Navigating Hypermasculine Terrains: Female Tactics for Safety and Social Mastery. (October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Henriksen, Ann-Karina
• Is Part Of: Feminist criminology. Volume 12:Number 4(2017:Oct.)
• Page Start: 319
• Page End: 340
• Publication Date: 2017-10
• Subjects: intersections of race/class/gender -- ethnicity -- female delinquency -- girls -- ethnographic research; Feminist criminology -- Periodicals; Female offenders -- Periodicals; 364.37405
• DOI: 10.1177/1557085115613430
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1557-0851

Abstract

The study addresses how young women navigate urban terrains that are characterized by high levels of interpersonal aggression and crime. It is argued that young women apply a range of gendered tactics to establish safety and social mastery, and that these are framed by the limits and possibilities imposed by a street-based hypermasculine script. The analysis rests on an ethnographic study among 25 young Danish women aged 13 to 23 experienced in engaging in street-based physical violence. The study suggests that explorations of female tactics can provide a useful method of analysis for understanding female agency in (hyper)masculine social terrains.