Too Beautiful: Caring Masculinities in Swedish Gangster Rap Culture
2025 (English)Conference paper, Oral presentation with published abstract (Refereed)
Abstract [en]
This paper explores the overlooked affective beauty through ‘care’ (Elliott 2016) in a visibly violent consumer culture, the one of Swedish gangster rap. 'Ethics of care' promotes well-being within social relations, but its impact varies contextually. We highlight its beauty and power even under toxic conditions, where excess becomes lethal.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2025.
National Category
Business Administration
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:oru:diva-122043OAI: oai:DiVA.org:oru-122043DiVA, id: diva2:1978701
Conference
Consumer Culture Theory Conference, London, England, June 24-27, 2025
Note
Part of the special session: Brands and Toxic Masculinity
This special session examines how brands shape and challenge constructs of masculinity, with a focus on "toxic masculinity" in contemporary culture. From Victorian ideals of athleticism to current portrayals in advertising and media, the session explores how consumption mediates evolving masculine identities. Four presentations address: branding initiatives like Movember as tools for cultural transformation, the interplay of care and violence in Swedish gangster rap, counter-normative heterosexual expressions in online spaces, and the rise of transexclusionary feminist branding. These studies offer insights into the ideological tensions brands navigate when engaging with gender politics. By interrogating purposeful branding’s role in cultural transformation and the risks of backlash and virtue signaling, this session advances understanding of masculinity representation in a polarized marketplace. It provides a critical lens for scholars and practitioners exploring the impact of branding on societal debates around gender, identity, and activism.
2025-06-282025-06-282025-07-22Bibliographically approved