities of gender in their daily lives? Employing the crucial feminist insight that gender is a constantly shifting performance and not an essential quality related to sex, Mimi Schippers explores the gender roles, assumptions, and transgressions of the men and women involved in the alternative hard rock scene. She uses the innovative term gender maneuvering to explain how gender and sexuality are negotiated and always changing features of social relations. This process operates as a cultural practice and as an individual strategy of resistance to socially prescribed gender roles. Schippers conducted extensive interviews with fans as well as musicians, including Ian MacKaye of Fugazi, Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam, Kim Thayil of Soundgarden, Donita Sparks and Jennifer Finch of L7, Kat Bjelland and Lori Barbero of Babes in Toyland, Rose Marshack of Poster Children, Louise Post and Nina Gordon of Veruca Salt, and Liz Davis and Valerie Agnew of 7 Year Bitch. As it documents the development of a rock music genre that has so far received little academic attention, Rockin' out of the Box also demonstrates how this musical culture contributes to our understanding of the daily practices of gender relations among young people. Mimi Schippers is an assistant professor of sociology and women's studies at Tulane University.