White, Male, and Bartending in Detroit

Masculinity Work in a Hipster Scene

Bibliographic Data

ID2365607
AuthorsMelanie A Murray (0000-0001-7561-0389, University of Michigan-Dearborn, Dearborn, MI, USA, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume49
Issue4
Pages456-480
Publication date2020-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Contemporary Ethnography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0891-2416 • E-ISSN: 1552-5414
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0891241620907126
OpenAlexW3007935347
LanguageEN
References cited29

The hipster scene in Detroit, Michigan, is explored via participant observation and in-depth interviews. Participants used hipster norms as a resource for masculinity dilemmas, including a lack of white- or blue-collar jobs and stable female partners. The analysis examines how these men successfully enacted their progressive values in some arenas (read: gender) but not in others (race relations). More specifically, their emphasis on the creative class, the bicycle as an attainable status symbol, and "bro-mances" served as masculinity balms. These strategies are examples of how homophobia and violence are not always the response to "threatened" masculinity. At the same time, participants enacted a definition of community and specific spatial practices that resulted in a subculture with a white majority within a city with a black majority. This work demonstrates how ethnography is a powerful tool for studying the intersectionality of race, gender, and class in subcultures

Ethnography · Intersectionality · Masculinity · Sociology · Subculture (biology · White (mutation · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Music History and Culture · Psychology · Social Psychology · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society

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