Negotiating Authentic Style and Practice

Abstract

As illustrated in the previous chapter, the Stompers were able to construct an idealised ‘authentic’ identity, through a range of interactive tactics, by positioning themselves (or others) in line with or against two core personae — Dyke and Girl. In doing so, the women were able to project their knowledge of the group norms and practices and, accordingly, to index an authentic lesbian self. An important aspect of this identity work, therefore, was their construction of an oppositional structure in which Dykes and Girls were binary; in this way, they were able to position a Dyke as authentic and a Girl as inauthentic. This chapter considers this concept by presenting the women’s clear rejection of feminised, Girly practices. The relevance of opposition in the women’s construction of authentic lesbian identity (where an inauthentic identity must exist and be rejected in order to highlight that which is authentic) is explored in depth, here.