Butz, Konstantin (2008):
"Rereading American Hardcore: Intersectional Privilege and the Lyrics of Early Californian Hardcore Punk." Eds. Carmody, Heather; Glauser, Michelle; Herrmann, Sebastian M.; Pitzing, Alexandra; Schönmeier, Lisa Sylvia; Weise, Lars. aspeers 01: 131-158.
Journal Article
Abstract

In this article, I deal with the Californian youth subculture of hardcore punk. Despite the fact that the majority of the subculture’s main protagonists were white male adolescents from the suburban middle class and thus occupied privileged social positions, they presented themselves as misfits, outcasts, and victims of society. In order to establish a critical approach to this movement, I effectively reverse the concept of Intersectionality as it is defined in Avtar Brah and Ann Phoenix’s essay “Ain’t I a Woman? Revisiting Intersectionality” (2004) and move the focus to the interlocking privileges that reveal the hardcore punks’ advantageous subject positions. I will then perform a contextual close reading of three exemplary song lyrics that helps to point out if or in how far the respective adolescents reflect on the privileged backgrounds they come from. Do they acknowledge the advantages that go along with their allegedly-normative status as white male Americans? How do they deal with them and do they succeed in establishing a credible contra-position?