Break Dance Masculinity

Break dance, or breaking, is an overtly male-dominated form of dance that emphasizes strength, athleticism, and masculinity. Break dancing has become a mainstream form of dance that conventionally celebrates masculinity and strength, however women, to a varying degree, are just recently beginning to gain recognition in this male-dominated form. These women, known as b-girls, have embraced the on-going struggles in a predominantly male-dominated culture. My thesis will be examining how women have acclimated to this heavily male influenced culture of break dance and the struggles and hardships that they have had to overcome to make their place and identity within the b-boy community. In this pursuit, I will be further discussing how women are endeavoring to mitigate the effects of the palpable marginalization and gender constructions surrounding the dance form. I have employed numerous interviews from documentaries and a live interview with B-girl, Teena Marie Custer. In addition, I will be providing a description of my own lived experience at a class I took at American

Where is the line drawn? When is something too masculine and when is too feminine? How can female break dancers enhance masculinity without suppressing femininity? These are all questions that female break dancers have asked themselves. Baby love claims that women would add their own touch to their styles. For example, instead of a pelvic thrust, women would use their chests in some provocative way “to flick people off.” (Hugill et al., 2009). By adding these “feminine” elements in a masculine dance form, they are not completely losing their identities as women. Another challenge is that the gravity of female dancers is lower, towards their hips. For men, the gravity is more centralized in the core. A lower center of gravity makes floor work tougher during weight