No homo: Straight inoculations and the queering of masculinity in Swedish hip hop

av Kalle Berggren

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Kalle Berggren

kalle.berggren@soc.uu.se

Kalle Berggren is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Sociology, Uppsala University. His dissertation deals with power and positioning in Swedish rap lyrics. He is particularly interested in poststructuralist, queer and intersectional perspectives on masculinity.

Abstract

Abstract

Performing heterosexuality is often a central component in the making of masculinity. Yet queer theory with its critical focus on heterosexuality has not had the same impact on masculinity studies as on other areas of gender studies. This article seeks to contribute to the emerging use of queer theory within critical studies on men and masculinities by examining the production and negotiation of male heterosexuality in Swedish hip hop. This is done through a discourse analysis of a broad sample of Swedish rap lyrics from 1991 to 2011. Analyzing the use of metaphors, rhetorical negotiations and triangles of desire, it is argued that in spite of a dominant heteronormative discourse, signs of male homosocial desire abound. The author suggests that the concept of straight inoculations can be useful in understanding attempts to maintain heterosexuality in an ambiguous terrain.

Keywords: straight inoculations,men and masculinities,queer theory,hip hop,rap lyrics,male homosocial desire,homosociality