ABSTRACT
Hegemonic masculinity pays patriarchal dividends' because it is achieved by the few. For example, on numerous occasions in the research on Australian hardcore, respondents articulated the qualities lacked by sweaters in much broader corporeal terms. Hardcore' was originally a term of qualification that delineated the speeded up, more aggressive sonic and stylistic manifestations of punk rock that were emerging particularly in Los Angeles and Washington, DC during the late 1970s. This chapter draws on interview data collected during doctoral research on the hardcore music scene on Australia's Gold Coast. It investigates how attributed levels of personal authenticity correlate with participants' perceived potential to contribute to the vibe' or atmosphere' of hardcore music events. Many of the respondents in the study deployed the notion of the sweater' to identify participants whose over-zealous attempts to construct a social identity around the hardcore scene were perceived to reveal their lack of subcultural authenticity'.
