Where the #bgirls at? politics of (in)visibility in breaking culture

ABSTRACT

Representation is a central tenet of hip-hop culture, yet women’s experiences and contributions have long been invisibilised. This article reveals some of the barriers to visibility facing women in breaking (“b-girls”). It shows how b-girls respond to gender-based challenges and their sense of obligation to be visible in order to promote gender equality. Through participant-observation, interviews with Sydney b-girls, and online case studies, this article situates b-girling practices “in relation to” a hip-hop feminist framework. This article shows how white hetero-patriarchal neoliberal structures shape visibility in breaking culture, and how b-girls respond to, negotiate, challenge, and enact their representation.

KEYWORDS:

• b-girl
• breaking
• hip-hop
• feminism
• representation

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Despite the use of “boys” and “girls” in the names, most breakers are in their twenties and thirties.

2. The line “where my girls at”—the famous song by all-women R&B group 702—echoes throughout women’s work on hip-hop and is used as a call for women to both participate and stand together in empowered solidarity. Johnson (2014), for example, asks “where my b-girls at!?”.

3. For an in-depth discussion, see Aprahamian (2020).

4. For an overview of hip-hop feminism texts, see further Aisha Durham 2010 and Durham, Cooper and Morris (2013).

5. Special mention goes to Bgirl Sessions, We B*Girlz, No Easy Props, Heartbreakrz, and Bgirlizm.

6. Claims about women’s physical inferiority can also lead to overly patronising reactions whenever a b-girl demonstrates strong athletic ability (such as “powermoves”) and tends to diminish the mastery of other aspects of the dance. For example, many b-girls may excel in the aspects of musicality and originality due to their previous dance experience and as a result of adapting breaking moves (popularised by men) to their own way of moving.

7. See Dodds (2018) for a critically reflective account of her experiences as a novice b-girl.

8. Familiarity with breaking terminology may change with breaking’s upcoming inclusion in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

9. See Mahoney (2020) for a critical discussion of feminist politics on Instagram.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rachael Gunn

Rachael Gunn has a PhD in Cultural Studies and is a Lecturer in the department of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Literature, and Language at Macquarie University. She is an interdisciplinary researcher interested in the constructions of gender and the dancing body, the intersections between theory and practice, and Sydney’s hip-hop dance scene. She is a practising breaker and is a member of the Sydney crew 143 Liverpool Street Familia. E-mail: [email protected]