“Hardcore Will Never Die But You Will”: Band tattoos, gendered bodies, and new forms of archiving in the hardcore scene

This thesis examines the relationship between hardcore music and tattooing in order to more deeply understand how feminism influences decisions to get, or remove, tattoos dedicated to hardcore bands. The findings show how feminism guides fans’ tattoo decisions, and this allows for gendered resistance in traditionally male-dominated hardcore scenes, including through new forms of archiving. It adds significant new knowledge to work on gender and hardcore, through exploring the intersections between the gendered body, fandom, and tattoos in hardcore by answering the question, ‘how do tattoos connect the feminist body to the hardcore scene?’ This question is supported by two sub questions: ‘how are band tattoos related to creating space for feminism in hardcore?’ and ‘how do band tattoos allow for new forms of archiving?’ To answer these questions, I examine four aspects of hardcore and tattooing: the connections between masculinity, American traditional tattoos and hardcore; women with hardcore tattoos; tattoos dedicated to Melbourne feminist hardcore band Outright; and the removal of tattoos dedicated to American hardcore-adjacent emo band Brand New in the wake of allegations of abuse. First, I connect hardcore music to American traditional tattooing, a style with strong links to military culture, which contributes a new theorisation of how tattoos amplify the masculine nature of hardcore. Second, by interviewing women with hardcore-related tattoos, I am able to provide understanding on how feminism influenced their tattoo decisions, and how these women apply feminism to their hardcore fandom. Third, by exploring tattoos dedicated to Melbourne feminist hardcore band, Outright, I show how fans have used their feminist tattoos to demonstrate their fandom and allyship, their political views, or both, and how this is connected to trust within the scene. Finally, these new understandings inform my investigation into tattoo cover ups, specifically those relating to problematic hardcore-adjacent emo band Brand New. This investigation juxtaposes celebratory and traumatic experiences of fandom and allows us to understand the (tattooed) body as a site of remembering—as a type of performative, affective archive, a living history—while subverting the idea that tattoos are a permanent and extreme form of body modification, instead revealing their ephemeral nature. These four perspectives enable a reconsideration of the body in hardcore, exploring not what is done with the body but what is done to the body, in the form the use of hardcore tattoos to commemorate events, mark personal achievements, to make a statement about identity, or deepen connection to the scene or particular bands in a uniquely feminist way. Taken all together, this project therefore brings together studies of popular music scenes, tattooing, and archiving to provide new knowledge on how band tattoos can create space for feminist expressions in a male-dominated scene.