Indexing Authenticity via Cultural Knowledge

Abstract

The Stomper women have so far been shown to position certain styles and practices as ‘authentic’ by taking stances in line with their own, group-negotiated norms. These norms have been illustrated as emerging in particular interactive moments, such as in a discussion of television characters or choices made about clothing. Key moments such as these have been selected so far in order to illustrate the co-constructed, mutually negotiated way in which Stomper norms are established in the group, and this analysis has focused until now upon the women’s rejection of Girly practices and their embrace of butch or Dykey styles. This chapter, in developing the profile of the Stompers further, will detail aspects of other constructed Stomper norms which are associated with their shared interest in women’s and gay rights. The two analyses which follow reveal how the constructed norms of the group, whilst linked to the Stompers’ experience as lesbian women, did not always directly index their sexuality. As shown in Section 1.1.1, not all of the Stomper women viewed their sexuality as being of primary importance to them, and this chapter reflects that. In contrast to the moments of interaction presented in the previous chapters, the extracts here illustrate a less playful use of stereotypes as the women align themselves with clear ideologies associated with certain political stances.