No posers in this thing! - Defining legitimacy among vogue dancers

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business | Master's thesis
Date
2018
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
97 + 4
Series
Abstract
Voguing has its roots in the 1960s’ Ballroom culture and LGBTQ community where it evolved from drag queens’ competitions into a distinctive style of urban dance. Like many other urban cultures, it lacks formal education and thus, validation and legitimacy stems from within. As the popularity of the style has brought many new dancers to voguing, it has also created an opportunity for commercialization which in turn has raised some questions about the competence of the commercial dancers and teachers - in order to gain the right to teach others, to 'be a pioneer', one should first gain the respect of the community by going through certain stages. The focus of this study is on legitimacy, status and qualifications in fields that do not have an official educational system. In previous academic literature, legitimacy has been studied for example from institutional, organizational, legal and professional point of view as well as au-thorities’ right to govern but for the purpose of this thesis, it is considered to stand for meeting the requirements set by a community and thus, gaining the right to represent a group. Ball-room community and voguers offer an excellent environment for this study as a spontaneous-ly formed community with a relatively extensive and advanced power structure. In this study, the components of legitimacy among vogue dancers are investigated in a quali-tative study. Academic literature regarding legitimacy and urban cultures is overviewed in this thesis, and theoretical framework for understanding the components of legitimacy is used to conduct a thematic analysis on empirical material. The main findings of the study highlight the communal nature of Ballroom culture and prove that perception of legitimacy among voguers is created in a social setting. Amount of time and involvement in the community, respect from and towards others, quality of work and educa-tion play a significant role in defining one’s legitimacy. Additionally, membership in a house brings legitimacy to members to some extent but even non-members can and are often con-sidered just as legitimate. Earnings from artistic work, self-identification and the relevance of background were explored. The findings show that none of these hold legitimating value in the scope of this study. Finally, this thesis sheds light on the process of gaining legitimacy and status, and shows that unlike in urban cultures in general, power structures are strong, clearly defined and stable.
Description
Thesis advisor
Savage, Paul
Keywords
legitimacy, urban culture, voguing, artist, professionalism, dance
Other note
Citation