| Summary: |
The key point to this research project lies in the assumption that gender is a fundamental category of analysis as well as a basic theoretical and methodological premise. Such an epistemological option presumes that a study should be developed acknowledging gender as a structural element in everyday social lives and social practices, guided by the concept that gender generates significant relationships of social power. This basis of our research is associated with the fact that in Portugal, and despite the fact that the field of research concerning gender inequality has been gaining relevance, social practices continuously manifest tendencies that lag behind more advanced models, reproducing inequalities. Considering the importance of leisure and recreation practices in the construction of gender identity portrayals, we will strategically intersect gender with (sub)cultural appropriations, especially clubber (sub)cultures where we intend to identify different forms of gender identity reconstitutions.
Some reference studies point out the invisibility of women in youth entertainment (sub)cultures, a hidden domain which has been mostly ignored by the social sciences, hence our added interest in the study of gender in subcultural manifestations.
The (sub)cultures we are concerned with are set within the complex fabric of youth cultures, which convey the importance of social experiences by young people as fundamental elements in adopting different lifestyles.
We also intend to explore the idea that youth subcultures have implicit power relationships, and, thus, gender relationships. The empirical object will be portrayed in Portugal's Northern Region (extended to include Coimbra), taking into account the itinerant, spontaneous and transitory character of events related to electronic music (techno, trance, garage, jungle, acid house, acid jazz). |