Date of Award
1-1-2009
Degree Name
Doctor of Philosophy
Department
Speech Communication
First Advisor
Gray,Jonathan
Abstract
Current literature in motorcycle culture depicts the possibilities for women within motorcycle culture as limited to that of a backseat bitch or second-class citizen. Despite all of the depictions of women in motorcycle culture in media, academic scholarship, and folklore, some women are riding their own motorcycles and participating in motorcycle culture as agents. Using social movement and space/place theories as a theoretical framework, this dissertation presents an interpretive ethnographic investigation of a women's motorcycle riding club in the Midwest. This research explores how this group of women riders became motorcyclists, details their experiences in motorcycle culture, and argues that a new social movement is evolving within it.
Access
This dissertation is only available for download to the SIUC community. Current SIUC affiliates may also access this paper off campus by searching Dissertations & Theses @ Southern Illinois University Carbondale from ProQuest. Others should contact the interlibrary loan department of your local library or contact ProQuest's Dissertation Express service.