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ETD Abstract Container

Abstract Header

The Fierce Tribe: Crack Whores, Body Fascists, and Circuit Queens in the Spiritual Performance of Masculine Non-Violence

Weems, Michael Ray
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1180029151

Abstract Details

2007, Doctor of Philosophy, Ohio State University, Educational Policy and Leadership.
This dissertation is a multidisciplinary approach that looks at the dance culture of gay men known as “the Circuit.” The circuit is a transnational, nomadic, and carnivalesque community that gathers by the thousands to dance together for a weekend in various large cities. Acknowledging the outlaw (socially transgressive) status of the Circuit community both within the Gay community and outside of it, this research examines the nonviolent masculinity of the Circuit community and the production of transcendent solidarity, a core experience of male bonding in the Circuit. In order to understand the bonding particular to the Circuit, the importance of communal dance is situated in the relationship that participants have with “disc jockeys,” professionals who choose prerecorded songs and “mix” one tune in with the next without a break in the rhythm. The outlaw nature of the Circuit is particularly interesting in that there is little to no violence among intoxicated, sexually-charged men. The phenomenon of transcendent solidarity is framed as a spiritual ritual that is performed by the dancing participants. In order to further frame this experience as possibly dangerous but generally beneficial, the Circuit is contrasted with the social dynamics and transcendent solidarity of two other outlaw masculinities, that of soldiers and terrorists, while not sharing in the punitive “us against them” worldview and violent expressions of masculinity that the military and terrorists espouse. This research is teleological; it aims to legitimize the Circuit without trying to sanitize its controversial methods, and it also aspires to point out ways in which male bonding that could be modified away from violent expression, thus leading to a reduction in violence worldwide.
William Taylor (Advisor)

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Weems, M. R. (2007). The Fierce Tribe: Crack Whores, Body Fascists, and Circuit Queens in the Spiritual Performance of Masculine Non-Violence [Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1180029151

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Weems, Michael. The Fierce Tribe: Crack Whores, Body Fascists, and Circuit Queens in the Spiritual Performance of Masculine Non-Violence. 2007. Ohio State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1180029151.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Weems, Michael. "The Fierce Tribe: Crack Whores, Body Fascists, and Circuit Queens in the Spiritual Performance of Masculine Non-Violence." Doctoral dissertation, Ohio State University, 2007. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1180029151

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

osu1180029151
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© 2007, all rights reserved.
This open access ETD is published by The Ohio State University and OhioLINK.