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Indie alternative rock in the 1980s is often presented as authentically autonomous, produced in local scenes, uncaptured by ideology, free of commercial pressures, but also of high culture elitism. In claiming that the music is avant-garde, postmodern and subversive, such accounts simplify indie's historical, social and cultural context. Indie did not simply arise organically out of developing postpunk music networks, but was shaped by media, and was not just collective, but also stratified, hierarchical and traditional. Canon (articulated through practices of archivalism and connoisseurship) is a key means of stratification within indie scenes, produced by and serving particular social and cultural needs for dominant social groups (journalists, scenemakers, tastemakers, etc.). These groups and individuals were mainly masculine, and thus gender in indie scenes is an important means for deconstructing the discourse of indie independence. I suggest re-envisioning indie as a history of record collectors, emphasising the importance of rock ‘tradition’, of male rock ‘intellectuals’, second-hand record shops, and of an alternative canon as a form of pedagogy. I also consider such activities as models of rational organisation and points of symbolic identification.

The proliferation of hip-hop culture today is so great that we may speak of a modern-day pop-cultural phenomenon. This phenomenon has found its way from the ghetto areas in the Bronx to white suburbia in the U.S. and Europe over the last thirty years. The specific subject for my study is the overt sexism that is present in this culture. Sexism can take on a variety of forms and expressions, as there are various degrees and definitions of this concept. Hence, my aim is to locate some of these definitions and relate them to hip-hop’s expression. The development from a black sub-culture to an immensely successful genre in music is of great interest to my study, in terms of hip-hop as a pop-cultural and sociological phenomenon. There are also cultural, gender, and racial concerns to be considered in this respect, and my account of these includes an exploration of the time and place for the birth and development of hip-hop. The extent of sexism, and even outright misogyny, in hip-hop today is so pervasive, that protests have started to come from every direction of America’s pop-cultural, feminist, and academic sphere. The sociological and pop-cultural factors that are present in this discussion, is related to the topic of gender roles and relationships in African American culture. In my discussion on the hip-hop industry’s responsibility for distributing these negative depictions of women in hip-hop videos and lyrics, I have included some examples from studies that focus on the racial stereotypes in connection to gangsta-rap. The concept of image and authenticity is important in this respect, and there is a level of deliberate marketing strategies behind the lifestyle-oriented aliases of the rap artists. Since hip-hop and rap music traditionally have been overwhelmingly masculine expressions, it is necessary to take a look at the role of female artists within the hip-hop community. In this respect, I find that women have traditionally been rejected or hindered to participate in hip-hop’s brotherhood. Women in hip-hop have thus either tried to make careers for themselves, or adapt into the mass-marketed and male-defined stereotype that in many ways relate to the sexist images that are currently so pervasive. The sexist attitudes represent a point of view that I believe is derived from popularised representations in the media. These representations tally well with the already existing prejudiced opinions that have been created in terms of race discrimination and patriarchal values. Part of the problem with these representations is the lack of alternative images. If there are no counter-images that will speak against the existing sexist depictions, then there will be no progress in terms of addressing sexism directly. The constructed images of African Americans that the media are chiefly responsible for distributing, are what many non-black citizens believe to be the truth about black people. As long as people do not interact socially across ethnic borders, these representations will continue to circulate. In hip-hop culture, this is still ubiquitous in terms of the stereotyping of race. An interesting, and perhaps surprising aspect to some, is the fact that most of hip-hop’s buying audience is white. The negative stereotyping in hip-hop which was initiated by the gangsta-era, was displayed mainly by African American men who acted as criminal gangsters (hence the name), and who lived up to their role as “bad”, thus confirming the stereotyped conception that many non-blacks had of black people. The badness is then articulated within hip-hop’s boundaries through violence and as a glorification of the “thug life” by the men, whereas for women it is commonly expressed as commodified sexuality. Contemporary hip-hop resembles the minstrel shows of the 19th century in this respect, where working class white men dressed up as plantation slaves.

"In recent years, the expansion of night-time leisure has emerged as a key indicator of post-industrial urban prosperity, attracting investment, creating employment and re-generating the built environment. These leisure economies are youth-dominated, focusing upon the sale and consumption of alcohol. Unprecedented numbers of young people now flock to town centres that are crammed with bars, pubs and clubs, and the resulting violent disorder has over-run police resources that remain geared to the drinking patterns and alcohol cultures of previous generations. Post-industrial re-structuring has spawned an increasingly complex mass of night-time leisure options through which numerous licit and illicit commercial opportunities flow. Yet, regardless of the fashionable and romantic notions of many contemporary urban theorists, it is alcohol, mass intoxication and profit rather than 'cultural regeneration,' which lies at the heart of this rapidly expanding dimension of post-industrial urbanism. Private security in the bulky form of bouncers fills the void left by the public police. These men (only 7% are women), whose activities are barely regulated by the State, are dominated by a powerful subculture rooted in routine violence and intimidation. Using ethnography, participant observation and extensive interviews with all the main players, this book charts the emergence of the bouncer as one of the most graphic symbols in the iconography of post-industrial Britain." Argumentaire de l'ouvrage.

The British rock music press prides itself on its liberalism and radicalism, yet the discourses employed in music journalism exclude women from serious discussion both as musicians and as fans. In particular, the notion of credibility, which is of vital importance to the ‘serious’ rock music press, is constructed in such a way that it is almost completely unattainable for women.The most important and influential part of the British music press was until recently its two weekly music papers, Melody Maker (MM) and the New Musical Express (NME), both published by IPC magazines. The NME, launched in 1949, contains reviews, concert information and interviews with performers and describes itself as ‘a unique blend of irreverent journalism and musical expertise’ (www.ipc.co.uk). MM, which started life in 1926 as a paper for jazz musicians, had similar content but a greater emphasis on rock, as opposed to pop, music. It was relaunched in 1999 as a glossy magazine, before ceasing publication or, as IPC put it, merging with the NME, in December 2000.

Pretty in Punk combines autobiography, interviews, and sophisticated analysis to create the first insider's examination of the ways punk girls resist gender roles and create strong identities.Why would an articulate, intelligent, thoughtful young women shave off most of her hair, dye the remainder green, shape it into a mohawk, and glue it onto her head? What attracts girls to male-dominated youth subcultures like the punk movement? What role does the subculture play in their perceptions of themselves, and in their self-esteem? How do girls reconcile a subcultural identity that is deliberately coded “masculine” with the demands of femininity?Research has focused on the ways media and cultural messages victimize young women, but little attention has been paid to the ways they resist these messages. In Pretty in Punk, Lauraine Leblanc examines what happens when girls ignore these cultural messages, parody ideas of beauty, and refuse to play the games of teenage femininity. She explores the origins and development of the punk subculture, the processes by which girls decide to “go punk,” patterns of resistance to gender norms, and tactics girls use to deal with violence and harassment.Pretty in Punk takes readers into the lives of girls living on the margins of contemporary culture. Drawing on interviews with 40 girls and women between the ages of 14-37, Leblanc examines the lives of her subjects, illuminating their forms of rebellion and survival. Pretty in Punk lets readers hear the voices of these women as they describe the ways their constructions of femininity—from black lipstick to slamdancing—allow them to reject damaging cultural messages and build strong identities. The price they pay for resisting femininity can be steep—girls tell of parental rejection, school expulsion, institutionalization, and harassment. Leblanc illuminates punk girls' resistance to adversity, their triumphs over tough challenges, and their work to create individual identities in a masculine world.

Although a wide research literature suggests a regular connection between drinking, violence and social disorder, much doubt remains as to the actual nature and significance of this link. Some strong insights into this are provided by a dual consideration of the tie between masculine social identity and heavy group drinking, and the importance of issues of male honour in the social interaction that leads to much violent behaviour. But as well as this, information from the author's detailed ethnographic study of assaults in public drinking venues illuminates the subjective experience of participation in acts of disorder and violence. This is filtered through understandings of certain forms and aspects of popular leisure as entailing social protest and resistance to middle class morality. Although masculinist and frequently destructive, this violence is interpreted by many drinkers as providing a liberating and attractive sense of release, group pleasure and carnival.

Examines the construction of images of masculinity and the effect they have on identity, sexuality and sexual politics. Influences from black and white culture are explored as well as the ironies of class, colour and sexuality.

Iggy Pop once said of women: "However close they come I'll always pull the rug from under them. That's where my music is made." For so long, rock 'n' roll has been fueled by this fear and loathing of the feminine. The first book to look at rock rebellion through the lens of gender, The Sex Revolts captures the paradox at rock's dark heart--the music is often most thrilling when it is most misogynist and macho. And, looking at music made by female artists, it asks: must it always be this way?Provocative and passionately argued, the book walks the edgy line between a rock fan's excitement and a critic's awareness of the music's murky undercurrents. Here are the angry young men like the Stones and Sex Pistols, cutting free from home and mother; here are the warriors and crusaders, The Clash, Public Enemy, and U2 taking refuge in a brotherhood-in-arms; and here are the would-be supermen, with their man-machine fantasies and delusions of grandeur, from Led Zeppelin and Jim Morrison to Nick Cave and gangsta rap. The authors unravel the mystical, back-to-the-womb longings of the psychedelic tradition, from Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, and Van Morrison to Brian Eno, My Bloody Valentine, and ambient techno. Alongside the story of male rock, The Sex Revolts traces the secret history of female rebellion in rock: the masquerade and mystique of Kate Bush, Siouxie, and Grace Jones, the demystifiers of femininity, like the Slits and Riot Grrl, tomboy rockers like L7 and P. J. Harvey, and confessional artists like Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, and Courtney Love.A heady blend of music criticism, cultural studies, and gender theory by two of rock's keenest observers, The Sex Revolts is set to become the key text in the women-in-rock debate.

Although ‘youth culture’ and the ‘sociology of youth’ — and particularly critical and Marxist perspectives on them — have been central strands in the development of cultural studies over the past fifteen years, the emphasis from the earliest work of the National Deviancy Conference (NDC) onwards has remained consistently on male youth cultural forms.1 There have been studies of the relation of male youth to class and class culture, to the machinery of the State, and to the school, community and workplace. Football has been analysed as a male sport, drinking as a male form of leisure, the law and the police as patriarchal structures concerned with young male (potential) offenders. I do not know of a study that considers, never mind prioritises, youth and the family. This failure by subcultural theorists to dislodge the male connotations of ‘youth’ inevitably poses problems for those who are involved in teaching about those questions. As they cannot use the existing texts ‘straight,’ what other options do they have?

Rock music is the most misogynistic and aggressive form of music currently listened to. Women's place in it since the 1950's is described and analyzed in this article. Rock music was originally a working-class male challenge to the established symbolic order. In terms of the revenue generated by the industry thirty years later, it is the most important cultural expression of popular music. The enterprise is almost exclusively male, the majority of listeners are male, and even though women singers contributed in the early 1960's, there have been only a few female performers. An analysis of feminine representations in rock music lyrics and album covers in 1981 reveals a variety of male-identified images of women. In view of the cultural context in which rock music originated and the industry developed, the recent penetration by a few more women into the industry raises questions about whether numbers will continue to increase and, even if they do, whether rock music constitutes an appropriate voice in which women can authentically express themselves.

Major record labels involved in this year’s Brit Awards are among the latest targets of HMRC's continued crackdown on unpaid internships.

Querying Consent examines the ways in which the concept of consent is used to map and regulate sexual desire, gender relationships, global positions, technological interfaces, relationships of production and consumption, and literary and artistic interactions. From philosophy to literature, psychoanalysis to the art world, the contributors to Querying Consent address the most uncomfortable questions about consent today. Grounded in theoretical explorations of the entanglement of consent and subjectivity across a range of textual, visual, multi- and digital media, Querying Consent considers the relationships between consent and agency before moving on to trace the concept’s outcomes through a range of investigations of the mutual implication of personhood and self-ownership.

I thought getting a job in music meant sitting in the boardroom of Columbia with Beyonce. What I encountered was much darker.

As allegations of sexual misconduct continue to rock the entertainment industry, lawyers predict there could be one unintended consequence: less opportunities for women in music.