Punk, Gender and Ageing

Just Typical Girls?

Laura Way

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9781839825705
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

Punk has traditionally been theorised within cultural studies and sociology as a male-dominated subculture within which women are marginalized. In line with feminist research values and epistemologies, Punk, Gender and Ageing gives voice to a previously marginalised sample: ageing punk women.
This is the first book to focus solely on the experiences of older punk women, going beyond recent scholarship on post-youth subcultural involvement which has demonstrated a limited exploration of the interplay between age, gender and subculture. Through areas such as music and dress, the author considers how ageing punk women continue to retain punk as significant in their lives.
Making a new and exciting contribution to a still developing field, this book, combining ageing, music subcultures and gender, will appeal to both students and scholars interested in subcultures as well as those looking at the sociology of gender and ageing.

Chapter 1

Playing A-Minor in the Punk Scene or All Girls to the Front? An Introduction

Well, I figured, if I’m gonna grow old, I’m gonna do it as disgracefully as I can. (Sam, late forties)

The primary reason for beginning this research was that when I explored literature concerning ageing, punk and gender, voices such as Sam’s were absent. Punk originally was theorised as both a male-dominated subculture and one which was ‘youth’ centred (Hebdige, 1998), and whilst both of these elements have since been challenged in subcultural scholarship, there still appears to be limited analysis which brings ageing punk women to the fore. This research is concerned with filling that gap.

It would be wrong for me to present only the academic justification for this research and not acknowledge my own personal investment in punk. My commitment to being both reflexive and transparent leads me to introduce here the more personal motivations and reasons for this research which sit alongside the academic one described above. My own personal punk journey started in my childhood, with bands such as The Clash featuring in my parents’ vinyl collection and seeing photos of my dad as a young punk with the stereotypical look associated with British punk in the 1970s and 1980s – rips, safety pins, band t-shirts and leather jackets. As I began exploring music more in my early teens, I began developing my own collection (albeit it with tapes and CDs rather than vinyl) within which punk bands featured and began playing in bands. Just before I started this research, I was in my late twenties and had become increasingly interested in how my relationship to and with punk seemed to be changing as I aged.

Introducing the Research Participants

This book, however, is not about me. It is about a group of 22 women I had the pleasure of speaking with across the two and a bit years I was interviewing. Before going any further, it is only right that I introduce them to you now as it will be their voices you will be hearing throughout.

I do provide some brief socio-demographic detail where known. These are details correct at the time of the interviews. I also highlight what format their interview took, for example, face to face, telephone, Skype, instant messaging or e-mail. As some of the women I spoke with wished for their real names to be used (something I discuss further in relation to ethics later in this chapter), I have stated where pseudonyms were used. Inconsistencies in ‘Additional Information’ (e.g. the way it states for some but not others whether or not they have children) reflects the differences in information provided by participants. I did not have particular questions in the interviews concerning things like marital status, employment and so forth, so references to such things instead emerged within the interviews (or not). To avoid any assumptions being made concerning the ordering of this introductory list, I will present this as an alphabetical listing.

Briony (30), originally from the United Kingdom but been based in Germany for some years. In employment, in a relationship, has one child. Interview: Skype.

Ces (27), Midlands. In employment. Interview: face to face.

Cheryl* (‘middle aged’), location unknown. Interview: e-mail.

Christine (thirties), South of England. In employment, married. Interview: face to face, paired.

Deedee* (38), Midlands. In employment. Interview: face to face.

Elizabeth (30), Midlands. In employment, in a relationship. Interview: face to face.

Grace* (52), location unknown. In employment. Interview: e-mail.

Hester* (51), location unknown. In employment, has children. Interview: e-mail.

Jen (early thirties), Midlands. In employment. Interview: face to face.

Jess (31), Midlands. In employment. Interview: face to face.

Katie (early thirties), Central England. In employment. Interview: Skype.

Kristianne (mid-forties), South of England. In employment, one child. Interview: face to face, paired.

Lindsey (44), Scotland. In employment, studying. Interview: telephone.

Milly* (51), North England. Married, has children. Interview: Skype.

Morag* (49), location unknown. In employment, in a relationship, no children. Interview: e-mail.

Myfanwy* (53), location unknown. In employment. Interview: e-mail.

Naefun* (early forties), South of England. In employment, in a relationship. Interview: Skype.

Naja (44), originally from the United Kingdom but currently residing outside of the United Kingdom. In employment, married, no children. Interview: Skype.

Rebecca (early thirties), Midlands. Studying, married, no children. Interview: face to face.

Sam (late forties), Midlands. In employment, in a relationship, has children. Interview: face to face.

Sharon* (52), Wales. In employment, in a relationship, has children. Interview: face to face.

Suzy (33), Northern England. In employment, in a relationship, no children. Interview: instant messaging.

*indicates where a pseudonym was used.

One thing I did find with the age criteria I had set on the research call-out (30 years and above) was that a few women contacted me saying they wished to be involved but were just shy of being 30 years old. In these cases I replied with the fuller research information sheet which gave the context of the research as being about older punk women and let them decide if they still wished to take part. Where they did I endeavoured to include them in the sample as they clearly felt they were separate from punk youths. This highlights complexities around age/ageing with it being difficult to objectively identify old versus young, for example, because of people’s subjective experiences and sense of age/ageing (Kaufman, 1986).

Aims of the Research

I begin the research process with particular themes I wished to explore and under these themes key questions. The four key themes that I wanted to explore in relation to older punk women were: subcultural identification, ageing and embodiment, and resistance. I saw an exploration of gender as inherent to all of these. Questions arising from these are detailed below.

(1) Subcultural identification: What does punk mean for post-youth punk women? How do these women enact a punk identity? How does their punk identity interact with other identities they hold? How do they articulate punk as still significant in their lives? Do they encounter any barriers or limitations on this articulation?

(2) Ageing and embodiment: How is ‘being’ and ‘doing’ punk negotiated alongside the experience of age/ageing? How is it managed with regard to societal expectations concerning (ageing) women? What relationship has their punk identity played with life events significant to these women? How is the body used in the construction of a punk identity and how do these women respond to the ageing body?

(3) Resistance: In the context of post-youth punk women, is the subcultural concept of ‘resistance’ still relevant and if so, what form does this take? Does resistance play a role of these women’s lives? How is such resistance articulated? Does resistance take different forms? How does resistance interact with issues regarding ageing and femininity?

It is worth noting here that my research initially utilised the expression ‘post-youth’ in order to distinguish from the punk youth research had predominantly focussed on and at the same time avoid any offence the term ‘older’ might cause. My sampling method avoided either expression, instead specifying a minimum age. I did, however, use both ‘post-youth’, ‘older’ and also ‘ageing’ as expressions within interviews with participants to gauge which term sat best with them. There was no challenging of my use of ‘older’ and ‘ageing’, yet the ‘post-youth’ expression caused some laughter amongst participants(!) I decided from there I would have ‘older’ punk women as the predominant phrasing in the write-up of my research but that all three could be used interchangeably.

Methodology and Methods

The research methodology was informed by both inductivism and feminism. My research, though taking much inspiration from grounded theory, would be considered a ‘weak’ version of it (Gibson & Hartman, 2014). Whilst theory was grounded in the participants’ perspectives (Gibson & Hartman, 2014), characteristics of grounded theory, such as theoretical sampling, were not wholly employed nor was ‘openness’ fully achieved (an insightful account concerning the difficulties of realising complete openness has been provided by Hodkinson, 2009).

Feminist methodology might only be characterised by the way it is ‘shaped by feminist theory, politics and ethics and grounded in women’s experience’ (Ramazanoglu & Holland, 2006, p. 16). Part of my rationale for conducting research on older punk women was to provide a marginalised group with a voice; reflecting how feminist research commonly focusses on women’s, and ‘other’ marginalised groups’, lived experiences (Nagy Hesse-Biber & Leckenby, 2004). A feminist informed methodology also involved addressing questions around power dynamics throughout the research process (Nagy Hesse-Biber & Leckenby, 2004). An inductive approach, for example, allowed for themes and foci to emerge from the participants rather than the researcher being ‘taken for granted as the knowing party’ (Nagy Hesse-Biber, Leavy, & Yaiser, 2004, p. 12). Strong reflexivity was also engaged in throughout the research process (Nagy Hesse-Biber & Leckenby, 2004).

The need for reflexivity was additionally important in this research due to my position as an insider. There are various examples of insider research involving punk (including Leblanc, 2002, and Taylor, 2011) and as Sharp and Threadgold (2019) note there exists extensive writing on techniques of insider research on music subcultures more broadly. Since childhood punk has been an important facet of my identity; indeed, my own involvement in punk was fundamental in choosing to explore punk academically. Reflexivity around this featured across the research process and I was made aware of both the benefits but also pitfalls insider research could pose. Thus my dual identity as both an insider and a researcher demanded a reflexive approach throughout the research process so as to balance potential benefits with potential difficulties (Hodkinson, 2005).

Qualitative data were analysed from 16 semi-structured interviews (one paired) and 5 e-mail interviews. Qualitative methods were deemed suitable as I wanted to explore participants’ understandings of the social world (Bryman, 2004). The sample was acquired through a call-out for volunteers online and word of mouth, though some snowball sampling also emerged from this. The initial criterion for inclusion was ‘punk women over the age of 30 years old’ and potential participants could decide for themselves whether they fitted this description to avoid any imposition of what was considered ‘punk’. Bennett (2006) noted some difficulties in reaching older punk women in his research, musing that perhaps their fandom had become a highly personal, and therefore more private, issue. I did not experience similar difficulties in gathering my own sample of women. It is possible that being a woman helped in this process though it would not be something I could say with certainty.

Ethical clearance was granted from my affiliated academic institution. Though anonymity is considered part of ethical research practice, Downes, Breeze, and Griffin (2013) acknowledge how this might be problematic with research concerned with DIY cultures (e.g. punk). Due to the activist nature of some DIY cultures, research participants might wish to be known or named and the ‘practice of imposing pseudonyms and removing identifiable information can undermine participant labour, power and agency’ (Downes et al., 2013, p. 108). Such a position is also in keeping with feminist thinking and my participants were, therefore, asked if they wished to be anonymous. More participants than not said they wished to be named.

Key Literature

This chapter opened by highlighting how scholarship initially conceptualised punk as a subculture predominantly made up of young men (Hebdige, 1998). Hebdige’s work came out of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (CCCS) which conceptualised youth cultures, or subcultures, as bounded, homogeneous groupings of committed youth (Hall & Jefferson, 2006; Muggleton, 2000). The CCCS’ neo-Marxist framework understood these subcultures as ‘collective responses by post-war working class youth to their contradictory and subordinated position in post-war UK society’ (Hodkinson, 2016, p. 630) with such groups sharing behaviours, musical tastes and stylistics choices (Clark, 2003). Whilst CCCS scholars claimed to emphasis agency, Sweetman (2013) notes that these subcultures were largely understood through a structural-functionalist analysis with (sub)cultures seen as responses to material/social conditions. Punk was subjected to a semiotic analysis with items worn by subcultural participants (such as safety pins) seen as a way of offering some resistance to mainstream culture/society (Hebdige, 1998). Building on two criticisms of the CCCS’ work concerning its marginalisation of women and its focus on youth, I will next set out some key background reading which will help set the context with regard to relevant literature on punk, gender and ageing. After this, I will highlight some key concepts to this research – gender, resistance, life course, career and scene.

Women and Punk

As mentioned above, the CCCS received criticism for the absence of girls and women in its analysis. Through a feminist re-reading of the work of Willis (1977) and Hebdige (1998), McRobbie (1991) argues that such pieces structurally excluded women through their concepts, adhered to patriarchal meanings in their analysis and failed to explore sexual divisions (even as they played out in the studies themselves). In early work concerning girls and subcultures, McRobbie (1991) sought to move away from the almost exclusive interest in boys found in such ‘classic’ work of the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies (e.g. Taylor, Walton, & Young, 1973; Willis, 1977). It can be argued that this interest in boys (in turn decreeing invisibility of girls) was not reflective of girls’ actual non-presence. Girls were present, but perhaps compared to their male counterparts, their subcultural involvement was different in form and arguably, where present, their subordination was retained and reproduced (McRobbie & Garber, 1991). Moving away from the classic conceptualisation of subculture as oppositional or creative can be a way of recognising that girls have alternative ways of organising their cultural life which may offer them different possibilities for resistance (McRobbie & Garber, 1991).

Walby’s (1989) concept of private patriarchy is relevant here. Private patriarchy is a type of patriarchy which ‘is based upon the relative exclusion of women from arenas of social life apart from the household’ (Walby, 1989, p. 228). This notion of private patriarchy emerges through McRobbie and Garber’s (1991) work on girls and subcultures in which they suggest young pre-teen girls have less access to public freedom than their brothers and therefore create bedroom cultures rather than participating in street cultures outside of the home. The second type of patriarchy identified by Walby (1989) is public patriarchy which ‘does not exclude women from certain sites, but rather subordinates women in all of them’ (p. 228). This happens through six different structures of patriarchy, one of which is patriarchal culture (Walby, 1989). Patriarchal culture concerns the way ‘discourses on femininity and masculinity are institutionalised in all sites of social life […] which have cultural production as a central goal’ (Walby, 1989, p. 227). This links to the way punk has typically been conceptualised as a masculine subculture (Leblanc, 2002) which may make punk less appealing or even accessible to girls/women.

There has been an increased focus on females within subcultural literature more broadly since the critique made above, including research on girls/women in Goth (Brill, 2007), metal (Hill, 2016), hip-hop (Vasan, 2011), rave (Pini, 2001) and skateboarding (Pomerantz, Currie, & Kelly, 2004). There is also now a growing body of research focussing solely on punk women (some of which are highlighted below) or considering gender in punk more broadly (Hanson, 2017; Liptrot, 2014; Sharp & Threadgold, 2019). Literature concerning female punks has tended to revolve around three broad areas – female punk musicians (Berkers, 2012; Cohen, 2001; Denim, 1977; Kennedy, 2002; Reddington, 2007), female punks as a minority within a male-dominated subculture (Griffin, 2012; Leblanc, 2002; Roman, 1988) and females in relation to riot grrrl (which could be conceptualised as an offshoot of punk) (Davis, 2001; Monem, 2007; Piano, 2003). My research, however, focusses on non-musicians. This is not to say that there are no musicians in my research sample, rather, the primary criteria for involvement in the research was self-identification as a punk, rather than as a punk musician. Given this, along with constraints placed on space afforded, I will not be covering literature concerning female punk musicians; however, I highly recommend Helen Reddington’s (2007) The Lost Women of Rock Music which offers a thorough examination of this topic.

Where academia does focus on female punks rather than female punk musicians, the attention is usually framed by the fact that these punks/punk musicians are seen as a minority within a masculine subculture (in terms of male participants outnumbering females and punk being seen to rest upon particular notions of ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Chapter 1. Playing A-Minor in the Punk Scene or All Girls to the Front? An Introduction
• Chapter 2. Definitions, or, ‘What’ and ‘Who’ is Punk?
• Chapter 3. ‘Doing’ Punk: Dress
• Chapter 4. ‘Doing’ Punk: The Role of Music and its Continued Significance
• Chapter 5. Doing Punk: Music in the Context of Gig Attendance
• Chapter 6. Ageing, Adulthood and Punk
• Chapter 7. Conclusion: Punk Women Growing Old Disgracefully?
• Appendix: Methodology
• References
• Index